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Authoritarian Sociopathy: Part 1

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Posted by Gonzo Times on Jan 6, 2011 in Featured | Comments Off

By Davi Barker This was originally posted at Examiner.com. Comments on the original are appreciated.

For those interested in the science behind authoritarian sociopathy no studies are more poignant, or more chilling in their ramification than the Milgram Experiment and the Stanford Prison Experiment. But their sentiment was perhaps best expressed by Thomas Jefferson in an often overlooked passage of the Declaration of Independence:

“All experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”

After World War II the world stood in shock and horror as the details of the Holocaust came to light. Jew, Gypsies, Homosexuals and virtually anyone deemed an enemy of the state were put to death by the Nazis. The constant, even robotic refrain from these soldiers during the Nuremberg Trials was “I was just following orders.” And as the world cried, “Never again!” Stanley Milgram, a Yale University psychologist asked, “how did this happen in the first place?” The Milgram Experiment was designed to measure the willingness of otherwise psychologically healthy people to obey the unethical orders of an authority figure. His shocking results were published in his 1974 book, Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View.

In the Milgram Experiment participants were divided into “teachers” and “learners” and placed in separate rooms. They could communicate, but could not see each other. The experimenter instructed the “teachers” to read questions to the “learner” and if they answered incorrectly to administer an elecro-shock of ever increasing voltage. Unknown to the “teachers” was that the “learners” were actually plants and the electro-shocks were fake. The “teachers” were the actual subjects in the experiment. After a few volt increases the “learner” began to object, to bang on the walls, and complain about a heart condition. After some time the the “learner” would go silent. If the subject asked to stop the experiment for any reason he was given a succession of verbal prods by the experimenter to continue. “Please continue,” “the experiment requires that you continue” “you must constinue,” etc. Most continued after being told that they would not be held responsible.

Of the experiment subjects 65% administered the experiment’s maximum massive 450-volt shock even though every subject expressed some level of objection in doing so. Some began to laugh nervously. Others offered to refund the money they were paid for participating in the experiment. Some exhibited signs of extreme stress once they heard the screams of pain coming from the learner. But the vast majority were willing to administer a lethal jolt of electricity to a complete stranger based upon nothing but the verbal prodding of a scientist in a lab coat. None of those who refused to administer the deadly shock insisted that the experiment itself be terminated.

The Stanford Prison Experiment was a study conducted by Stanford University psychology professor Philip Zimbardo to determine the psychological effects of prison life. Participants were screened to be otherwise stable and psychologically healthy and assigned randomly as either “prisoner” or “guard” to live in a two week long prison simulation in the basement of the Stanford psychology building. Guards were given uniforms, mirrored glasses to prevent eye contact, and wooden batons meant only to establish status. Prisoners were dressed in smocks and addressed only by the numbers they were issued. Guards were instructed only to keep a fixed schedule, and that they should attempt to make the prisoners feel powerless, but could not physically harm them.

The experiment was halted after only six days.

After a prisoner revolt on the second day guards began to display cruel, even sadistic behavior. A system of punishment and reward soon followed including, spraying disobedient prisoners with fire extinguishers, depriving them of bedding or restroom privileges, forcing them to go nude and locking them in “solitary confinement” in a dark closet. After the initial revolt, and a brief hunger strike, prisoners on the other hand developed submissive attitudes, accepting physical abuse, and readily following orders from the “guards” to inflict punishments on each other. They even engaged in horizontal discipline to keep eachother in line. One prisoner began showing signs of mental breakdown after only 36 hours, yet they stayed even though they were all made aware that they could stop the experiment at any time. As Zimbardo explained, both prisoners and guards had fully internalized their new identities.

Zimbardo ultimately halted the experiment when he realized that his judgement had been compromised by being sucked in to his role as “Prison Superintendent” and allowed abuse to continue that could be considered torture. His recent book, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil, details his findings and how they relate to the torture and prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib.

Ethical concerns raised by these results have made it illegal to repeat these experiments. In fact, under current ethical guidelines the State makes it very difficult to study the psychology of power and authority at all. Still, there have been some more recent studies that flesh out the findings of these classic experiments which we will be discussing in Part 2, on honesty, Part 3 on compassion and Part 4 on integrity.

