Authority

Human Factory Settings: The Psychology of Conviction and Influence 1 Human Factory Settings - Part 1: The Chemistry of Conviction: Why We Are Wired to Be Swindled 2 Human Factory Settings - Part 2: Your Mind's Blind Spots: The Illusion of Rational Choice 3 Human Factory Settings - Part 3: The Charisma Algorithm: The Six Pillars of Influence ← Series Home The Anatomy of Influence: From Friendship to Fascism In the annals of commerce and politics, seemingly effortless compliance often yields the most stunning results. Consider the Tupperware party, an event where the persuasive power of friendship and pre-existing social bonds proved twice as likely to determine a purchase as the preference for the product itself. Or observe the staggering rates of obedience in the Milgram experiment, where only the perceived presence of legitimate authority compelled ordinary citizens to inflict maximum simulated pain. These examples are not anomalies; they are vivid demonstrations that persuasion, or “charm,” is not mystical but algorithmic—a methodical process that harnesses fundamental human social wiring to generate predictable assent. ...

The Hidden Code of Connection 1 Architects of Reality: How the Social Mind Predicts the World 2 Compliance and Conversion: Navigating the Pressures of Social Influence 3 Justifying the Unthinkable: Authority, Aggression, and Moral Compromise 4 Us vs. Them: The Psychology of Intergroup Conflict and Identity 5 Hardwired for Affiliation: Love, Loss, and the Need to Belong ← Series Home The Insidious Power of Obedience to Authority The study of social influence reveals a capacity for compliance and conformity, but an extreme and particularly pernicious form is obedience to authority. Driven by the need to understand the atrocities of the Holocaust, Stanley Milgram conducted his famous obedience studies at Yale in the 1960s to determine how normal individuals could follow immoral orders. In the study, participants (“teachers”) were required to administer increasing levels of electric shocks to a confederate (“learner”) for incorrect word pairings, believing the shocks were real and potentially dangerous. ...

The Untidy Business of Thinking: An Introduction to Philosophy 1 The Untidy Business of Thinking - Part 1: The Three Questions that Define Existence 2 The Untidy Business of Thinking - Part 2: The Price of Peace: Why We Submit to Authority 3 The Untidy Business of Thinking - Part 3: Beyond Perception: The Battle Between Mind and Matter 4 The Untidy Business of Thinking - Part 4: The Philosopher: A Terrible Explosive ← Series Home Key Takeaways Contract theory explains authority: The State's power arises from an agreement between individuals and the State, justified by voluntary consent. Hobbes feared lawlessness: The state of nature is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short"—citizens accept sovereignty to escape chaos. The Hobbesian contract demands total sacrifice: Citizens surrender almost all power to the sovereign in exchange for protection and survival. Locke critiqued absolute authority: Granting total power means escaping minor dangers only to be devoured by unrestrained rulers. Authority rests on vulnerable desperation: Both order and freedom represent painful trade-offs in the social contract. The Untidy Business of Thinking - Part 2: The Price of Peace: Why We Submit to Authority ...