Walden Two
£18.81
A must read - I doubt that many can read this book and theirr opinions remain exactly the same: even if you disagree with what Skinner proposes, your own opinions on life, interacting with others, social order, politics will be made stonger by being questioned and attacked! Which is great!Although the protagonist and his companions who visit Walden 2 in the book questions things there, it remains for the reader to criticise what is proposed and not get carried along too much with Skinners carefully constructed argument. I saw that a fellow amazon reader said that only towards the end of the book do things get truly interesting, which I disagree with, but I do know what he means. In fact Skinner is introducing us to his ideas incementally, gradually though the book, as any good behaviouralist would do hehe! This is to be applauded as it works well with intoducing new ideas in books as well!SPOILER BELOW:As the book nears the endm I found myself asking, before the book does, is this book an ad for communism? It really does seem to be and although Russia is criticised on 4 issues, Skinner seems to pay too little attention to the flaws exemplified in all communist countries. I would have been very pleased for these to be discussed more as they are the make or break of this whole proposal. Human greed. Corruption. Self esteem. Such things.As my parents and many friends of our family have lived in pre-freedom communist eastern europe I have some understanding of the practical faliures.Unfortunatley for Skinner, he does not have a real example to hold up, as a scientist would need to, whereas the best democracies seem to be more easy to live in that the best communist countries. Neither has been executed perfectly but this is reality.Not to say Walden Two is just about democracy Vs communism, there is plenty of food for thought on many other topics in there and I would definetley advise reading it if you have no interest in politics, as it is really just about lifing better and highlights things that may be wrong in all of our lives, or need more balancing.
Constructive Living - Experiment. Vary conditions. Collect and share results. Raise concerns. Avoid arguments over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.These are the ways of a scientist and ways that Skinner suggested we all consider using.Somehow this guy who worked with rats had other interests and other ways of sharing his concerns. Walden Two is one of them.It s not The Sheltering Sky but, compared to what I could do, it s awfully well written. It s not the final answer on how folks should live together or even that much of a start - but it is a start and an invitation to all of us to consider how we can improve our conditions.Even in Beyond Freedomn And Dignity, Skinner didn t have many answers as to how culture could be designed for the better. But he did have the realization that we ought have to start somewhere. He also had worked on a technology that he expected others would improve on that might help us live more sensibly.Walden Two provides an intimate glimpse into Skinner s world. I may not want to live there, at least for long, but I respect Skinner s efforts to make me think about what I can do to improve my living conditions.Behaviorism may be limited but it can be effective, more than arguing over angels on pins. Small visible steps may be the best steps, small acquisitions of tested knowledge may lead farther than pompous rants or deep meditations.Reading Walden Two is a good small step. A good step after that would be to learn about Los Horcones, a remarkable community in Mexico that, like Walden Two, applies behavioral science to design its culture. Los Horcones calls itself a Walden Two community, not because it imitates what s in the novel but because it also applies Radical Behaviorism. Skinner never intended that Walden Two remain just a book.
Interesting but not a page-turner - Utopian fiction is difficult to get right: after all, how do you make a compelling story out of something where nothing goes wrong? Aldous Huxley tried to solve the problem by creating an external threat, with mixed results. With Walden Two, Skinner sets up a narrator who is viewing the utopia and may be tempted to join. And strangely, the founder of Walden Two is presented as quite dislikable.The result is not compelling reading, but surprisingly good considering that Skinner wasn t a fiction writer by trade, and knocked this off in two months. What it is, is interesting. It poses a number of questions and suggestions about how life might be made better. Sadly, the most thought-provoking section comes barely 60 pages from the end of the book, by which time many readers will have given up, and challenges you to think about how valuable our democratic system really is. It s such a fundamental value in our society that it s quite healthy to question it, if not reject it. The other value of this book is in promoting the concept of positive reinforcement that Skinner is famous for, and that can only be a good thing when the alternatives are force or threat of force. But it ll be some time yet before our culture is so completely transformed as to produce something like the lives described here.
Walden Two: i d live there if i could! - this is a must have for the book shelf of anyone interested in the works of B.F. Skinner. It effectively provides a fictional micro-example of the better world Skinner envisages and proposes in Beyond Freedoom and Dignity (some 24 years later).anyone who ever believed that Skinners ideas were dangerous or facistic should read this book and they will be suprised at the forward thinking (it was published in 1948) displayed with regards to distribution of wealth and power, gender equality and the use of state sanction punishment or contrived competition as a means of control (Skinner is especially critical of these last two). In may ways Skinners Utopia is more left wing than right wing, as he was often wrongly and maliciously accused of being (by Chomsky among others).While not being the best piece of fictional literature published ,it is still, nevertheless an enjoyable read and a worthwhile introduction or companian to the more scientific or accademic works of Skinner.
Utopia: Fantasy or Possible Reality? - Skinner describes an interesting scientific approach toward an utopian society. The only problem is that he barely brushes over the issue of external interdiction by the powers-that-be (the federal government) into the utopia s affairs. History has shown us that the forces of state capitalism don t like the examples places like Walden Two set, for they point out the serious shortcomings of normal society. But quite pragmatical in most all other respects.