B. F. Skinner on control
B. F. Skinner107 quotes“To say that behaviors have different ‘meanings’ is only another way of saying that they are controlled by different variables.”
More from B. F. Skinner
Science is a willingness to accept facts even when they are opposed to wishes.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner A piece of music is an experience to be taken by itself.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner The speaker does not feel the grammatical rules he is said to apply in composing sentences, and men spoke grammatically for thousands of years before anyone knew there were rules.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner Behavior is determined by its consequences.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner Unable to understand how or why the person we see behaves as he does, we attribute his behavior to a person we cannot see, whose behavior we cannot explain either but about whom we are not inclined to ask questions.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner Teachers must learn how to teach they need only to be taught more effective ways of teaching.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner But restraint is the only one sort of control, and absence of restraint isn’t freedom. It’s not control that’s lacking when one feels ‘free’, but the objectionable control of force.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner Do not intervene between a person and the consequences of their own behavior.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner Give me a child and I’ll shape him into anything.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner We are only just beginning to understand the power of love because we are just beginning to understand the weakness of force and aggression.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner Those who have had anything useful to say have said it far too often, and those who have had nothing to say have been no more reticent.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner If you’re old, don’t try to change yourself, change your environment.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner Science, not religion, has taught me my most useful values, among them intellectual honesty. It is better to go without answers than to accept those that merely resolve puzzlement.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner Society already possesses the psychological techniques needed to obtain universal observance of a code – a code which would guarantee the success of a community or state. The difficulty is that these techniques are in the hands of the wrong people-or, rather, there aren’t any right people.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner The major difference between rats and people is that rats learn from experience.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner We shouldn’t teach great books; we should teach a love of reading. Knowing the contents of a few works of literature is a trivial achievement. Being inclined to go on reading is a great achievement.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner
Original quotes
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More on control
Only you can control your future.
Dr. SeussDr. Seuss We need to continue to practice social-distancing and mask-wearing to get the virus under control.
Joe BidenJoe Biden We need to continue to practice social-distancing and mask-wearing to get the virus under control.
Joe BidenJoe Biden Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.
George OrwellGeorge Orwell If you want to know who controls you, look at who you are not allowed to criticize.
VoltaireVoltaire The single observation I would offer for your consideration is that some things are beyond your control.
Neil ArmstrongNeil Armstrong There’s definitely a dangerous feeling when you’re in love-it’s giving your heart to someone else and knowing that they have control over your feelings. I know for me, who always tries to be so tough, that’s the dangerous thing.
Beyonce KnowlesBeyonce Knowles Self-disciplined begins with the mastery of your thoughts. If you don’t control what you think, you can’t control what you do. Simply, self-discipline enables you to think first and act afterward.
Napoleon HillNapoleon Hill
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