Writing Assignment That I Found Meaningful, Interesting, or Troubling

One of the significant moments I experienced in the course over this semester was when I was given a writing assignment to explain peoples obedience to their authorities and superior officials. On a wider note, I was required to tell to what extent people would respond or go to obeying instructions given by their superiors when such instructions involve harming other people. I feel that this moment stood out for me because it was an opportunity for me because of some few reasons. Firstly, I viewed it as a chance to unmask some of the hidden things that people gave less attention to the society but were important. Secondly, it felt that I was given an opportunity to revisit Stanley Milgrams experiment regarding the obedient to authorities and other influential people within the society. Additionally, I perceived this particular assignment an opportunity to describe the reasons why even the sympathetic soldiers in fighting troops would induce harm or even kill innocent civilians. A dramatic example of this case could be observed in the killing of the Nazi during the World War II by the Germans. In this sense, therefore, I think it was an opportunity also to improve my understanding regarding the concept of obedience and authority.

In my opinion, my view of this experience is different now than it was at the time. Initially, my perception regarding the obedient to authorities and other influential people within the society was based on fear. In most of the cases, the notion that people obey their masters and superiors because of the fear of the unknown tremendously dominated my thoughts. However, through the research that I undertook in this writing assignment, I realized that several factors played crucial roles in linking these two variables; an individuals obedient and respect to authority and other superior figures.

Regarding the impact of the moment I have described on my experience of this course as a whole, I came to realize that different people will tend to obey orders from others when they acknowledge that their authorities are legally and morally based. Nonetheless, the responses and obedience to authority were influenced by the elements learned within different environments such as the family, learning institutions and in the workplace. With this, I fully gained an understanding of the reasons that made students respects their teachers. Even the most striking reason understood why some naughty students would fear the principal or administrator more than any other teacher. Conceivably, I realized that different individuals would also demonstrate obedience depending on the kind of teachings and elements they interacted with at the time of their upbringing at the familial, workplace or the school contexts.

About if I would describe the significance of the moment, I feel that it is global. It is because such moment and opportunity had the substantial impact to do with larger aspects of my experience at Auburn. In most occasions, I used to observe students obeying their teachers and any other senior employee within the learning institution and workers conforming to the instructions given to them by their seniors. Nonetheless, children could also be seen demonstrating obedience to their parents. Obedience is one of the natural components of humanity, and therefore these impacts could also be experienced by everyone.