By strange coincidence I think it was Steve who started the Third Ways with a question. Both options were unworkable. The mystique of thirty individuals doing this strange gyration soon brought more attention to the class and its experiment into the German personality. The trial was over. Every word seemed to be taken and absorbed. In 3 days the movement had grown to 200 students. How could the German populace claim ignorance of the slaughter of the Jewish people. 2019 Netflix Germany Miniseries . It's a bit of both isn't it? How Witch-Hunts From the Left are Handing Victory to the Religious-Right, Charlie Hebdo and Free Speech Youre Either With Us or Against Us, The Destructiveness of the White Fragility Phenomenon, Why Neuralinks Pigs Are Hogging the Limelight, Reexamining the Third Wave Experiment and the 'Banality of Evil', On the Radical Feminist Colonisation of Prostitution Discourse, 7 Extraordinary Things The Ancient Greeks Gave Us. There must be a program. [2], The experiment began with simple alterations such as proper seating. He was correct. Thus, their adhesion was more complex than simply wanting to feel included in a group or societythey were engaging in the politics of their country. Students must be sitting in class at the attention position before the late bell; all students Must carry pencils and paper for note taking; when asking or answering questions a student must stand at the side of their desk; the first word given in answering or asking a question is "Mr. it's discipline. I talked about pride. "Pride is more than banners or salutes. Played guitar and enjoyed drama. Evil becomes banalised by human beings, but it is not in itself banal. The students had become more and more involved in the project. In the beginning, the students treated the new regime as a game but became more serious once their teacher told them their marks were at stake. Hold them tight. We spent hours later talking about what he felt and did, but from that moment on Thursday morning I was more concerned with what might be happening at school. Eyes strained and pulled at the light but the pattern didn't change. Without command the entire group of students returned the salute. From Ron's description it is clear to me that his students (many? It caused a lot of problems at the school because students were not prepared properly to understand what was being taught. ", The clincher came quite by accident. How far would you have gone? The intensity of the response became more important than the content. Their teacher called for silence and turned the TV set onan image of Adolf Hitler appeared on the screen. "Yes.1' "Now listen carefully. Proper seating became the most important aspect of learning. I demanded that they leave the room. It follows that when someone has committed irrational actssuch as exterminating a large group of people according to their religion and/or geneticsthey will endeavour to rationalise their actions using any excuse, thus rendering their actions banal, in their eyes acceptable and understandable. It's taken three years. You are assigned the problem of training and convincing at least twenty children in the adjacent elementary school that our sitting posture is necessary for better learning. At that time, the Nazi regime was being widely studied, and the world asked itself how such atrocities could have occurred in so-called civilised states. Yes, we would all have made good Germans. As the movement grew outside his class and began to number in the hundreds, the experiment had spiraled out of control. Controversial and unorthodox as the Third Wave Experiment might be, there is a lot we can take from social experiments such as these, especially amidst the disaster and upheaval we have witnessed so far in 2020. While the class sat in stern silence I began to talk lecture sermonize about the value of community. Some of their faces were relaxed with smiles that come from pleasing the teacher. Evil is not banal, and it cannot be found everywhere, but it is made banal by those who refuse to admit that they have been the perpetrators and performers of evil. The school cook asked what a Third Wave cookie looked like. Kids were instructed in posture, began each remark with Mr. and saluted. It debuted on October 10[11] It was produced by Philip Neel and Mark Hancock, two of Jones's own former students. The Third Wave disaster. Some swirled back to momentarily hold Robert and me. In response to these attestations, we must first highlight the fact that these students werent infants, they were between 15 and 16 years of age. If you will stand up and display what You have learned in the past four dayswe can change the destiny of this nation. Several friends of mine posing as reporters and photographers began to interact with the crowd taking pictures and jotting frantic descriptive notes. In the confusion of the moment I moved slowly toward the television. Ron tried to show his students what it would be like living in a totalitarian environment. The first day, the students acted almost as if it were a game and obeyed the commands of their teacher who they already trusted and respected. I am having a hard time believing this. Even stranger was the gradual improvement in the quality of answers. May 14, 2022 Lauren Coontz. A hushed silence shrouded the room. In this room. And they seemed to want more. For years I kept a strange secret. They were also acknowledged for doing this in a crisp and attentive manner. Well at last it can be talked about. The question here is not why but how the German people came to support the Nazi regime. Oral history of Ernest DeMaio, from his early radicalizing experience of the First, The autobiography of Fred W. Thompson - socialist, Wobbly, organizer, soapboxer, editor, class-war prisoner, educator, historian, and publisher, A collection of essays written by Dwight Macdonald, most of which appeared in his. Discipline. The procedures were simple. I began to talk. When and how will this end? The room