Even though people call themselves individuals and claim to do what they want, it is in their code to follow a simple command from a superior even if it goes against their own judgment. In a simple experiment, like the one performed by Stanley Milgram, one command can make or break your sense of self. While the command is not mandatory, as seen by the Marines in the movie A Few Good Men, orders can be extremely difficult to not follow. A Few Good Men describes the court case of two Marines, Private First Class Louden Downey and Lance Corporal Harold W. Dawson, who were ordered to perform a "Code Red" on another Marine, Private First Class William T. Santiago. Stanley Miligram, a 1970s psychologist who wanted to test obedience in humans, believed that authority was the key to obedience. To test his theory he developed an experiment that involved a "Teacher", a volunteer who knew nothing about the real experiment, asking questions to a "student", an actor, and if the actor got the question wrong he would be shocked. As long as the experimenter asked them to continue, the student was shocked to the maximum extension of 450 volts. Just as Dawson and Downey knew that what they were doing would hurt Santiago, the teachers in Miligram's experiment knew they were hurting the student, yet they all continued. How far can you go until a command reaches too far? When does a command become too much to follow? The teachers in Milgram's experiment were not forced to continue, the experimenter did not take their hand and force it down, he simply told them to continue. Viewing the experimenter as an authority figure, the teacher continued. It is innate in our minds to follow anyone who appears to have authority over them, whether because we seem to...... half of the paper... full extent of the board (Miligram, 2). At an early age, children learn to do whatever an adult tells him to do. As adults, they learn that they must do whatever someone of a higher authority tells them to do. They are taught from the beginning to listen and obey. Maybe not to the extent we see it in Miligram's experiment or A Few Good Men, but it's there. It's almost an impulse to obey everything we're told, regardless of the consequences. Works Cited Encia, Georgio. "The Milgram Experiment on Obedience to Authority." Milgram's experiment on obedience to authority. University of California, November 15, 2004. Web. December 04, 2013. A Few Good Men. Director Rob Reiner. prod. Rob Reiner, David Brown and Andrew Scheinman. By Aaron Sorkin. Perf. Columbia Pictures, 1992. DVD.Stanley, Milgram. “Behavioral study of obedience” Wikipedia: Web. December 12. 2013.