Do you remember the “Milgram Experiment”? Well, this may shock you even more.
There is a controversy in France brewing over a “Fake TV show has players electrocuting others”, according to MSNBC.com. In the show The Game of Death, 4 out of 5 players were willing to deliver a potentially lethal jolt of electricity. In fact, the victim, an actor playing a part unbeknownst to the contestants, plays dead on the set.
Why were they willing to do so?
According to producer Christophe Nick, “They told themselves, ‘TV knows what it’s doing.'”
Sounds like Homer Simpson’s attitude of “TV doesn’t lie” is more widespread than we would like to believe.
It’s also something to keep in mind whenever someone minimizes media’s impact upon their lives.
Much as some people believe what they read on the Internet, or in e-mails passed on by others — until someone finds out otherwise.
Sad to say, I've had to correct a couple of ministers in recent months about things they mentioned during a worship service or in online communications. It was as simple as doing a Snopes.com check on what they said, yet they apparently never did it.
Some people don't email me much any longer because I've called them on various things that a simple check at Snopes would flesh out. Last election was particularly bad. It seems that more than a few were willing to believe anything but the truth about Candidate Obama. One in particular got me so annoyed I finally told them via Reply All don't send me anything more about Mr Obama being a Muslim.
I've thought about doing a piece about this very topic, but there's already an excellent one, albeit from a Baptist point of view, at The Baptist Standard.