How do we let the “The Authority” to rule us.
I used to wonder about the citizens of the countries that had let the dictators to stay in power, and in the recent times even the so claimed to be free mind countries have chosen their leaders who has such tendencies.
The below mentioned gave me some clarity on this subject, in another article i will also write about how this is systematically nurtured in some countries from the school to make it a strong culture.
In 1961, psychologist Stanley Milgram set out to answer a disturbing question:
Could ordinary people — teachers, clerks, neighbors — be led to harm others simply by obeying an authority?
The backdrop was the trial of Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi officer who claimed he was “just following orders.” Milgram wanted to test this.
The Setup:
Two participants walk into a lab.
One is the “teacher,” the other is the “learner.” Only the teacher is a real subject — the learner is an actor.
The teacher’s task? Administer electric shocks to the learner every time they answer a question incorrectly. With each mistake, the voltage increases.
The shocks weren’t real. But the actor screamed, begged, even pretended to go silent — implying unconsciousness or worse.
A lab-coated authority figure calmly instructed the teacher to continue. “The experiment requires that you continue.” That’s all it took.
65% of participants went all the way — administering what they thought was a 450-volt potentially lethal shock.
They sweated. Trembled. Pleaded to stop. But they kept going.
Why?
Because an authority told them to.
Obedience Isn’t About Cruelty
It’s about conditioning.
Milgram’s participants weren’t sadists. They were accountants. Postal workers. Everyday people.
“Confirming to the dictates of authority figure has always had genuine advantages for us”. — Milgram
They didn’t want to harm anyone.
But they also didn’t want to challenge the system.
They chose comfort over conscience.
That’s the real finding:
Most people will go to uncomfortable — even dangerous — lengths just to stay “in order.”
Fast Forward: Concord, California, 1987
S. Brian Wilson, a Vietnam vet turned peace activist, laid down on a railroad track to protest U.S. arms shipments to Nicaragua.
He notified the Navy and rail authorities 72 hours in advance.
He believed they would stop the train.
They didn’t.
Following orders not to stop under any condition, the civilian train crew ran the protestors over. Two escaped. Wilson lost both legs.
To make matters worse, Navy medics at the scene refused to treat him. Their ambulance stayed parked. His wife and son had to apply pressure to his wounds — on the tracks — for 45 minutes until a private ambulance arrived.
When asked who he blamed, Wilson didn’t name the crew or the medics.
“They’re just doing what I did in Nam.
They were following orders that are part of an insane policy.”
That’s the danger:
Not evil.
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Not ignorance.
But compliance with a broken system.
So, Why Do People Obey?
Because identity > morality.
Because structure > empathy.
“We dont have to think as obedience to authority is rewardingit is easy to allow ourselves the convinience of automatic obedience” — Cialdini
Because the story we tell ourselves overrides the truth in front of us.
Let’s be honest:
It doesn’t matter if you’re my countryman, my cousin, or my colleague.
When fear and duty clash with values — duty wins.
Unless…
The 3 Levels of Human Obedience
Behavioral research gives us a mental map of how people relate to authority:
1.The Programmed Consciousness
People who follow without question. Obedience is their autopilot.
Milgram’s 65% belong here.
So do the 25% of adults who score high on authoritarianism tests.
These people aren’t “bad.” They’re just never taught to question.
2.The Subconscious Resonance
People who begin to feel something is off.
They question, hesitate, and slowly align with their own values.
Roughly 26–35% of people fall here. They’re aware.
But not always confident.
They’re the ones who stop the experiment.
3.The Conscious Actor
This is the trickiest group.
They know. They understand.
But they still choose comfort, compliance, or social belonging over action.
Their conscience whispers, But the world screams louder.
So, Where Do You Operate From?
This isn’t a moral checklist. It’s a mirror.
What story are you telling yourself?
Whose rules are you playing by?
And when your values are tested — not in theory, but in real life —
what part of you decides?
Not every act of obedience is blind.
But every act of awareness is a choice.
