Why do people submit to authority?

[IDL]

I don't disagree. But I think they're doing it on "live" data as opposed to using the scientific method with controls and such.

I don't know about that. If you look into project paperclip you may not come to the same conclusion. They just keep it all secret.

 

[Deleted member 409801]

In my experience, the people who are most bothered by other people's submission to authority are, in fact, most bothered that they themselves are not the authority and that these other people are not submitting to them.

It's pretty classic projection psychology.

Could you expand on that? Did you actually witness this or is this a theory of yours? I think the spirit of the initial question , is why do people submit to blatantly immoral request from authority figures. What little mental switch gets flipped in people that makes them defer to others when it clearly conflicts with doing the right thing?

We aren't talking about giving a police officer your license and registration without mouthing off here. Anyone that isn't a mindless drone should see some value in the op's question.

 

[Gregster]

I submit to authority because John Cougar Mellencamp has been fighting it since he was a young kid, and authority always wins.

I figure that anything that's a futile enterprise for JC Mellencamp is bound to be a fool's errand for *me*.

 

[ncordless]

I submit to authority because John Cougar Mellencamp has been fighting it since he was a young kid, and authority always wins.

I figure that anything that's a futile enterprise for JC Mellencamp is bound to be a fool's errand for *me*.

Do you live in a little pink house?

 

[Chinballs]

In my experience, the people who are most bothered by other people's submission to authority are, in fact, most bothered that they themselves are not the authority and that these other people are not submitting to them.

It's pretty classic projection psychology.

Yes, true. This is also my experience but I also see it as a maturity thing. I had that trait a bit TBH but I grew out of it. And people I met could be way more extreme in their projection behavior. Can't even be part of team practice without going full passive aggressive on the coach the entire session, stuff like that.

 

[Gregster]

Do you live in a little pink house?

Yep. It's in a small town, where I was born. Prolly die there as well.

 

[IDL]

Yes, true. This is also my experience but I also see it as a maturity thing. I had that trait a bit TBH but I grew out of it. And people I met could be way more extreme in their projection behavior. Can't even be part of team practice without going full passive aggressive on the coach the entire session, stuff like that.

There is certainly a dynamic with younger people who do things like swear at cops in front of their peers.

Most people have given up questioning authority when they get older and become submissive.

Still though, there are lots of people who become political activists and other things to try to change things. These are the kinds of people that the system really doesn't like.

 

[ncordless]

Yep. It's in a small town, where I was born. Prolly die there as well.

Does it have a tastee freeze where you can suck on chili dogs?

 

[Irenaeus]

There are many myths surrounding the Milgram experiment(s), the My Lai soldier and the man who participated in the Princeton experiment were different individuals with the same/similar name.

I found an official retraction of this by the author who first brought this up, as identical names had caused a confusion. Thanks for alerting me to the fact.

I'm still fascinated with whistleblowers, though. It seems very few people have what it takes, and I wonder if these are people who will take issue with basically anything, or just with the actual big issues.

 

[jehosafats]

Submission to authority can be an act of subversion to circumvent authority. Masochism is the best example of this. Masochists are all too eager to submit, to court the consequences of the law, in order to control (usually through contracts) what the law deemed forbidden.

 

[UpaLoompa]

There is certainly a dynamic with younger people who do things like swear at cops in front of their peers.

Most people have given up questioning authority when they get older and become submissive.

I didn't swear at cops when I was younger but I did, at times, engage in various forms of civil disobedience. I don't typically do the same anymore not because I've become more submissive--quite the contrary in fact--but rather the things I used to object are no longer things I weigh as heavily and because I've found other ways to protest those things.

Or maybe it is just all the fluoride I've consumed.

 

[IDL]

I didn't swear at cops when I was younger but I did, at times, engage in various forms of civil disobedience. I don't typically do the same anymore not because I've become more submissive--quite the contrary in fact--but rather the things I used to object are no longer things I weigh as heavily and because I've found other ways to protest those things.

Or maybe it is just all the fluoride I've consumed.

There are all sorts of manifestations of it that vary from individual to individual.

Usually people figure out that it's easier to work within the existing system than to try to change it.

 

[Madmick]

There is certainly a dynamic with younger people who do things like swear at cops in front of their peers.

Most people have given up questioning authority when they get older and become submissive.

Still though, there are lots of people who become political activists and other things to try to change things. These are the kinds of people that the system really doesn't like.

No, you totally misread the dynamic. The reason people's behavior changes is because (for the vast majority of them) when they grow up they actually have something to lose.

 

[IDL]

No, you totally misread the dynamic. The reason people's behavior changes is because (for the vast majority of them) when they grow up they actually have something to lose.

I don't think we are disagreeing. It's easier to just join the system whether you like it or not. Most people don't have much choice. Society tends to reward people who work within the system and we all gotta pay our bills.

 

[Cuzcatlan]

In my experience, the people who are most bothered by other people's submission to authority are, in fact, most bothered that they themselves are not the authority and that these other people are not submitting to them.

It's pretty classic projection psychology.

Kaboom! Lol. So true