"You needn't take it any further, sir. You've proved to me that all this ultraviolence and killing is wrong, wrong, and terribly wrong. I've learned me lesson, sir. I've seen now what I've never seen before. I'm cured! Praise God!" -Alex in “Clockwork
The quote above is from “Clockwork Orange”, a movie about a boy, Alex, who goes to jail for murder and is then chosen to be transferred to a medical facility where he undergoes a psychological experiment. This experiment uses classical conditioning to train his mind to be physically ill when violence is seen. To do this, Alex was injected with a “secret serum” and then taken to a theatre room to watch clips of horrific images. While watching these images, the serum made him feel physically ill. By feeling physically ill during the clips, experimenters thought he would alter his acceptance of violence.
My first initial reaction to this movie was how disturbing it is to be subjected to torture! I almost see myself in the main character’s shoes, and it’s painful to see someone put through something so evil regardless of the crime. However, if the experiment works and successfully trains someone like Alex to live a life without violence and possibly save people’s lives, it’s probably worth it. Like the quote stated above, whether he meant it then or not, he eventually does feel that “ultraviolence” is wrong. The classical conditioning experiment, however disturbing it was, worked.
To understand the term of "classical conditioning" better, the diagram below may help:
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