Yeah, his Slytherin side has gotten too pessimistic. In fact, the Hogwarts students did about as well as could be expected for a random group of people.
Using Milgrim stats, 35% of people don’t kill the innocent man when they have to press the button themselves and 7.5% don’t kill him when they’re just helping.
In Hogwarts, Harry, the Weasley hive mind, Susan, Ron, and 7 random kids helped. And Neville and Lesath Lestrange each get half credit so that’s 12 people helping. That’s what you would expect from groups of 35 and 160 respectively. Since we are told there are a little over a hundred people there, Slytherin would have done better just going with social science based priors.
In the Milgrim experiment the subject would be the first actor to defy authority, but here Harry was already pointing out the problem and asking people specifically for help.
It’s worth noting that in the Milgram experiment, there is no perceived punishment for failure to participate, just a polite repetition. Further, the Milgram experiment models willingness to stop acting in accordance with orders, rather that willingness to act against orders, which, while morally fairly indistinguishable, are psychologically (and legally) substantially different.
Your right that its not a perfect parallel, but I’m not sure which way that cuts. In Milgram there’s no threat of punishment, but participants have to actively participate not merely stand by in a crowd. Also in Milgram they have to listen to the guy scream each time they press the button, instead of just imagine something off screen.
I think of Slughorn as the only real Slytherin in canon. The Pure Blood contingent are a bunch of posers who’ve forgotten that the purpose of dominance is to make your life better, not to pursue some ideal which has a noticeable risk of getting you killed.
Yeah, his Slytherin side has gotten too pessimistic. In fact, the Hogwarts students did about as well as could be expected for a random group of people.
Using Milgrim stats, 35% of people don’t kill the innocent man when they have to press the button themselves and 7.5% don’t kill him when they’re just helping.
In Hogwarts, Harry, the Weasley hive mind, Susan, Ron, and 7 random kids helped. And Neville and Lesath Lestrange each get half credit so that’s 12 people helping. That’s what you would expect from groups of 35 and 160 respectively. Since we are told there are a little over a hundred people there, Slytherin would have done better just going with social science based priors.
In the Milgrim experiment the subject would be the first actor to defy authority, but here Harry was already pointing out the problem and asking people specifically for help.
It’s worth noting that in the Milgram experiment, there is no perceived punishment for failure to participate, just a polite repetition. Further, the Milgram experiment models willingness to stop acting in accordance with orders, rather that willingness to act against orders, which, while morally fairly indistinguishable, are psychologically (and legally) substantially different.
Your right that its not a perfect parallel, but I’m not sure which way that cuts. In Milgram there’s no threat of punishment, but participants have to actively participate not merely stand by in a crowd. Also in Milgram they have to listen to the guy scream each time they press the button, instead of just imagine something off screen.
I think of Slughorn as the only real Slytherin in canon. The Pure Blood contingent are a bunch of posers who’ve forgotten that the purpose of dominance is to make your life better, not to pursue some ideal which has a noticeable risk of getting you killed.