The Game Show of Death

Imagine, you are a contestant in a game show. Your job is to ask some questions from a man who is in a separate room. You can not see this man but only hearing his voice.If he can not answer your questions correctly, you give him electric shock! The electric shocks start from 20 volts to 400 volts.This is the punishment for a wrong answer! You are also surrounded by so many spectators and an anchor who are encouraging you to keep questioning. In some point, you are OK with giving the shock to the man. But, when you hear he says: "Let me go. I don't want to continue. This electric shock is really hurting! I don't want to answer any questions anymore." Your doubts, responsibilities and values challenge each other. You ask yourself, "Should I go on? The man is suffering from the electric shock given by me." Don't forget that you are on a TV show. Everybody watches you and you know you won't win any money. How far you keep going?

This was a game on a TV show called, "The game show of death." A group of scientists wanted to know how TV influences us and how much we are obedient and follow the rules despite the fact that we know we hurt others or our action results in someone's death. So, they administered this game show to see how people react in this hard situation; if they keep playing or they revolt against the game's rules Surprisingly, eight out of ten contestants kept asking questions and giving electric shocks to the man. Only very few contestants hesitated to play and finally left the show.

In this documentary film, they interviewed the contestants who kept playing:

The interviewer: why did you play even though you knew the man will die?

The interviewee: I couldn't believe on a TV show death takes place so I kept going. And, in some part, I felt lonely. Spectators wanted me to go on. And, I was under a lot of pressure.

They also talked with the one who refused to play:

The interviewer: what happened that you didn't play anymore?

The interviewee: I remembered Auschwitz death camp and I felt I am one of the torturer.I couldn't stand the game!

Lastly, the film concluded that we, human beings, only THINK we are independent and make decisions according to our intentions and desires. Many rules have penetrated into our minds and we unconsciously behave according to them sometimes even without thinking about the consequences of our actions. We are obedient creatures and trust TV so much!

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Comments

Nafis March 31, 2011 13:58

Dear Monika, thanks a lot for reading the blog. It's sad and unbeleivable! However, I don't blame those people because I don't know how I would react if I were in that situation. And, they were normal people like us. They didn't have any mental problems at all. That 's why they were chosen for the show. It's interesting, isn't it? That's why the research showed how we are loyal to the rules and society.
Monika March 27, 2011 7:56

What a morbid idea for a TV show?!I think even those,who invent such things are not clear in their minds!-if it is true,it should have been banned,I deeply disagree to show violance in the media!

People are cruel enough (without getting new ideas),those people have a terrible psyche,let's make themselves have a treatment.

Thanks for sharing Nafis,I was astonished to hear about it.
Nafis March 22, 2011 20:12

Dear Night, it seemed to me that those people didn't have a heart at all. How can you hear someone is yelling, crying and begging and you are still playing your game?! It was really shocking! I also agree with it that past people were kinder and more helpful. At least this is true about my own city.
Nafis March 22, 2011 20:08

Dear Ika, exactly, when I was watching, I thought to myself if someone is yelling ,crying and begging for help, I couldn't keep playing. It's really crule! Dear Ika, I'm really glad to see your comments here. It's been a long time I haven't seen you. Thanks so much. Take care,
Mr_Night March 22, 2011 19:41

Wow, Nafis, this was an interesting subject. I think the media is affecting our life in really a bad way. If you see the violence on TV you will understand why people are becoming more aggressive.I remember my grand mother saying people in the old days were more kind and friendly.

This study that you have shown to us, gives a clear view on how people's humanity gone so weak. No wonder why few people react when watching the Bad news on TV, the news of wars and innocent people being killed. I hope people return to their normal nature.
Thanks again.
Night
Nafis March 22, 2011 13:12

Dear Ika, the show was real but they faked dying because it was an experiment to see how people react in real situation. I'm glad you liked the blog. I think the point in the show was interesting. Making a judgement is really easy and we can't say what we'll do in real situation. However, this was a warning sign to me that I should be more careful about what I am doing.
Nafis March 22, 2011 13:08

Dear Charivell, thank you so much for your comment. So nice of you.
Nafis March 22, 2011 13:07

Dear Valentine, the winner in the game show wouldn't receive any money. And, that was interesting because they kept playing and even didn't care about the man's suffering.
Nafis March 22, 2011 13:05

Dear Anele, feel free to express your opinion. I don't think you are attacking me. It's so vivid that they'll use the result of the findings. That's the point of researches. But, the idea was interesting to me because I personally had an experience. You never know how much TV is affected you until you see it by your eyes. Once I had an accident and I was sitting in the car. Suddenly, I saw some smoke come out of the engine. That time, I thought the car is going to explode and abruptly, I jumped out of car. This image was in my mind because of TV. I didn't know how much I was affected by it.
Nafis March 22, 2011 13:02

Dear Notears, they didn't kill anyone because it was an experiment. However, the show was real because they wanted to know how people react in a real situation so they made everything real.

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