01UndatedIn a pre-scientific society the best the common man can do is pin his faith on a leader and give him his support, trusting in his benevolence against the misuse of the delegated power and in his wisdom to govern justly and make war successfully.B.F. Skinner / quote ↗
02UndatedThe tender sentiment of the 'one and only' has less to do with constancy of heart than with singleness of opportunity.B.F. Skinner / quote ↗
03UndatedFame is also won at the expense of others. Even the well-deserved honors of the scientist or man of learning are unfair to many persons of equal achievements who get none. When one man gets a place in the sun, the others are put in a denser shade. From the point of view of the whole group there's no gain whatsoever, and perhaps a loss.B.F. Skinner / quote ↗
04UndatedSevere punishment unquestionably has an immediate effect in reducing a tendency to act in a given way. This result is no doubt responsible for its widespread use. We 'instinctively' attack anyone whose behavior displeases us - perhaps not in physical assault, but with criticism, disapproval, blame, or ridicule. Whether or not there is an inherited tendency to do this, the immediate effect of the practice is reinforcing enough to explain its currency. In the long run, however, punishment does not actually eliminate behavior from a repertoire, and its temporary achievement is obtained at tremendous cost in reducing the over-all efficiency and happiness of the group. (p. 190)B.F. Skinner / quote ↗
05UndatedThe most effective alternative process [to punishment] is probably extinction. This takes time but is much more rapid than allowing the response to be forgotten. The technique seems to be relatively free of objectionable by-products. We recommend it, for example when we suggest that a parent 'pay no attention' to objectionable behavior on the part of his child. If the child's behavior is strong only because it has been reinforced by 'getting a rise out of' the parent, it will disappear when this consequence is no longer forthcoming. (p. 192)B.F. Skinner / quote ↗
06UndatedSomething doing every minute' may be a gesture of despair--or the height of a battle against boredom.B.F. Skinner / quote ↗
07UndatedI will be dead in a few months. But it hasn't given me the slightest anxiety or worry. I always knew I was going to die.B.F. Skinner / quote ↗
08UndatedA 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.B.F. Skinner / quote ↗
10UndatedI won't say that I'm an agnostic, since agnosticism maintains that one cannot know... but I'm not averse to the idea of some intelligence or some organizing force that set up the initial conditions of the universe in such a way that ultimately generated stars, planets and life.B.F. Skinner / quote ↗
12UndatedI don't know whether I want to improve religion or not. I prefer to get rid of it.B.F. Skinner / quote ↗
13UndatedA person who has been punished is not less inclined to behave in a given way; at best, he learns how to avoid punishment.B.F. Skinner / quote ↗
14UndatedThe way positive reinforcement is carried out is more important than the amount.B.F. Skinner / quote ↗
16UndatedI did not direct my life. I didn't design it. I never made decisions. Things always came up and made them for me. That's what life is.B.F. Skinner / quote ↗
18UndatedEducation is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.B.F. Skinner / quote ↗
20UndatedIf you insist that individual rights are the summum bonum, then the whole structure of society falls down.B.F. Skinner / quote ↗
21UndatedMust we wait for selection to solve the problems of overpopulation, exhaustion of resources, pollution of the environment and a nuclear holocaust, or can we take explicit steps to make our future more secure? In the latter case, must we not transcend selection?B.F. Skinner / quote ↗
