Chapter 5:
In chapter 5 we we hear about an interesting study and a very interesting woman. Leon Festinger is a psychologist from City College of New York and the University of Iowa, but whose primary contributions to the field of psychology were research studies done at MIT. Festinger infiltrated a cult that believed that the world was going to end on December 21 (sounds vaguely familiar), 1954, in a massive flood meant to cleanse the world and start anew. The cult leader, Marion Keech, had supposedly received messages from a god named Sananda, who would save anyone who believed in him and transport them to a planet far off to live after the cleansing of the earth. Marion was so convincing that she had followers selling their homes, leaving their jobs, and even abandoning loved ones. Festinger acted like a believer and infiltrated the group to see how they would react when the world indeed did not end. Festinger was surprised to find that the group would shape their beliefs around the events, instead of admitted they were wrong and questioning their beliefs.
The second half of chapter 5 is spent discussing this woman, Linda Santo, who believes that her brain-dead child is a saint with a direct line of communication to God. Her child, Audrey, was found floating in a pool when she was three years old, and while they were able to revive her, she was brain dead. Linda kept her daughter alive through the use of machines in order to take pain away from others who are suffering. People flock from all around the world to have Audrey heal them. Personally, based off of very limited information, I believe that Audrey was merely a placebo for all of the people who experienced medical recoveries. That is not to say that it was a bad thing. I have all different types of rituals that I partake in when it comes to competing in sporting events and training. I do not necessarily believe that I am 100% right about these things, but they give me a mental edge, which helps me perform better. I believe that a similar situation occurs with placebo effects, but that does not take away from the results. In my opinion, it is really all about what works for someone in their situation. If it works for you, so be it.
Chapter 6:
In chapter 6, Lauren spends time investigating Harry Harlow's experiments with primates. Harlow investigated the idea of love in primates. His experiment involved taking baby monkeys away from their parents in order to examine how they react to an artificial mother. Two artificial mothers are introduced to the monkey's cage, and the monkeys are observed and their behaviors are recorded. The first artificial monkey is a cold, hard metal monkey that has one breast capable of delivering milk to the baby. The second artificial monkey is a soft, terry-cloth covered monkey, that has no milk delivering capabilities. The monkey babies were expected to be more drawn towards the cold metal, but life-supplying artificial monkey. This would have supported the fact that babies are attached to supporting life. However, the monkeys all grew attached to the terry-cloth artificial monkeys. They would separate long enough to get milk from the metal one, but only to return to the soft artificial monkeys.
Overall, I believe that this guy may have hid behind a virtuous goal, but he did some sick stuff. The Iron Maiden experiments were repulsive. I feel like a lot of of the experiments were viable and helpful, but some of the experiments were off the deep end and excessive.
Foh ya dirty rats!
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