Proceeding Down the Slope

I saw a mouse die.

It was traumatizing - for a moment. I then proceeded to skin it, ensuring that the visceral membrane stayed intact. There it was, pinned to some styrofoam, it's skin peeled back revealing its carefully compartmentalized innards. I was taken aback by my callousness. Minutes earlier I was playing with the mouse. It was an unrighteous dualism; I was practicing restraining the tiny creature in the most gentle and unobtrusive way while dehumanizing it so far as to only refer to the little thing as 'it' because I knew its life wouldn't last much longer.

The fun thing is I did this as instructed by my teacher. The next day I learned about Milgram.


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Ps. If you don't know who Milgram is, wikipedia it. You'll catch the irony