Most people are sheep . . . great experiment!

[drfuzzy]

This is fascinating.  I think it explains a lot about religion . . . and a lot of other human behaviors . . . very well.  Check it out. 

[Jesster]

Hehe. One of my elementary school teachers did a similar experiment with my class. We only found out that we were lab rats after the experiment was over, which totally worked. He did explain how and why it all happened to us, so we all got a great lesson out of it. I'm glad he did that. I just wish I was smart enough back then to apply that knowledge to more important things in my life like religion.

[Little lunch]

That's ridiculous. There is no way I would have stood up to the beep.
I would have asked what was going on and if nobody had a good reason I wouldn't have done it.
Furthermore, I would have started to encourage others to not do it.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Yeah, Milgram's work too. Sad stuff.

[Losty]

That's ridiculous. There is no way I would have stood up to the beep.
I would have asked what was going on and if nobody had a good reason I wouldn't have done it.
Furthermore, I would have started to encourage others to not do it.

I feel the same. My first step would have been to ask the person next to me why everyone stands up for the beep. My second step would be to live record the crazies at my eye doctor onto Facebook. Lol

[Excited Penguin]

^ Lmao.

This is tricky, guys. Don't be so sure you wouldn't do it. And I'll tell you why. The first time it happens, when you see so many people doing the same thing around you, you wouldn't start imagining psychological experiments or anything like that. You'd naturally assume there's a very good reason for it - here are ten perfectly normal strangers doing it, why would they unless the staff there asked them to? So you have to do it too. Granted, you'll get curious afterwards when they do it again, but then you'll have already been hooked, so to speak, so it will be far more likely that you'll continue to comform rather than stop. A couple of principles are at play here, besides just social comformity. If you are to grant me that you'll likely stand up at least once, then the consistency principle kicks in. You have a deep need to make your behaviour look consistent, otherwise you feel awkward. So you'll do it again and again if everyone else does it as well.

I'm not saying I know everyone would do it, or even if I'd do it. This might very well depend on the person and the circumstances. I just think there's more to it than meets the eye, don't be so quick to think you'd act any differently than the people in the video. You wouldn't be thinking about it as much, for one, and there would be all these mental processes making you want to do it instead.

[Excited Penguin]

Yeah, Milgram's work too. Sad stuff.

This kind of innate behaviour is also quite useful, in fact it's far more often useful rather than not, especially in today's complex world. People just need to educate themselves about it in order to know how to counter this same kind of thing when it acts against them instead.

[Aroura]

This behavior is one of the ways humans learn. We emulate authority, and we emulate majority. It's built into all of us, even atheists. I don't even find it sad. I do wish people would question more before emulating, but the emulating part, you do it ALL THE TIME, without even realizing it. The speed you drive is regulated by other drivers around you as much as the speed limit on a sign or your own conscious "choice". Half the things you do and like were probably learned in this sort of monkey see, monkey do sort of way from your family and in places like Kindergarden. Don't knock it. It's very important that humans do this, societies would not function without it.

Just teach people to question, also.

[Athene]

I have a very hard time believing no one stopped to ask what the hell they were standing up for. I may very well have stood up, but I most certainly would have gone to the receptionist and asked "Excuse me..what's this beeping all about?"

If she couldn't or wouldn't give me an answer that made some damn sense, I'd become very nervous and freaked out, tbh. 

I'd probably hightail it out of there. 
I do have quite an imagination, though; I've watched and read way too much horror/sci-fi to just let that sort of weirdness slide.

"What the fuck is this beep doing to my brain? Tell me! Tell me!"

[Losty]

I think what throws it off for me is that people watching is one of my favorite things to do. There's nothing more exciting than a bunch of weirdos being weird in a group. I just feel like I'd be so excited to video them that I wouldn't have time to think of joining in. People are so interesting. And sometimes people do really weird things.