French Fries

Do commercials cause you to drive a fancier car or use a different toothpaste? Do television characters nudge you toward a different hair style, or using catch phrases you otherwise would not speak?

Maybe.

But let's look at something more serious: Can television turn you into a quasi-fascist, torturing an innocent man for the entertainment of the hooting audience and bellowing game show host?

Again, maybe.

A recent French academic experiment created a fake game show, complete with celebrity host, who encouraged contestants to administer increasingly torturous electrical shocks.

NPR reports on this creepily-fascinating story.