B. F. SKINNER (1904 –1990), A LEADING 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGIST, PHILOSOPHER, INVENTOR AND POET.
"The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do."
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to improve the way in which he is controlled."
"The only geniuses produced by the chaos of society are those who do something about it. Chaos breeds geniuses. It offers a man something to be a genius about."
"No one asks how to motivate a baby. A baby naturally explores everything it can get at, unless restraining forces have already been at work. And this tendency doesn't die out, it's wiped out."
"Going out of style isn't a natural process, but a manipulated change which destroys the beauty of last year's dress in order to make it worthless."
"Some of us learn control, more or less by accident. The rest of us go all our lives not even understanding how it is possible, and blaming our failure on being born the wrong way."
"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."
"The real question is not whether machines think but whether men do. The mystery which surrounds a thinking machine already surrounds a thinking man."
"What is love except another name for the use of positive reinforcement? Or vice versa."
"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."
"The amateur doesn't appreciate the need for experimentation. He wants his experts to know."
"Nowadays, everybody fancies himself an expert in government and wants to have a say."
"The final state of affairs may not have been foreseen. Perhaps we are merely reading a plan into the world after the fact."
"In a democracy, there is no check against despotism, because the principle of democracy is supposed to be itself a check. But it guarantees only that the majority will not be despotically ruled."
"Democracy is the spawn of despotism. And like father, like son. Democracy is power and rule. It's not the will of the people, remember; it's the will of the majority."
"Men build society and society builds men."
"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."
"The tender sentiment of the 'one and only' has less to do with constancy of heart than with singleness of opportunity."
"A fourth-grade reader may be a sixth-grade mathematician. The grade is an administrative device which does violence to the nature of the developmental process."
"We are only just beginning to understand the power of love because we are just beginning to understand the weakness of force and aggression."
"Something doing every minute' may be a gesture of despair--or the height of a battle against boredom."
"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."
"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."
"The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do."
~ B. F. Skinner, The Technology of Teaching
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to improve the way in which he is controlled."
~ B. F. Skinner, Walden Two
"The only geniuses produced by the chaos of society are those who do something about it. Chaos breeds geniuses. It offers a man something to be a genius about."
~ B. F. Skinner, Walden Two
"No one asks how to motivate a baby. A baby naturally explores everything it can get at, unless restraining forces have already been at work. And this tendency doesn't die out, it's wiped out."
~ B. F. Skinner, Walden Two
"Going out of style isn't a natural process, but a manipulated change which destroys the beauty of last year's dress in order to make it worthless."
~ B. F. Skinner, Walden Two
"Some of us learn control, more or less by accident. The rest of us go all our lives not even understanding how it is possible, and blaming our failure on being born the wrong way."
~ B. F. Skinner, Walden Two
"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. Skinner, Beyond Freedom and Dignity
"The real question is not whether machines think but whether men do. The mystery which surrounds a thinking machine already surrounds a thinking man."
~ B. F. Skinner, Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis
"What is love except another name for the use of positive reinforcement? Or vice versa."
~ B. F. Skinner, Walden Two
"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. Skinner, Walden Two
"The amateur doesn't appreciate the need for experimentation. He wants his experts to know."
~ B. F. Skinner, Walden Two
"Nowadays, everybody fancies himself an expert in government and wants to have a say."
~ B. F. Skinner, Walden Two
"The final state of affairs may not have been foreseen. Perhaps we are merely reading a plan into the world after the fact."
~ B. F. Skinner, Walden Two
"In a democracy, there is no check against despotism, because the principle of democracy is supposed to be itself a check. But it guarantees only that the majority will not be despotically ruled."
~ B. F. Skinner, Walden Two
"Democracy is the spawn of despotism. And like father, like son. Democracy is power and rule. It's not the will of the people, remember; it's the will of the majority."
~ B. F. Skinner, Walden Two
"Men build society and society builds men."
~ B. F. Skinner, Walden Two
"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."
~ B. F. Skinner, Walden Two
"The tender sentiment of the 'one and only' has less to do with constancy of heart than with singleness of opportunity."
~ B. F. Skinner, Walden Two
"A fourth-grade reader may be a sixth-grade mathematician. The grade is an administrative device which does violence to the nature of the developmental process."
~ B. F. Skinner, Walden Two
"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. Skinner, Walden Two
"Something doing every minute' may be a gesture of despair--or the height of a battle against boredom."
~ B. F. Skinner, Walden Two
"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. Skinner, Walden Two
~ B. F. Skinner, Beyond Freedom and Dignity
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