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morgan_blackledge 's review for:
Science and Human Behavior
by B.F. Skinner
OMG!!!
So I finally finished this thing.
It’s an amazingly brilliant book by an absolute genius visionary hero of science.
And.....
It was a GHASTLY experience of a read.
Not all together unpleasant.
But a real feat of endurance to complete.
Behaviorism has various levels of language (Bx-Speak).
Upper level Bx-Speak is the way behaviorism is communicated to laypeople. It’s easy to understand, but not very precise.
Mid level Bx-Speak is a bit harder to understand without specific training, but it’s also more precise. This is how behaviorism is typically communicated to therapists and other mental health clinicians.
Low Level Bx-Speak is hard to understand, but it’s very precise. This is the language of researchers, and serious behaviorally oriented clinicians e.g. applied behavior analysts etc.
This book is Skinners attempt at a mid to upper level explanation of his work and world view. And. It’s a bit of a fail by today’s standards for popularizations of hard science.
But it’s a totally successful bridge between the common tongue and the lower levels of Bx-Speak. And therefore really useful and oddly satisfying (if you’re a masochist).
So if the common mans aversive stimuli is you’re appetitive reinforcement. Get this thing. But if you’re looking for a user friendly introduction to Skinariean Behaviorism. Than keep looking.
Not much more to say other than reading this thing infects your entire world view. In other words, you begin to see everything in terms of behavior principles, for better or worse.
So if you’re ready to become a Skinn-Head (B.F. Skinner convert) than take this little blue pill and be ready for the awesomely awful/interesting truth to come shining through the infra-thin explanatory fictions we all rely on to simply sustain our lonely meaningless existence in this cold dead universe.
Five anguished emoji faces😫😫😫😫😫
No no. Not really.
Skinner’s work is actually quite life affirming.
The ultimate feeing one is left with after truly grabbing what Skinner is offering is one of optimism and hope for humanity. It’s about conditioning not character, and we humans can take charge of that process (to some extent) and create a life directed by our values rather than our implicit hardwired predilections.
Five rainbows 🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈
So I finally finished this thing.
It’s an amazingly brilliant book by an absolute genius visionary hero of science.
And.....
It was a GHASTLY experience of a read.
Not all together unpleasant.
But a real feat of endurance to complete.
Behaviorism has various levels of language (Bx-Speak).
Upper level Bx-Speak is the way behaviorism is communicated to laypeople. It’s easy to understand, but not very precise.
Mid level Bx-Speak is a bit harder to understand without specific training, but it’s also more precise. This is how behaviorism is typically communicated to therapists and other mental health clinicians.
Low Level Bx-Speak is hard to understand, but it’s very precise. This is the language of researchers, and serious behaviorally oriented clinicians e.g. applied behavior analysts etc.
This book is Skinners attempt at a mid to upper level explanation of his work and world view. And. It’s a bit of a fail by today’s standards for popularizations of hard science.
But it’s a totally successful bridge between the common tongue and the lower levels of Bx-Speak. And therefore really useful and oddly satisfying (if you’re a masochist).
So if the common mans aversive stimuli is you’re appetitive reinforcement. Get this thing. But if you’re looking for a user friendly introduction to Skinariean Behaviorism. Than keep looking.
Not much more to say other than reading this thing infects your entire world view. In other words, you begin to see everything in terms of behavior principles, for better or worse.
So if you’re ready to become a Skinn-Head (B.F. Skinner convert) than take this little blue pill and be ready for the awesomely awful/interesting truth to come shining through the infra-thin explanatory fictions we all rely on to simply sustain our lonely meaningless existence in this cold dead universe.
Five anguished emoji faces😫😫😫😫😫
No no. Not really.
Skinner’s work is actually quite life affirming.
The ultimate feeing one is left with after truly grabbing what Skinner is offering is one of optimism and hope for humanity. It’s about conditioning not character, and we humans can take charge of that process (to some extent) and create a life directed by our values rather than our implicit hardwired predilections.
Five rainbows 🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