The alphabet was a great invention, which enabled men to store and to learn with little effort what others had learned the hard way-that is, to learn from books rather than from direct, possibly painful, contact with the real world.
B. F. SKINNERA person’s genetic endowment, a product of the evolution of the species, is said to explain part of the workings of his mind and his personal history the rest.
More B. F. Skinner Quotes
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Give me a child and I’ll shape him into anything.
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An important fact about verbal behavior is that speaker and listener may reside within the same skin.
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The way positive reinforcement is carried out is more important than the amount.
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Does a poet create, originate, initiate the thing called a poem, or is his behavior merely the product of his genetic and environmental histories?
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A vast technology has been developed to prevent, reduce, or terminate exhausting labor and physical damage. It is now dedicated to the production of the most trivial conveniences and comfort.
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It has always been the task of formal education to set up behavior which would prove useful or enjoyable later in a student’s life.
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A person’s genetic endowment, a product of the evolution of the species, is said to explain part of the workings of his mind and his personal history the rest.
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We have seen that in certain respects operant reinforcement resembles the natural selection of evolutionary theory. Just as genetic characteristics which arise as mutations are selected or discarded by their consequences, so novel forms of behavior are selected or discarded through reinforcement.
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Old age is rather like another country. You will enjoy it more if you have prepared yourself before you go.
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It is not a question of starting. The start has been made. It’s a question of what’s to be done from now on.
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We shouldn’t teach great books; we should teach a love of reading.
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A scientist may not be sure of the answer, but he’s often sure he can find one. And that’s a condition which is clearly not enjoyed by philosophy.
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A first principle not formally recognized by scientific methodologists: when you run into something interesting, drop everything else and study it.
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A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying.
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What is love except another name for the use of positive reinforcement? Or vice versa.
B. F. SKINNER