Editor’s Note: this piece could be difficult to read. It will probably challenge you to consider your opinions in a different way than you’ve considered. To really grasp it will probably require some time following the links. It also doesn’t tell you what to think about any issue. There is no insult intended to anyone, regardless of their opinions. If you were sent this article by an acquaintance they are not necessarily suggesting that you actually forgot how to think. You may want to share it with people who disagree with you on issues other than COVID-19.
Do you know an idiot who refuses to listen?
There are very smart people opposed to #NormalContact. And there are also very smart people fanatical about #NormalContact. There are well-intentioned people who feel informed that are strongly in favor of masking. And there are well-intentioned people that are fervent anti-maskers. In every direction people will insist that anyone who disagrees with them forgot how to think. Why does this happen? How can you confirm that you’re on the right side?
Stanley Milgram was a social scientist in the middle of the 20th century. He is most famous for a series of experiments in the 1940s where he tried to prove (to oversimplify the situation) that it would be hard to convince one person to kill another. He was hoping to track down what it took to turn a normal person into, say, a Nazi who would turn in their neighbors for execution or even commit the execution themselves. Unfortunately, it turns out that the only thing it took to convince 65% of people to kill someone else was an “expert” in a lab coat calmly and patiently telling them that it was necessary.
Please read that last sentence again. Now, think about the current COVID-19 situation. We have experts telling us how dangerous COVID-19 is despite the science. (These experts are even so knowledgeable that their opinion keeps shifting.) Of course, we would be remiss if we didn’t point out that we have similarly-dressed experts on the #NormalContact side of thought, as well. If we’re going to be honest with ourselves we have to be willing to admit that there are probably more people than we’d want to believe on both sides that are following an expert, rather than thinking for themselves. (Edit: sharp readers pointed out that the video linked above only claims 50% compliance. Milgram conducted 25 different versions of his study. 65% was the overall result. The video above was made after only the first version of his experiment.)
Does listening to an expert mean you forgot how to think?
We can’t all be experts in everything. And so to some degree we have to be able to rely on a subject matter expert for lots of things in life. That doesn’t necessarily mean we forgot how to think, but it could. What Milgram’s research teaches us is that it is human nature to trust an expert too much, or without questioning as much as we should. This is an important lesson right now. We don’t have to agree with what someone believes to still sympathize that they are leading a life that has just as much conflict and confusion as ours.
By wearing a mask some folks think it’s not their fault if someone else gets sick. Other folks make the statement that it isn’t their fault in the first place if someone else gets sick. Those folks refuse to wear a mask at all. We have volunteers on both sides of that issue. …but they make sure not to allow that difference to dehumanize each other.
What can you do?
Are you willing to struggle with some challenging homework? Watch the movie Experimenter. (That’s not an affiliate link. #NormalContact gets no proceeds no matter where you watch it.) You can rent it on Amazon for under $5. It’s a movie, but still goes into significant depth on Milgram’s research. Spend some time thinking about what it means today. And ask yourself if you forgot how to think at any point along the way.