Jad Abumrad

The subjects are 40 males between the ages of 20 and 50.

Just normal, everyday dudes.

And he ran them through something like what you and I just did.

He would have each subject sit down at a table.

In front of this really impressive looking machine.

It had lots of switches on it.

And in the other room, there was a guy who he called the learner, who was supposed to have memorized some words.

And every time that guy got a word wrong, like you just did, which happened constantly, the volunteer was instructed to shock that guy.

with higher and higher voltage.

Now the volunteer couldn't see the guy he was shocking, but he could definitely hear him.

Milgram staged the whole thing like it was some experiment about memory and punishment, but of course it wasn't about that.

It was about how far would these people go?

How many times would they shock that sad sap in the next room just because they were being told to?

The guy yelling, of course, was an actor, and the shocks weren't real, but the questions in the air at the time were very real.

This was a moment when human cruelty was on trial, quite literally.

When I stand before you, judges of Israel, in this court to accuse Adolf Eichmann,

That's radio producer Ben Walker.

He'll be our guide for this segment.

Like, is that something that's universal?

Yeah.