Saturday, October 4, 2008
14. Milgram Music
Listen to the song "Buzzer" by Dar Williams at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95082381 (the link is in the box on the left called "Hear the Songs.") Lyrics are available http://www.metrolyrics.com/buzzer-lyrics-dar-williams.html. What is the message of the song? How does it relate not only to the process of the Milgram experiment, but also to the conclusions Milgram drew? How would you describe the mood of the song from listening to it? How does the "feel" of the song relate to the Milgram experiment? Due Monday, 6 October.
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This song has a sort of chilling effect on me, not because of the tempo or the way she sounds when she sings it; it's more because of the words. The title, "Buzzer," symbolizes what the "teacher" of the experiment does. The situation described in this song is much like the experiments listed in the article by Stanley Milgram. The people conducting the experiment didn't think the typical person would follow through with the experiment knowing that the "learner" was in pain but when they did follow through the experimenters at least hoped the people would feel badly about what they "did." It turns out most people weren't too concerned. In the song, Williams speaks of how she feels badly about hurting someone else and wonders how people can continue to live after doing so. The "teachers" knew what they were doing was wrong but they continued to harm the "learner" because the experimenters instructed them to continue. This shows that people will generally do what they are told which may result in them doing things they aren't proud of. As long as they think the result won't be pinned on them personally they will most likely continue even though it’s wrong.
This song "Buzzer" by Dar Williams relates to the reading by Milgram. Williams is the teacher since she has to press the buzzer and turn up the watts. I think the message of the lyric is pushing the buzzer, doing something you don't want to do when you did want to do it at first. This song gives me a cold chill feeling since the beat of the music is more by drums and as the songs goes on the serious part of the song the beat goes more louder. The teacher in the reading refuse to continue to up the watts when the person would not answer because he is taking orders from above. I think the mood of the song is more chilly and willingness
since the artist is going on whether she wants to or not. I think the relation to the conclusion of Milgram's experiment is that both the learners are sicken and fragile but both must go on.
Since I can't hear any word from singing but read it, yes but not in tone as you want me to say about what feeling in it. At the first time, I don't understand any of this lyrics when I tried to read it twice. However if I can guess... buzzer is the answer to people's "pushy doings" which means they must do what the others would tell them to do and they can't stop continue doing until they are told so, as what Milgram wrote about learners and teachers. Learners are being forced to answer correctly or get higher volts and teachers feel it is wrong to do it because learners are in pain and maybe heart attack. Teachers want to stop it but the experimenters won't let them and make them go on asking questions until they decide to discontinue. So the results could be that there is any thing that would make us to do things that we do not enjoy doing but being forced to do it even if we aren't pleased with it. I think the experiment does something that makes people feel bad that they do if they follow it to hurt the other people but can they stop it? No one does in this story by Milgram, which is sadly hopeless for everyone.
The song, "Buzzer" by Dar Williams, is a direct discussion of Milgram's experiment. There is no subtly about what this song is directly about. However, this song infers more about the seriousness of this issue than Milgram’s essay. “Buzzer” shows a more “teacher’s” point of view on the experiment. The “teachers” did not know that they were the ones being experimented on; moreover they did not know that this experiment was effectively a test on their behavior as obedient individuals, not as people trying to test memories. Milgram discussed that he was disappointed in the results, which not many people were able to stop themselves from pressing the buzzer simply because the experimenter told them that they should continue the experiment. A few were able to disconnect themselves from the normal experiment and stop pressing the buzzer as if went higher than what they were comfortable delivering. Milgram discussed how after the experiment many felt a sense of remorse; as if they realized that they had done something wrong, incorrect even. The song did display exactly what the “teachers” of this experiment must have experienced. She discussed how the teacher must have felt after they continued on in the experiment, ignoring the protest of the “learner” as they tried to appease the experimenter. Her song had a sense of underlying dread, yet an almost excitement to be participating. She felt it was out of the norm, something that seemed to interest her, as well as the money that was offered. But throughout the song you could hear the subtle beat the need of understanding of why they had her do such an experiment. She did not disconnect herself from the “learner” allowing her humanity to show through, yet in the song she addressed the fact that she was no different than any other “teacher” as she went through and obediently continued through the screams. It isn’t necessarily a somber mood, but neither is it one of happiness or even content. But it is fitting to be connected to such an experiment as Milgram. Milgram’s experiment, being an outsider looking in, seems very sadistic, yet a complete overestimating of societies free will. Society is what caused us all to become such obedient followers, yet Milgram seemed to overestimate our ability to break from the norm. The song illustrated our need to fit to what is expected from us, even when it meant following orders that seemed to clearly cause harm and injury to others.