stayed deadly still. You have been used. I would dismiss the class allowing them to leave their desks and then call them abruptly back to an attention sitting position. The rabbi for one of the parents called me at home. In our own personal habits and way of life. I shared this silence with two hundred students. For years after the second world war, when the world had time to reflect, we had taken the conclusions of these experiments and the words of Arendt to conclude that evil, in itself, is banal, and can be found in the most ordinary of upstanding citizens. On Monday, I introduced my sophomore history students to one of the experiences that characterized Nazi Germany. I shared this silence with two hundred students. His students where attached to the order. quite the contrary. Like the Germans, you will have trouble admitting to yourself that you come this far. We were studying Nazi Germany and in the middle of a lecture I was interrupted by the question. Was all my belief in Carl Rogers to shrivel and die? As I spent more time playing the role I had less time to remember its rational origins and purpose. "There is no leader! There have been a number of famous psychology experiments that are considered controversial, inhumane, unethical, and even downright cruelhere are five examples. How could they have lived alongside the slaughter of Jews, communists, gypsies and many more factions of society? they asked. Was The Wave Experiment by Ben Ross Succesful. Robert was crying. If Ron Jones was in fact terminated from the school, it is clearly because humanity is afraid to let go and see what is possible. It was easy. Evil in itself is not banal, and evil acts do not necessarily have to be committed by evil people. Wednesday evening someone had broken into the room and ransacked the place. Upon their arrival, the students were presented with a blank channel. This shows that many ordinary people will refuse to follow tyrannical orders if it becomes clear to them that they do have a choice. Things were already getting out of control. It's now just a dream, something to remember, no it's something we tried to forget. I now can appreciate why the astronomer turns relentlessly to the telescope. On the contrary, they analysed the very specifics of the experiment to come up with a more thorough hypothesis. Oh I was benevolent. I'm very upset over Robert! They were doing something together. The Third Wave was an experimental social movement created by California high school history teacher Ron Jones in 1967 to explain how the German population could have accepted the actions of the Nazi regime during the rise of the Third Reich and the Second World War.[1][2][3][4][5]. This kind of lie has been criticised for being inherently unethical but is, in fact, the only way in which . He calls me Mr. Jones. He was holding on to me and shaking. Although . I confided that they were the students selected to represent their area. This last lesson is perhaps the one of greatest importance. Late Wednesday afternoon I found Robert following me and asked what in the world was he doing. Why did the students accept the authority I was imposing? Students from across the school joined in. He walked always on my right. Not knowing when and if you'd ever see each other again. They were learning more. Since we had a salute I made it a rule to salute all class members outside the classroom. tax collector. I then said the words "Strength Through Discipline" followed by a repetitive chorus. Now the students do their homework to be able to answer Ben Ross questions. He was surprised when around twenty of the students made such reports. I decided to find out. Neck muscles rigid. No one laughed. [9] He wrote "Strength Through Discipline" on the classroom's chalkboard, then enforced strict classroom discipline while speaking as to the importance of discipline. The march of super race. Many of the students were completely into being Third Wave Members. So, he decided to demonstrate this . The involvement level in the class moved from the few who always dominated discussions to the entire class. The Wave is a made-for-TV movie directed by Alex Grasshoff, based on The Third Wave experiment put on by teacher Ron Jones to explain to his students how the German populace could accept the actions of the Nazi regime. I have a question for you. You are a selected group of young people chosen to help in this cause. Each Student had a job and they weren't to . They aren't bright, they can't make the athletic teams, and don't strike out for attention. You chose to accept that group's will and the big lie over your own conviction. The Third Wave experiment involved the use of authoritarian dynamics similar to Nazi Party methods of mass control in a classroom setting by high school teacher Ron Jones in Palo Alto, California, in 1967 with the goal of demonstrating to the class in a vivid way how the German public in World War II could have acted in the way it did. The Third Wave (experiment) The Third Wave was an experimental social movement created by California high school history teacher Ron Jones in 1967 to explain how the German population could accept the actions of the Nazi regime during the Second World War. No. "Listen closely, I have something important to tell you." To make the salute you brought your right hand up toward the right shoulder in a curled position. It was as if everyone wanted to dissect the moment, figure out what had happened. "The Third Wave presents inside look at Fascism". While Jones taught his students about Nazi Germany during his senior level Contemporary World History class, Jones found it difficult to explain how the German people could have accepted the actions of the Nazis. "It's your task to design a Third Wave Banner. Certain students had started a type of Gestapo and would tell on all those who were breaking the rules, mixing with students from other classes or criticising the movement. 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