Jun 13 2008
Authority - “Badges, We Don’t Need No Stinking Badges”
Last time I talked with you about reciprocity the “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” phenomenon that all humans are bounded by. Without it society would break down into selfish, greedy sects where nothing gets done.
Today, I’m going to talk with you about the Law of Authority.
1. law of reciprocity
2. law of authority
3. law of liking
4. law of commitment and consistency
5. law of social proof
6. law of scarcity
This law is one which is used mostly by governments, dictators and world leaders. Many times all it takes is a uniform to get unquestioned and mindless compliance.
However, it can have a less obvious effect. You are more prone to do what Brad Pitt, a doctor, a lawyer says than you would to do what your neighbor the trash man says.
This is because you place more authority and credibility to the celebrities and professionals. This happens because you respect celebrities for what they had to go through to achieve their place of fame.
You respect professionals because of the ‘intense’ schooling and long years of education they had to go through as if that is some kind of badge of competency instead of what it really is….a display of perseverance.
It’s nothing more than perseverance in many cases because like anything else in life the 80/20 rule applies.
You should respect them for giving up those years of their life and sticking it out to the end completion but judge them based on their competency and make your decisions from there.
The infamous ‘white coat’ syndrome has caused many problems in life. In 1 experiment people were brought in to a lab by a ‘doctor’ wearing a white coat and told they were to shock a person in another room whenever he answered questions incorrectly.
Most of the people in the study delivered up to lethal shocks to the victim because the doctor urged them to. They were informed the shock levels would be lethal and did it anyway.
So the power of the Law of Authority has vast implications that can be greatly abused. Stay alert and don’t just blindly follow the ‘Law’.
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