A hoax most cruel April 2, 2008
Posted by fs2004 in Uncategorized.Tags: conformity, Stanley Milgram
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I remember seeing a 20/20 special on this McDonalds incident after it was first deeply investigated a few years ago. After refreshing my memory on the case, I realized that the girls must have followed the instructions given because they had a false sense that the person claiming to be “Officer Scott” actually had power over them. From the minute we are able to speak and comprehend a language, we are told to respect our elders and follow the instructions given from those with authority. This early conformity becomes all too natural, to the point where we like to be told what to do. The article even states that McDonalds employees are told to be “appendages of the machine.” (Which further justifies my theory that within the next 15 years we will see the first fully automated McDonalds, but that’s besides the point.) What really matters here is that as much as we are free, individual thinkers with our own ideas and likes and dislikes, we also are trained to take orders from others and obey authority figures.
You didn’t see that 20/20 special online anywhere, did you? I was looking for news video about this incident but couldn’t find any. Anyway, what about this idea of ‘false power’ vs. ‘real power’? Is there any difference? In other words, does the sense that someone has power mean he actually does have it? Is power given or taken? Those are esoteric and abstract concerns, but a more concrete one is the role that our upbringing and cultural influences may play in making people susceptible to this kind of manipulation. I think you’re close to the mark in your prediction. Have you read Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation? He reveals how McDonalds is essentially treating its line workers are interchangeable parts of a machine; the whole process is designed to be as simple and linear as possible, and it relies largely on unquestioned following of the procedures. A bad model for an informed citizenry!