The Milgram Experiment

In 1961, Stanley Milgram conducted an experiment to find out how far people would go in doing things they knew were wrong, and how much they needed to be pushed to do so.

Milgram took volunteers and told them they were attempting to find out if a series of shocks to another volunteer would influence their answers when asking them general questions. Every time the subject would answer a question wrong, he would receive an electric shock that increased after every wrong answer, ultimately approaching dangerous levels.

What the volunteer in charge of administering the shocks didn't know, was the shock machine was a prop, and the subject was an actor. The real test subject was him, and they were testing man's inherent level of obedience.

Here's a link to a short doc, and actual footage of the experiment.

http://vodpod.com/watch/1434401-the-milgram-experiment