5.
BLIND OBEDIENCE TO AUTHORITY
“Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions just because they have been handed down for many generations.”
The 2011 crash of a Polish airplane at Smolensk in Russia, was a national tragedy and a time of mourning was declared in both countries. The exact causes of the crash and who or what was to blame are disputed to this day. A range of causes was considered, from poor lighting, incorrect information by Russian air traffic control, pilot error, trees not being cut near the runway, to the actual location of the landing being incorrect.
The Russian report on the crash provides an intriguing perspective on the accident. It argued that the Polish crew failed to heed bad-weather warnings because they were afraid of displeasing their President, Lech Kaczynski. Tatayana Anodina, head of the Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) in Moscow, who investigated the accident, argued that the pilots were driven to take “unjustified risks.”38 She said that during the flight, the crew was repeatedly advised of bad weather conditions at the destination airport, but despite this failed to change course in order to make an alternative landing. Her view was that the two pilots had feared a “negative reaction” from President Kaczynski if they switched to the other airfield.
“The main passenger’s expected negative reaction... placed psychological pressure on crew members and influenced the decision to continue the landing,” she said. The plane’s flight recorder caught one of the crew saying “He’ll get mad,” in an apparent reference to the Polish president’s determination not to alter his schedule. Poland’s air force commander, Gen Andrzej Blasik, added to the pressure by entering the flight deck. Anodina noted:
“The presence of the Polish air force commander on the flight deck up to the aircraft’s impact with the ground put psychological pressure on the crew captain to decide on continuing descent in a situation of unjustified risk, dominated by the goal of making a landing at any cost.”
Whether the Russian version of the cause of the accident is correct or not, the story illustrates the dangers associated with the pressure to comply with people in authority. This pressure can be exercised even when the authority figure is not known personally or is not even present.
In the 2012 American docudrama Compliance a young woman was humiliated by her manager, and sexually assaulted by a stranger, who was receiving instructions over the phone from a man who falsely identified himself as a police officer. The film directors claimed that this incident was not isolated, but had happened more than 80 times in different states in the US. The film depicts the helplessness and anguish of the victim and also the moral dilemma of the perpetrator who was seeking to do the right thing within their paradigm in relationship to the authority figure. Why is it that the authority figure was not even questioned and degrading acts were committed, all in the name of following the “law?”
When we have a compliant relationship with authority it relieves the anxiety and pain of Not Knowing. However, blind obedience may significantly impact on people’s ability to make good decisions and perform at their peak. At worst, it can lead to devastating consequences.