What is clear to me from these experiments is that human nature is not evil, but essentially adaptive. If you take an otherwise good person and invent for them a role that incentivizes evil they will adjust to their new circumstances. And if you internalize “obedience to authority” as a core personality trait you will become capable of the worst forms of murder, and tolerant of the worst forms of abuse.

Auto whirl // Museums cruise through history

Chicago Sun-Times August 17, 1990 | Bob Puhala Are you a car hound obsessed with chrome-splashed classics, muscled hemis or blocklong, pointy-finned coupes?

Maybe your tastes are more exotic, leaning toward tiny English sports cars boasting right-hand drive, or hand-built Duesenbergs fit for royalty, or sleek Ferraris.

Whether you’re a fanatic, nostalgia buff or simply like to browse among rows of shiny antique autos, you can feed your four-wheel fantasies at several of the Midwest’s car museums. You’ll find autos displayed in glitzy museum showrooms, climate-controlled storerooms, but they all have one thing in common: acres of classic cars made during the golden age of automobiles. CLASSICS Lake Bluff’s Chicago Car Exchange is not your typical auto museum; here you can look or buy. 1969dodgechargernow.net 1969 dodge charger

Talk about sticker shock: A 1968 Shelby KR500 convertible with 7,100 original miles is priced at $99,000. Bargain hunters might jump at a 1983 Ferrari 400i “priced below market” at $89,000. But to get the ultimate zoom for your bucks, be prepared to plunk down $140,000 for an ’89 Porsche 911 slant-nose convertible.

The brainchild of Daniel, Phillip and Julie Kuhn, the Chicago Car Exchange opened its north suburban showrooms last summer as a marketplace for investment-quality antique, collectible and exotic automobiles. Since then, the CCE has sold cars to a clientele that stretches from the North Shore to Europe.

The CCE’s two showrooms are filled with classics that are owned by the Kuhns or displayed on consignment from sellers. It costs $80 per month to store an auto in the museum’s climate-controlled buildings, $100 to store and advertise its availability to a local and worldwide audience of potential buyers.

Hottest items on the collector market are English sports cars – Austin Healeys and MGs of the 1950s, Dan said. Other fast movers are Model A Fords and 1965 Ford Mustang convertibles that can fetch anywhere from $15,000 to $25,000, he added.

But you don’t have to be in the buying mood to visit the CCE. “We’re pleased to have people simply tour the showrooms, learn about the CCE, and talk old cars,” Dan said.

Chicago Car Exchange is at 966 North Shore Dr., Lake Bluff. Admission is free. Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, noon to 8 p.m. Call (708) 234-1975. MUSCLE CARS Muscle cars from the 1960s and 1970s are the specialty at Volo Auto Museum near northwest suburban McHenry on Illinois 120. The hoods of these hogs literally burst with hemi customizing and monster 440-horsepower engines.

The museum boasts more than 100 classic cars from the 1900s to the 1970s. Several are offered for sale, but others are priceless.

These include two massive, 1906 Mercedes convertibles with elaborate brass lanterns mounted on front doors – headlamps that are reputed to be the only remaining models of their kind in the world.

Two indoor showrooms and an outdoor display area house the collection, skewed heavily toward muscle cars. For example, a 1969 Pontiac GTX coupe boasting a 440-horsepower engine is offered at $6,995, with its future value estimated at $23,000.

But a 1969 Dodge Charger 500 with another 440-horsepower engine fetches $22,900, despite 68,000 miles on the odometer.

Car maniacs will experience a special treat on Sunday, when Volo hosts its 15th annual Carnival of Cars Auto Show and Concert. More than 300 pre-1972 autos will be displayed, including Corvettes, antiques, classics, muscle cars and street rods. There’ll also be live music, Elvis-impersonator shows, a kids’ model car contest, outdoor country cookout, and more. Gate admission is $8; kids younger than 12, $4; younger than 4, free.

And don’t miss the “Chicago ’90″ Collector Car Auction and Show, Sept. 29-30, the museum’s nationally acclaimed car sale under a big-top canvas and featuring more than 500 autos. Admission is $6; kids younger than 12, $3.

