The Milgram Obedience Experiment and the Chinese Cultural Revolution

Several weeks ago at the Lighthouse Fellowship's Bible Study, the topic of why some Germans joined the Nazi Party and obeyed immoral orders during World War II was brought up. Although I cannot recall all that was talked about, we did have a lively discussion.

A week or two later, I came across an article talking about independent thinking, the Nuremberg Trials, and the Milgram Obedience Experiment. The experiment was very interesting but the results quite disturbing . I won't go into details of the Milgram Experiment, but would like to share a quote:

"Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority." (Milgram, 1974)

This quote immediately brought the Cultural Revolution (文化大革命, 1966-1976) to my mind. Although I was merely a first grader when the Cultural Revolution ended, I have first heard from my parents and grandparents  and then read from various authors (both fictions and non-fictions) about life during that time. I was intrigued early on (since middle school maybe) into the history of the decade of catastrophe.

Of the books and articles that I had read on the Cultural Revolution years ago, "一百个人的十年" (English translation: Ten Years Madness) was one that I still remember. It was non-fiction, a collection from interviews with 100 people who lived through that harrowing decade. Real life stories told by these people were truly more dramatic (and more distressing in this case) than fiction. Some questions had lingered in my mind after reading the book. Did people truly believe all the propaganda? What made them, even teenagers, treat their fellow countrymen so brutally when the latter had done no harm? What motivated people to betray their co-workers, neighbors, and even spouse and parents? Why there was no museum for the Cultural Revolution? Why there was very little reflection and repentance either on personal or national level? The questions can go and on.

It has been over 30 years since the end of the Cultural Revolution. Is what the author of Ten Year Madness feared most ("..that later generations will adopt a sensationalist attitude towards the suffering of an earlier one")  becoming a reality in China? Do the younger generations know and learn from history? I don't know.  I do try to keep up with news from my homeland but I only go back every 2 to 3 years now  and usually only stay several weeks each time.

Well, what do I try to say through all this ramble? Maybe this. "That is the supreme value of history. The study of it is the best guarantee against repeating it." -John Buchan, Baron Tweedsmuir

As a student, I used to consider history a boring subject. Not my fault. Looking back, I realized that besides dry facts of names and dates most of which I could not recall, my history textbooks contained many plain lies.  Fortunately, my children will have the freedom to learn history from many living books, preferably primary source document, including the Bible. In fact, Daniel loves reading history stories and I love learning along side with him. It is my hope that through learning from the past my children will gradually develop the habit of independent thinking and my own mind will be challenged and sharpened as well.

Bread, Snow, Lego Night, and Field Trip

Bread (1/26/2012)

My very first home baked  bread

Hmmm, yum, yum

Trip to the Snow (3/3/2012)

The children had been begging to "go to the snow" for months. Taking advantage of some new snow, dear husband took the kids to a snow park. They had so much fun and came home with soaking wet boots and socks. I somehow forgot to pack socks for them. I was attending Joyce's baby shower that day so didn't go. I was actually thankful for not having to go because I have had enough of snow during my two years stay in update New York. 

Lego Night (1/28/2012)

SCOPE hosted a Lego Night with both display and competition in January 2012. (Now you know that how behind I was at downloading photos from my camera.) Some of the Lego creations were very impressive. I especially like the creativity of the first place winner. Of course Daniel's jet plane creation was pretty original and cool too. He only participated in display not in competition. 

Theme of this year's competition was City.

Daniel and his original creation (a jet plane)

James had fun playing with Lego there.

Nature Study Field Trip (3/7/2012)

UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology (Museum of Insects)

and UC Davis Museum of Wild Life and Fish Biology

Holding a waling stick (bug)

The bug walks on Daniel's hand

This is actually a classroom next to the museum.

The specimen on her hand was a squirrel,
Western gray squirrel to be specific
 

 The Education and Outreach person at the museum gave the students (and parents) a guided tour in a classroom, where undergraduate and graduate students take lessons. She is very knowledgeable and knew how to engage the children. We saw quite a few specimen and I learned a few things.

James can ride his bike now (without training wheels)!

James had been riding his bike with training wheels on since maybe last fall. He was always pretty cautious, and had refused to ride for several weeks after a fall.

Then earlier this year he insisted to have the training wheels taken off. Crouching over and holding his bike while he was "riding" was not fun. My poor back ached after each of his training sessions. So it was a  pleasant surprise when he suddenly got a bang of it about two weeks ago. Yeah! He is enjoying his newly acquired freedom of riding independently, and mom is relieved that she is not no longer needed--as a biking coach.

One small act of service

 I've never been good at managing our household chores. Lacking a system to make sure that chores are done in an orderly manner, I'm always busy but often distracted by the hundred and one other tasks that are calling my attention. So it's no surprise that the chore training of my children has been inconsistent and unfruitful. If you have children, you know that it's so much easier to just do it yourself than to train (i.e., motivate/bribe/nag) them to do any chore.

Yesterday afternoon I decided to clean the toilet. As I was gathering the supply and putting on gloves, Daniel saw me and said, "Mom, I will help you." And he did help by scrubbing the toilet.  If this is not THE first voluntary offer of help, it is the first in a long time.

This small act of willing service really warmed my heart and blessed my day, especially from my son who often groans and whines and drags for the simple task of swiping the kitchen floor (our kitchen is rather small, by the way).

War and Peace

No, it's not about the classic novel by Leo Tolstoy. It's about the intermittent "war" between my two boys and the much needed peace in our home.

Bickering and fighting between siblings is as old as human history. I know it firsthand from the quarrels between my sister and I as we grew up, but was unprepared by the intensity of fights between my boys.  Especially now they are home with me 24/7, it has become really vexing, making me want to run away.

Fighting over things tangible (toys, books, or snacks) or intangible (attention, love, or praise) is quite understandable. But they compete for everything, yes, everything, even silly things, such as who gets to wash their hands first before meal, who gets to put their feet into the water first when washing their feet, or whose piece of pie is bigger, or who has more kernels of pop corn in his plate. Really? What's the point??? I don't remember ever competing over foolish things like that with my sister. Is this a boy thing (again)?

Their joyous rough play this minute can and often do turn into physical fight the next minute. It's either one chasing the other with both screaming at the top of their lungs, or both tumbling down on the floor wrestling using every member of their bodies. I'm learning to let it go sometimes (for my own sanity) if nothing life threatening is going to happen. Well, one time when James was rather irritated by Daniel's teasing, he stormed into the kitchen, drew out a small knife form the knife block, and held it high over his head puffing with anger. Much alarmed by Daniel's cry "Mom, James is getting a knife!", I ran to the scene, took the knife away, and sternly scolded James. My husband and I had always considered our younger son to be the gentler and calmer one, and only recently found out that it may not be so, at least not with his brother. Maybe he knows that he is no match for big brother in strength or speed, so he has to resort to extreme measures to win?

Knowing that sustainable peace between the brothers could be hard to reach, I try to find some positives from their ongoing "war". One thing that I have to commend them is that despite their daily fights they never hold a grudge against each other. One minute they are fighting like they were real enemies who cannot stand each other, the next minute (OK, 10 minutes later) they are as close as can be, laughing or conspiring on some mischievousness.

Recently I often hear this in their bedtime prayers: "God, please help me not to fight with James/Daniel." or "Dear God, please help me not to fight that much." =)  My prayer is that they shall learn to seek peace and live together in unity.