Ever since we were children, we have been obeying a higher authority and conforming to what society wants us to believe. Growing up, we have been obeying some form of a higher power, whether it’s our parents, teachers, or guardians because that’s what society has been telling us to do throughout our childhood. When someone is being obedient, their listening to someone else that has some power over them, it could be one person being the highest authority over a small or large group of people and when each person in that group listens to that higher authority they are all conforming to that higher authority. When someone doesn’t want to obey that higher authority or conform to the majority of a group, that one person could face some kind of punishment. Obedience and conformity have been ingrained into us that if we refuse to listen, we will be outcast from society. As shown in scientific studies, with researchers like Asch and Milgram as well as my personal experience, not obeying or conforming to what society wants is scary, leading to isolation and you could be shamed by the people closest to you.
Obedience is something we all have been doing for our whole lives it becomes human nature to listen to someone with power and it would be terrifying not obey to that person in power. According to the article, “The Perils of Obedience” Stanley Milgram conducted an experiment about how an authority figure is able to give demands and the participants follow these demands even if someone is getting hurt. Before the experiment, Milgram states “Obedience is as basic an element in the structure of social life as one can point to” (144). Obedience is something built into us: “... Obedience is a deeply ingrained behavior tendency… overriding training in ethics, sympathy, and moral conduct” (144). Milgram’s experiment shows how one participant resisted the orders of the experimenter and in response, the experimenter persisted him to follow the orders given to him. The participant said, “I can’t stand it, I’m going to kill that man in there… I’m not going to get that man sick in there” (147). The experimenter keeps on persisting for the participant to keep going, “The experiment requires that you continue… Whether the learner likes it or not, we must go on… It’s absolutely essential that you continue” (147-148). The participant is scared of what the experimenter would do to him if he didn’t listen.
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What emerges from the Milgram experiment is that the participant refused to listen to the higher authority’s (which in this case was the experimenter's) demands by not following through. Obedience is something we have been wired to do since the day we were born. It has been rooted in our human consciousness that a lot of people don’t even question if orders from an authority figure they have good intentions or not. In the experiment, the participant was scared of hurting another individual by not following the orders he was given. The participant was also scared of ruining the results of the whole experiment if he didn’t listen. The participant was going to have to obey the demands no matter what or he might receive some kind of punishment.
Conforming to a group is what we humans have been doing since the dawn of man, we all want to be in a group, but leaving that group could leave you in isolation. In the article, “Opinions and Social Pressure” Solomon Asch conducted an experiment on how a group of people is able to pressure an individual into conforming with the rest of the group. Asch states “That we have found the tendency to conformity in our society so strong that reasonably intelligent… young people are willing to call white black is a matter of concern” (143). Wanting to be in a large group is something that is built into our DNA forever. While Asch conducted the experiment he notes that “One person near the end of the group disagrees with all the others” (140). That one person that disagrees is looked down upon with Asch stating, “The dissenter becomes more and more worried and hesitant…he may pause before announcing his answer and speak in a low voice, or he may smile in an embarrassed way” (140). The individual noticed that he was alone and was scared of disagreeing with the rest of the group. When Asch gave the participant a “truthful partner” (142), the more the participant became in the minority of the group. When the partner started to agree with the majority, the participant followed the partner.
Asch’s experiment shows how people are willing to be in the majority because many people would rather be wrong as a group than be right by themselves. A lot of this mentality can be traced back to the primal age. Cavemen would hunt in groups in order to both survive and hunt, if a caveman was by himself he would not survive for very long. Conforming to a group is easy, but having to break away from that group will be hard since you will likely be the only one leaving that group. When that one participant disagreed with the group, he felt ashamed and scared, because he isolated himself from the rest. When the participant had a partner that would agree with him, he had more confidence in himself, because he knows that he won’t be alone. He’s still in the minority and he’s fine with that as long as he is not alone.
Both obedience and conformity may seem different at first, but both are able to go hand and hand with each other. Through my personal narrative, I’ve experienced both obedience and conformity firsthand in a negative way. In elementary school, my family and I went to a “Church” at my school cafeteria where a priest was going to speak about the “Words of God”. My family at first didn’t seem interested at first, but my aunt convinced my mom to at least give it a try. We entered the cafeteria, it was almost full and we waited for the priest to come out. Eventually, the priest came out and spoke about how “God needs your money”. The next day my mom wants us to go again this coming Sunday, but I didn’t want to go. The next few weeks, my family and I kept going and my parents would give money to the priest. I wanted to tell my parents that I didn’t believe in the words the priest was saying, but I was afraid that my parents would get angry at me. I didn’t want to listen to the priest by listening words he said about how “God needs your money” and I didn’t want to conform to his demands just like my parents did.
From my Personal Narrative, I experienced both obedience and conformity in a negative way. When I didn’t conform the same way as my parents, they shamed me. The people I cared about the most looked down upon me as if I was less of a human. I felt terrible for being shamed by my parents and when my parents would go to church I stayed home. I had to be obedient to the priest and his words as well as conform just like my parents have.
David Brooks argues that being obedient is important in order to feel safe and to be able to help society grow for future generations. David Brooks is a writer for the New York Times, he emphasized that obeying a person with power is necessary, but his opinion is very one-sided. Brooks explains that throughout history, we had many powerful leaders, like Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson, who were able to help our society by having the American people look up to them by listening to their commands. Brook also explains that society is to blame because society would rather listen to the victims of power than the people that wield that power. Brooks would rather have one person with skills to be the leader and the others should follow that person and learn from him. However, Brook's argument is very one-sided. Instead of having to follow one person instead that one person should help out the rest of the people. People should have to follow a single person in order to become as good as them. We all should have skills so everyone could be successful to not only help ourselves but to help others. Don’t mindlessly follow someone just because they have skills that are better than you. You don’t need to follow someone in order to have the same skills as them.
After researching and going through the experience of conformity and obedience, it showed me that removing yourself from a group or not following orders from someone with higher authority will be scary, and could leave you feeling isolated and shamed by the people you know. Asch’s experiment shows the power that conforming has over us by the pressure of a large group of people that dictate our final decision. Milgram’s experiment shows that power obedience has over us by the way we follow someone with a higher power. Also, my personal experience gave me a first-hand experience of both obedience and conformity. It will take a lot of strength in order to be able to overcome the fear of breaking away from conforming or being obedient to something you don’t believe in. It’s best to follow what you believe in rather than following something you don’t and if you plan to disassociate yourself be prepared for the worst that might come your way.
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