[kevin360]

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I thought it was worth watching - no dramatic masterpiece, but it's a story about some very important research..

I got some additional background information, assuming those details are true - learned a bit more about Stanley. 'Obedience to Authority' was the first psychology book I ever read. My understanding of the results of his experiments has changed over the years. Human children have demonstrated slavish adherence to social instruction in puzzle box experiments, whereas chimps go straight for the solution they see. It's one of the prices we pay for being such superb learners. Watch chimps learning a skill by watching other chimps - they aren't very good at doing that. We're wired for social learning and following an authority is implicit in such behavior.

Here's a cliff notes version for anyone curious about the research covered in 'Experimenter'. This short talk also covers the Stanford Prison Experiment. Here's David Eagleman on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KsAFALdp2w

If you liked that, here's more from the same presentation - on violence and group contagion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiXhZdO7AHM