Critical and Creative Thinking Questions 2

1. Have you ever changed a strongly held attitude? What caused the change for you?

I, at one time, held a strong aversion to spiders and other creepy crawly insects. One of my children is engaged to someone who has a strong love and opinion for all animals and plants regardless of our “fears” of them. As time has passed, I have found that while I may still be scared of them, I no longer have an initial reaction of “kill” and do feel regret and remorse when I feel that it is my only choice in a situation. This may be a miniscule item to others, but to me, realizing one day that the wolf spider that was hiding behind my bedroom curtains had made her way down to my kitchen, no longer needed to be slaughtered, just needed to become a permanent resident outside of our home.

2. Have you ever done something in a group that you would not have done if you were alone? What happened? How did you feel? What have you learned from this chapter that might help you avoid this behavior next time?

I was one of those rare teens that did not conform to peer pressure. I did not skip school, I have never smoked, I did not stay out later than curfew, but as an adult, I have tried foods in groups that I would likely have never tried on my own. One of these foods includes sushi. While I still find that I do not like the taste not the texture. I do not regret trying the food, and have tried it again bowing under the pressure of my children that it was just a bad batch or the wrong restaurant. I still do not like it! I truly believe that I would still conform to the “pressure” of “just try it, you might like it!”, but I have a strong resolve in other situations and will not participate in a behavior that is either illegal, immoral or does not conform to what I feel to be right or wrong.

3. How do Milgram’s results – particularly the finding that the remoteness of the victim affected obedience – related to some aspects of modern warfare?

The mindset of many Americans is that it is ok and good for us to use military force on countries that have violated the rights of others or that have made the nation feel