Thursday 26 November 2020

Inside Skinner's Box

 "The real question is not whether machines think but whether men do. The mystery which surrounds a thinking machine already surrounds a thinking man."

"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. "

"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."

  "We admire people to the extent that we cannot explain what they do, and the word "admire" then means "marvel at."

"I
do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings. "

  "I 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."



Random bits from BF Skinner.