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. SKINNERDeath 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.
More B. F. Skinner Quotes
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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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Except when physically restrained, a person is least free or dignified when he is under threat of punishment, and unfortunately most people often are.
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Chaos breeds geniuses. It offers a man something to be a genius about.
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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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The way positive reinforcement is carried out is more important than the amount.
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Somehow people get the idea I think we should be given gumdrops whenever we do anything of value.
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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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That’s all teaching is; arranging contingencies which bring changes in behavior.
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Give me a child and I’ll shape him into anything.
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When we say that a man controls himself, we must specify who is controlling whom.
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Society attacks early, when the individual is helpless.
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I’ve often said that my rats have taught me much more than I’ve taught them.
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When we say that a man controls himself, we must specify who is controlling whom.
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If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only consumption but the number of consumers.
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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.
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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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Indeed one of the ultimate advantages of an education is simply coming to the end of it.
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Science is a willingness to accept facts even when they are opposed to wishes.
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The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.
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We shouldn’t teach great books; we should teach a love of reading.
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Somehow people get the idea I think we should be given gumdrops whenever we do anything of value.
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Men build society and society builds men.
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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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Twenty-five hundred years ago it might have been said that man understood himself as well as any other part of the world. Today he is the thing he understands least.
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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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We have not yet seen what man can make of man.
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