"I was just following orders..."

The classic Stanley Milgram experiments might not actually be all about blind obedience to authority.

Any time the experimenter said, "you must continue," the shocker said, "Hell no I don't." As soon as you say it's an order, they don't do it. Actually, the one thing the study doesn't show is that people obey orders. It's a pretty fucking big thing to miss. As we know in life, lots of things we do that are worthwhile doing are not easy. But if you think that science is worth pursuing—as these participants did—you say, "Ok, I'll go along with this." It's not just blind obedience. They're engaged with the task, they're trying to do the right thing for science. They're not doing something they have to, they're doing it because they think they ought to. And that's all the difference in the world.

This doesn't disprove that humans display blind obedience to authority. In fact there were many ways the study was designed to impart authority. But it does suggest that appeals to a higher cause might be even more persuasive than rule by force. Why? Because then the participant polices himself.

The Bad Show of Radiolab.