Volo Auto Museum is at 27640 W. Illinois 120 (a half-mile west of U.S. 12) in Volo. Museum admission is free. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Call (815) 385-3644. LEGENDS Perhaps no other car has achieved greater legendary status than the sleek Duesenberg. These handcrafted machines resemble rolling sculptures, and the 480 Model J even sported a custom-designed body tailored for each owner.

Revolutionary car designs reflected the philosophy of Errett Lobban Cord, owner of the small, independent auto-manufacturing company that built Duesenbergs, Cords and Auburns from 1901 to 1936. “If you can’t be big, you have to be different,” he said. here 1969 dodge charger

You can see these art deco-influenced cars at the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum in Auburn, Ind., once the home of the Auburn Automobile Co. And there’s no better time for a visit than during Auburn 1990, set for Aug. 30 through Sept. 4, billed as the world’s greatest classic car show.

Nearly 300,000 people are expected to attend the fest, which features car auctions, museum tours, auto swap meets, automotive art shows, and more.

Then there’s the Parade of Classics on Sept. 1, when more than 225 Auburns, Cords and Duesenbergs will roll along the streets of Auburn past Courthouse Square.

Just browsing through the art deco museum, formerly the company’s administration building, is rewarding.

It houses more than 140 cars, among them the 1936 Model 810 Cord, with then-unusual features like front-wheel drive, disappearing headlamps and wrap-around radiator grille. That Cord stole the show at the 1936 New York Salon, and its futuristic design landed it in the Museum of Modern Art in New York just 15 years later.

Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum is at 1600 S. Wayne St., Auburn. Admission: $5, adults; $3.50, students and seniors. Some Auburn 1990 events including car auctions ($10, adult; $5, children younger than 12), charge separate admissions. Call (219) 925-1444. RECORD SETTERS Lazarus Antique Car Museum in Forreston, between Dixon and Freeport, has made the Guinness Book of World Records three times.

“In 1972, we auctioned Greta Garbo’s personal Duesenberg for a record $90,000,” said Lou Lazarus, one of the owners. “Then, in 1976, we sold the first Duesenberg ever made for $205,000 – another record price for its time. Now these cars sell for millions.” The museum boasts more than 100 cars in its collection, with about 30 on display; they also sell classic autos. The showroom boasts another record-earner: a 1948 Daimler Paris limousine – the world’s largest convertible.

Other beauties include the Packard formerly owned by John V. “Blackjack” Bouvier III, father of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and several General Motors cars of the 1950s. Lazarus himself drives a pink, 1959 Cadillac with long, trademark fins.

Lazarus Antique Car Museum is at 211 Walnut (Illinois 26), Forreston. Admission is free. Hours by appointment until September, when it will observe daily hours yet to be announced. Call (815) 938-2250. STUDEBAKER HERITAGE The Studebaker brothers rose from village blacksmiths to industrial giants, making everything from buggies and Conestoga covered wagons to cars and tanks used in both world wars.

At the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Ind., you’ll see more than 100 carriages, covered wagons, trucks, tanks and cars that the company produced.

Especially noteworthy is the Studebaker carriage that Abe Lincoln rode in to Ford’s Theatre the night he was fatally shot in 1865.

The Studebaker National Museum is at 120 S. St. Joseph St. and 525 S. Main St., South Bend. Admission: $3.50, adults; $2.50, seniors and students; $1.50, kids younger than 12; family rate (two adults, four children) is $8.50. Hours: Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. Call (219) 284-9714. AUTO HISTORY Dedicated car connoisseurs won’t mind the drive to Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich., just west of Detroit. Hundreds of classic autos, ranging from the 1986 Duryea Motor Wagon to Honda and Ford Escort “world cars” of the 1980s, are part of a permanent exhibit called “The Automobile in American Life.” The $6 million, 60,000-square-foot permanent exhibit emphasizes how the auto continues to be the “single greatest force in shaping the way Americans work, play and conduct our daily lives.” A winding, multilevel “road” is lined with the most historically important cars of the American auto industry.

The Henry Ford Museum is at Village Drive and Oakwood Boulevard, Dearborn. Admission: $10.50, adults; $9.50, seniors older than 62; $5.25, kids 5 to 12. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Call (313) 271-1620.

Bob Puhala

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