It is a surprising fact that those who object most violently to the manipulation of behaviour nevertheless make the most vigorous effort to manipulate minds.
B. F. SKINNER
B. F. SKINNER
B. F. Skinner on change
B. F. Skinner107 quotes“It is a surprising fact that those who object most violently to the manipulation of behaviour nevertheless make the most vigorous effort to manipulate minds.”
More from B. F. Skinner
At this very moment enormous numbers of intelligent men and women of goodwill are trying to build a better world. But problems are born faster than they can be solved.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner An important fact about verbal behavior is that speaker and listener may reside within the same skin.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner The mob rushes in where individuals fear to tread.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner The consequences of an act affect the probability of its occurring again.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner 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. SkinnerB. F. Skinner Death does not trouble me. I have no fear of supernatural punishments, of course, nor could I enjoy an eternal life in which there would be nothing left for me to do, the task of living having been accomplished.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner We admire people to the extent that we cannot explain what they do, and the word ‘admire’ then means ‘marvel at.’
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner A person who has been punished is not thereby simply less inclined to behave in a given way; at best, he learns how to avoid punishment.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner Your liberals and radicals all want to govern. They want to try it their way- to show that people will be happier if the power is wielded in a different way or for different purposes. But how do they know? Have they ever tried it? No, it’s merely their guess.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner That’s all teaching is; arranging contingencies which bring changes in behavior.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner Let men be happy, informed, skillful, well behaved, and productive.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner What is love except another name for the use of positive reinforcement? Or vice versa.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner Does a poet create, originate, initiate the thing called a poem, or is his behavior merely the product of his genetic and environmental histories?
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner A child who has been severely punished for sex play is not necessarily less inclined to continue; and a man who has been imprisoned for violent assault is not necessarily less inclined toward violence.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner In a world of complete economic equality, you get and keep the affections you deserve. You can’t buy love with gifts or favors, you can’t hold love by raising an inadequate child, and you can’t be secure in love by serving as a good scrub woman or a good provider.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner Science is a willingness to accept facts even when they are opposed to wishes.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner
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