The message of the song was similar to the reading of Milgram because both Milgram and Williams were doing an experiment of taking a test. Every time you get an answer wrong the watts or volts increase. In Dar Williams song, she was reflecting to the Milgram experiment of what it would be like to press the buzzer every time this guy gets a wrong answer and when he gets a wrong answer then the watts go up. The Milgram experiment consisted of a teacher and a student in an experiment room. The student would go in the room and sit in an impressive shock generator chair and answer questions the teacher has for the student. Every time the student gets a wrong answer then the volts increase. The experiment was to get the student to become smarter because for every wrong answer the student gets then the volts increase which shocks the learner even more. The teacher was told to continue the experiment even if the learner was being harmed by the shock as it increases because the experimenter said so. Williams talks about how bad she feels about hurting others and wonders how people can continue to live after being harmed. After listening to the song, I feel like it's sad because Dar Williams was imagining what it would be like in Milgram's experiment of pressing the buzzer to hurting this guy because the guy gets the answers wrong. The "feel" of the song in relation to the Milgram experiment, I feel that it is sad to imagine or see someone hurting other people.
The message of the song "Buzzer"by Dar Willaims was something along the lines of doing something you don't nessacarily want to do, but you do it anyways because of something greater. The process in "The Perils of Obedience" was very much the same in the song "Buzzer." Turn up the button, press the buzzer, and repeat. The conclusions of the Milgram experiment were conveyed in the song when the person kept pressing the button, even though they knew it was wrong. The mood of the song really gave the feeling of a sort of excitement mixed with dread. While having an upbeat tempo, it had this grungy like feel about it that made it seem foggy. I think the song writer really wanted to convery the feeling of excitement with guilt. Knowing what you are doing is wrong, but you don't care because you aren't responsible. This "feel" of the song relates to the feelings of the Milgram "teachers." Some of them felt the guilt, but did it anyways because they had too. Others had no feelings at all and almost had a "robotic" way of operation. Overall, the song really had the feeling of a short rush mixed with guilt which really relates to the Milgram experiment.
The message of the Dar Williams song "buzzer" is the same as the migram experiment. The song is directyl correlated to the experiment and is talking about the "buzzer" the "teachers" had to push to shock the "learners" in the experiment. Both deal with the idea of whether to listen to athority or rely on one's conscious to make decisions. The song gave me a feeling of dread or that the singer was emotionally exhausted or down about something. The feel of the song relates to the experiment because of the message teh experiment is trying to get across and the results of the experiment. In the experiment most of the participants induced more pain even when they weren't sure they wanted to go on just because they were told to instead of following their conscious. It's almost kind of sad to think of that as the society we live in and I think that's why the song tried to get that feeling across.
I'm not exactly sure what the message of the song is but I’ll take a guess. I think the songs about a woman who needed money for simple necessities like food and would do anything for it. She basically did the same thing the “teachers” did to the “learners” in the Milgram experiment. This point brings me to how it relates to that experiment and its’ conclusions. She followed all the way through until the end and then had to go back and discuss the test just like in the Milgram experiment.
The woman admitted that she knew it was wrong just like the “teachers” did but didn’t say anything and followed the orders she was given. The main difference between the song and the reading is that the woman took part in this for money and in the experiment they got nothing out of it. The experiment was just to see how long normal, every-day people would listen to someone of higher authority at the expense of another human being. The same concept applies to the song just without payment.
I would describe the mood of the song as being sorry but having to do what she done because it was necessary. I think she felt bad for what she had done and probably wouldn’t go through this again but she also had the tone of she did what she done to get by and that no one should judge her.
I think the people of the Milgram experiment would feel similar to the way she did. They regretted it because they hurt someone else and violated their right of free-will to leave at request. I don’t think they would ever do this again if given the chance.
The song sounds really weird, but I think the message of this song is that people do things that they don't want to do or that they wouldn't do normally. The song sounded exactly like the experiment, she talks about how she was a teacher (subject) in this experiment and had to sit there and listen to the screams of a helpless person. Also, how she only done it because the man in the white coat (experimenter) told her to. The mood of the song seems sad and it makes you feel bad for the person being shocked. I don't want to ever have to be the reason for someone's extreme amount of pain. The feel of the song relates to the experiment alot, the beat of the song is fast and chaotic which relates to the feeling of the teacher being put in a chaotic situation. It kind of also gives you that feel of discomfort because the beat of the sound is crazy and then the sound of her voice makes your head want to spin.
The message of the song, “Buzzer” by Dar Williams, is that any ordinary person can place themselves into a situation that requires them to do something they are strongly against. Most people, however, will continue at ‘no fault’ because their higher authority commands them to do it. Williams relates to Milgram’s experimental process in that she mimicked the subjects in the experiment. The subjects who “tore out an ad”, or accepted the position in the experiment were average people with various jobs and positions in society, like the song writer. The song concludes that when Williams went back for her interview after the torture, she “knew it was like (she) failed a quiz”. The feeling of guilt of what she had pursued on an innocent individual overwhelmed her. In correspondence with Milgram’s experiment, Williams, like the subjected ‘teacher’, felt no responsibility for their actions due to having a higher precedence. Personal lack of responsibility allowed both the subjects and Williams the right to proceed with no consequence to themselves, which made the torture task easier to follow through with.
