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How is everything going so far? Sadly, I have not been able to go back home yet. It is already the 28th, and I could not get a train or flight ticket.

So instead of feeling sad, I have been studying the patterns among world leaders. How they influence, how they maintain power, and how they make people do things they do not want to do.

In the early 1960s, a question captured the attention of psychologists and the public alike. To what extent will ordinary people obey authority, even when it conflicts with their personal conscience? This question became the foundation of one of the most famous and controversial studies in psychology, the Milgram obedience experiment.

Conducted by psychologist Stanley Milgram at Yale University, the study aimed to understand how individuals respond to authority figures. Participants were told they were part of a study on learning and memory. They were assigned the role of teacher, while another participant, who was actually an actor, was the learner.

The teacher was instructed to administer electric shocks to the learner each time an incorrect answer was given. With each mistake, the voltage increased, ranging from mild discomfort to potentially dangerous levels.

Unbeknownst to the participants, no real shocks were delivered. However, the learner’s prerecorded responses, including pleading, screaming, and eventually silence, made the situation feel very real.

Milgram predicted that only a small percentage of participants would continue administering shocks at the highest levels. Instead, the results were striking.

Around 65% of participants continued to the maximum voltage of 450 volts, despite clear signs of distress from the learner. Many participants showed visible signs of tension, anxiety, and moral conflict, but still obeyed the instructions.

The findings revealed amazing insights into human behaviour.

Authority pressure played a major role, as participants were more likely to obey when guided by a confident authority figure. Gradual escalation also mattered, since the step-by-step increase in voltage made it easier to continue. Diffusion of responsibility was another factor, with many participants believing the authority figure was responsible for the outcome.

Milgram’s findings extend beyond the laboratory. They help explain behaviour in historical events, workplace settings, and everyday life.

The study shows how ordinary individuals can carry out harmful actions under authority. It highlights the importance of questioning unethical instructions and recognising personal responsibility within systems of power.

After reading the newsletter, you may have started to relate it to incidents that have happened to you or to people around you, haven’t you?

There are many things in this world that we do not even think about, yet they are actually happening to us or around us. We are all affected by something, knowingly or unknowingly.

Thanks for reading G! See ya!

— Anirban

The Art of Spending Money by Morgan Housel. It teaches you how to use money to enhance life satisfaction rather than just accumulating it.

If you laid out all the blood vessels (veins, arteries, and capillaries) of an average adult, they would stretch for over 60,000 miles!