I fail to see the conclusion of the experiment though. Why are people susceptible to this? Is it that they crave leadership, boundaries, tradition (made up or not) and comraderie? Is it that they're gullible and will go along with anything?
"Die Welle" is a very well made dramatization of this, set in 2000s Germany.
What could go wrong? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Generation_(1979_fil...
Who else clicked this link, confusing it with the First Wave?
Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0160277/?cmdf=the+first+wave+sc...
I remember reading this during Accelerated Reader program as a kid. That book was called "The Wave" [0]
> Jones based the name of his movement on the supposed fact that the third in a series of waves is the strongest.
I cannot find any useful reference to this fact. Any pointer?
My teacher did the simpler version and had us watch the german film adaption of this in high school.
I always struggled with understanding how Germans could accept Hitler. It finally clicked when I saw Trump rising to power. Of course they are extremely different, but seeing half a population accept (to me) obvious lies and disinterest in truth, I didn't find it so hard to believe what happened in the thirties in Germany any more.
Can you imagine Palo Alto HS running this experiment today? Parents and students would be enraged. The teacher would be fired.
The point was to show how easy it is to get caught up in such movements (all of us are susceptible). There’s a good book that shares this story from an ordinary german citizen:
https://www.amazon.com/Ordinary-Men-Reserve-Battalion-Soluti...