The Power of Authority And How To Become One

A study was done in 1962 on the effect of authority on humans. It was conducted by Yale University psychologists whose name was Stanley Milgram. Here’s how the experiment went.

An actor would sit on an electric chair. The subject was ordered to ask the actor some questions. If the actor got the answer wrong, the subject was ordered to administer a small amount of electric shock.

Obviously, the subject was told that the goal of this experiment is to study how the brain learns.

But here’s the thing. The shock voltage gradually increases as the actor got more wrong answers – up to 450v, which is potentially deadly. And if the subject wanted the experiment to stop, he was given prompts like, “You must continue.”

The experiment would end if the subject still refuse to administer the shock after 4 prompts.

So what was the result?

65% of the subjects administered the potentially deadly shock. And the rest of the subjects? They administered up to 300v – still pretty painful.

The study was later discontinued because it had a negative mental effect on the subjects.

That’s a pretty grim picture

I know what you think. If it was me, I wouldn’t have gone past 10v! Right?

We all like to think we are in complete 100% control of our actions. For example, when surveyed, the 80% of the general public said the decisions of the majority will NOT affect their decisions.

Yet time and again, social proofing had been proven to significantly influence human behavior.

Why?

Because the need to conform to group norms stems from the reptilian part of our brain. That is – conformity to group norm is a basic need. It’s like hunger, thirst and sex. Sure there’s some amount of control you can wield over them, but for how long can maintain your grip?

How long will you hold your hunger before you steal something to eat?

What has this got to do with the experiment? Well, obedience to authority comes from that same part of our brain. If you acknowledge a person be an authority, you’d do what they say.

You do that because of a phenomenon called the Agentic State.

Agentic state is when you do what an authority say because you can place the blame of whatever you’re doing to the authority who ordered it. Right?

I’m sure you can relate to this. Remember when you were a kid and you blamed your brother for asking you to steal? Or the time you heed FDA’s suggestion on what’s “healthy” and then blamed them for your health when you found out otherwise?

Heck, even Adam blamed Eve for “tricking” him into eating the Forbidden Fruit!

All of them are in the Agentic state.

So why I’m telling you all this?

I’m telling you all this because I don’t want you to underestimate the power of authority. Some people seem to achieve so easily while some struggle to barely live.

The difference between them is of course, authority.

Wouldn’t you like to wield that same power?

The most effective method to become an authority

I’m sure you’ve heard a lot on the subject of becoming an authority. You know, write articles, maintain a blog and all that stuff. How is it working out for you?

Not great. Well, there’s one thing those people left out… Not because they want to hide it from you, but because they didn’t even realize they are doing it.

You see, contrary to “guru advice” what makes an authority an authority is not the amount of articles he wrote… it’s the quality of those articles. Now, I know a lot of advice ends there. “Write quality post”, they said. What the hell is that right?

So what do I mean by “quality”?

Does it mean you have to use big words and be 100% grammatically correct? Heck no. What I mean by “quality” is the “punch” of the article.

Experts don’t dwell on a very large subject. You never see people like Frank Kern and Rich Scheferen talk about “How to craft a killer sales copy”, although they are certainly an expert in that field.

Why? Because it’s too broad. That subject alone can cover a whole book!

What experts do when it comes to articles is they drill 1 inch wide and 1 mile deep. They write about a very tiny subject and drill deep into it.

And when you do that, your articles suddenly jump from “space-wasting-junk” end of the “Crap Barometer” to the “I-would-die-if-I-don’t-have-this” end.

Again, why? Because the details are where value resides. Beginners are always looking for the details. What can I learn from this article that I can take away and implement right now and why I should do that?

Plus, writing detailed articles shows you’re knowledgeable about the topic and not just someone who copy.

Here’s an example.

Let’s say you’re in the health market. Instead of talking about improving health in general, like eat more vegetables, have enough sleep and do more exercise, you narrow down to exercises only.

Then you talk about how cardio really is bad for your heart and why.

So now you’re talking about the effects of cardio in your heart. That’s one article.

The next article could be about what sort of exercises are good for your heart and why? Then the next article you can talk about the examples and the routine and why those exercises and those routines are the way to go.

I can go deeper but you get the idea.

Same thing goes for the copywriting market. You’ve seen one of those “How to write headlines” article. Take one of their points and delve deep into why that one point works.

And once you delve deep, you’ve just separated yourself from all the “regular” article writers.

So go. Go create 1-inch-wide-1-mile-deep articles and enjoy your new found power… That’s a command!

Image: Hugh & New York Times

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