Cecil failed to mention anything about Skinner’s demise. He died of leukemia in Cambridge, Mass. Aug. 18, 1990
He had been at Harvard since 1948. He authored over twenty books. One of which, “Walden Two” was subject of a thesis I wrote in grad. school at UT. A strange but interesting approach to child rearing, it details the way Skinner would have people live. Everyone would be subject to controlled stimuli and raised in a “commune” with children being raised by the society rather than the parents.
I’m reading Walden 2 right now and liking it. Cecil was right in that it is one big monologue but I disagree that its value as literature is small. Utopias tend to be uninteresting to read about on any level other than a purely intelectual “that’s interesting thinking” one.
It’s important to remenber that Skinner did some of his more important work after having writen Walden 2 and so he expanded a lot on the ideas expressed in the book.
re. T-Keela’s first message.
T-Keela, if you wanted reply’s you should have named the string “Walden Two” instead.
I read “Walden Two” about two years ago and found it fantastic. I convinced my boyfriend to read it too, and he found it “not as bad as I had expected”.
After reading the book I thought that I would like to try such a community and looked in the Internet. I only found one community based on behavioural science, (not exactly based on “Walden Two”, but its start might have been inspired by the book and I believe that B.F. Skinner visited it). This community is Los Horcones, near Hermosillo, Sonora state, Mexico, and its web-site is http://www.loshorcones.org.mx/ . Whenever I manage to have two or three thousand dollars to spend on a vacation I will visit it; I wish there were something such in my country.
re. T-Keela’s first message.
T-Keela, if you wanted replies you should have named the string “Walden Two” instead.
I read “Walden Two” about two years ago and found it fantastic. I convinced my boyfriend to read it too, and he found it “not as bad as I had expected”.
After reading the book I thought that I would like to try such a community and looked in the Internet. I only found one community based on behavioural science, (not exactly based on “Walden Two”, but its start might have been inspired by the book and I believe that B.F. Skinner visited it). This community is Los Horcones, near Hermosillo, Sonora state, Mexico, and its web-site is http://www.loshorcones.org.mx/ . Whenever I manage to have two or three thousand dollars to spend on a vacation I will visit it; I wish there were something such in my country.
[T-Keela, if you wanted replies you should have named the string “Walden Two” instead.
I read “Walden Two” about two years ago and found it fantastic. I convinced my boyfriend to read it too, and he found it “not as bad as I had expected”.]]
I dunno, CKDex. This is veering toward the Cafe Society.
Oh, and Mary Jo, Cecil mentioned that there is such a commune still existing in the US that was spawned by Skinner’s ideas.
Actually I was just making a comment on Cecil’s column because I think the fact that Skinner died of leukemia while in good standing at Harvard was worth mentioning. I got the feeling that some people think that perhaps he was out of touch with modern psychology.
As far as any comments from other Dopers, hey feel free…
It was more of a sarcasm than anything else. Usually when someone condones or condemns, hell…even mentions a controversial piece of work, it’s a free for all, pile-on or a pit maneuver.
I was just kinda surprised no one came in screaming communist, pinko, or some other crap. “My god he raised his daughter in a box etc…”
Actually, now that I think about it. It does kinda surprise me that there hasn’t been more on the subject. Because it really is an incredible idea that Skinner proposed. I wish I had a copy of my paper. I read Walden Two like three different times…by the time I finished the book it was literally falling apart. Notes in the margins…read all the references, Made my own highlights and footnotes on practically every page and then researched those.
The contradictions in his ideas, the practical application…well read it yourself. It appears to make a lot of sense but is so obviously absurd that it becomes a comedy.
BTW, don’t take my last comment as ridicule of Skinner. He was a genius and his ideas were enlightening. The theories he proposed are based on good science. But as a purist in the behavioral field of psychology he excludes too many variables which are not in the control of “real lives”.
Biological factors (then) were not deemed as important as we know today that they are. This was before we had the technology to do DNA mapping. Which is also a problem because now folks are trying to excuse everyone’s “problems” as being genetic.
Kinda like this gay gene crap that’s so popular right now.
Anyway…I didn’t mean for this to be a rant. I just wanted to inform as to Skinners demise and his respect in the psych. community.
Peace
I’ve read Walden Two. I thought it was a fairly implausible society, but then nearly all literary utopias are implausible. The interesting thing was that it was a passibly good novel. I would have expected it to be much worse.