The mood of the song is difficult to pin-point. The song relays a rushing sense of shame when listening to it, almost as if Williams is telling you her story in guilt. She describes how being an average person who gets themselves into such a situation can ‘put in check’ ones personal obedience to another. The mood is typical and mellow in the beginning, starting out slow and telling of her usual daily activities. The song grasps the listener’s attention when it progresses to a racing and regretful mood. It describes the internal struggle Williams experienced when partaking in an intense experiment. However, toward the end, her voice changes to a ‘lesson learned’ sort of mood concluding the experience and how she is moving on. This particular ‘feel’ of the song relates to Milgram’s experiment by connecting the subject’s internal struggle to the mood of a lesson learned. Each subject went into the experiment to follow orders. Although, some subjects reacted differently; some were more extreme and attentive to their experimenter and others were rebellious and questioning their own actions.
The song is a peppy summary of Stanley Milgram’s experiment from a subject’s point of view. Milgram’s experiment concluded that the most fundamental lesson of his study was, “People, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process.” Milgram says that even when people realize the destructive effects of what their work has become, and are asked to continue their morally opposed actions that, “relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority.”
The song "Buzzer" by Dar Williams has a somewhat depressing effect on me. The overall tone and feel of the song is kind of a mixture of emotional distress along with the thrill of pleasing the experimenter, which in turn gives the listener a mixture of the feelings distress and excitement about the contents of the song. The message conveyed through "Buzzer" is a direct correlation to the Stanley Milgram experiments on obedience. The results achieved from Milgram's experiment were that no matter what how much pain was inflicted upon the "learner" the "teacher" still administered the increasing higher voltage for every wrong answer the "learner" gave similar to how the singer kept saying "I pressed the buzzer" over and over again no matter what the circumstance. In the song "Buzzer" Dar Williams says "and he begged me stop but they told me to go I pressed the buzzer", this is a perfect example of how no matter what the subject wanted to do in the experiment they still proceeded with the voltage simply in an attempt to follow the orders of a higher authority. In Milgram’s essay “The Perils of Obedience” he states that “obedience is a deeply ingrained behavior tendency, indeed a potent impulse overriding training in ethics, sympathy, and moral conduct.” Throughout the experiment and the song this statement by Milgram is particularly evident due to the fact that in both of these circumstances and in many other situations someone continues to do a task despite the repercussions because a higher authority requires them to.
When I listened to the song "Buzzer" and looked up the lyrics, it is exactly what Milgram's experiment is about. Dar Williams plays the role of the teacher and "takes orders from above" which is the experimenter. She has to keep pushing the buzzer and raising the voltage to shock somebody. I relates to the conclusions Milgram drew because even though the teacher did not want to "press the buzzer," they still did it because of the pressure from the experimenter. When there is a higher power convincing you that what you are doing is right and it must be done, you are more likely to conform and believe them. Listening to the song and how Williams is saying that she is sort of pressured into doing the experiment makes the listener feel uncomfortable knowing that she has to this. In a way, she is relating the experiment to everyday people and everyday life. She goes through her day like any other person but at the end she has to "press the buzzer." The feel of the song and the uncomfortableness that one could feel from the words relates to the experiment in everyway because even though the teacher figure does not want to harm the student, they do it anyway because a higher power tells them that they have to. The experimenter even tells the teacher that they are responsible for any damage or harm done to the student so that the teacher does not have to take responsibility for their own actions.
Ultimately, the message of this song is that in society today the majority of individuals will take certain actions just because it is excepted or a higher authority told them to. Even if that person is totally against the certain action they still will carry it out because it is their “duty”. The song relates to the song in many different aspects. A perfect example is when Dar Williams says, “And he begged me to stop but they told me to go”. The actors in the electric chair started to beg for the experimenter and subject to stop as the voltage increased. Some subjects let their sympathy take over and stopped the experiment, but others continued to carry out the experiment. The individuals that carried out the task didn’t proceed because they are heartless and want to watch someone else suffer; they kept going because it was expected of them. The tune of the song is upbeat and not slow. From the singer’s voice and choice of words you can tell that she is distressed and feels like the is getting pulled in different directions. She has two choices in life; one is to do what she feels is best or two follow what others expect her to do. Even though she is against the actions she keeps going, “keeps pressing the buzzer”.
I think that the song goes along with what the message of the Milgram experiment has to say. The song describes some of the same things in it that the teacher in the experiment experienced. The experiments predictiom was that people did not obey the experimentor and did not want to go over 150 volts of electricity because there body said no. But, the prediction was really wrong most of them obeyed the orders. The song seemed very sad and it seemed to drag on. It related to the milgram experiment because it seemed to hurt and drag on for the person who is being experimented on.
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