Lest we forget good old BFS... A quibble with the article: The central irony of Skinner’s theory is that to control our behavior, we must accept a fundamental lack of control, acknowledging that our environment ultimately holds the reins. Not really, since there is no ultimate controller. Control can be and often is mutual, especially as we become smarter about causality. As Skinner often pointed out, we can exert what he called *counter*-control against the agents and environments that impact us. The last sentence in the article gets it right in pointing out the self-efficacy of agency in a fully deterministic universe, my emphasis: What distinguishes our intellect from animals’ is not that we can go against our environment—most of us can’t, not in the long run—but rather that *we can purposefully alter our environment to shape our behavior in ways we choose.* Want to be empowered? Understand precisely how you are caused to do what you do...
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 17:42:24 +0000
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