B. F. Skinner
B. F. Skinner
Burrhus Frederic Skinner, commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist, author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth20 March 1904
CitySusquehana Depot, PA
CountryUnited States of America
education advantage ends
Indeed one of the ultimate advantages of an education is simply coming to the end of it.
worry anxiety dying
I 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.
illusion humans ifs
If freedom is a requisite for human happiness, then all that’s necessary is to provide the illusion of freedom.
wish facts accepting
Science is a willingness to accept facts even when they are opposed to wishes.
technology damage comfort
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.
tasks students behavior
It has always been the task of formal education to set up behavior which would prove useful or enjoyable later in a student's life.
men
Men build society and society builds men.
disappointment errors might
A disappointment is not generally an oversight. It might just be the best one can do the situation being what it is. The genuine error is to quit attempting.
sex children men
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.
loyalty may citizens
To require a citizen to sign a loyalty oath is to destroy some of the loyalty he could otherwise claim, since any subsequent loyal behavior may then be attributed to the oath.
selfish damn-you ideas
I've had only one idea in my life - a true idee fixe. To put it as bluntly as possible - the idea of having my own way. 'Control!' expresses it. The control of human behavior. In my early experimental days it was a frenzied, selfish desire to dominate. I remember the rage I used to feel when a prediction went awry. I could have shouted at the subjects of my experiments, 'Behave, damn you! Behave as you ought!
thinking ideas people
Somehow people get the idea I think we should be given gumdrops whenever we do anything of value.
probability consequence
The consequences of an act affect the probability of its occurring again.
lying men differences
I may say that the only differences I expect to see revealed between the behavior of the rat and man (aside from enormous differences of complexity) lie in the field of verbal behavior.