Born on March 20, 1904, Skinner became a leading psychologist, behaviorist, inventor and social philosopher who received his PhD in psychology from Harvard University in 1931. He then became a professor of psychology there in 1948, serving as the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard from 1958 until his retirement in 1974. But despite his work in psychology and similar fields, he originally wanted to be a writer. So he’s a good choice for our quote of the day, which focuses on not letting failure stop you from trying again.
Most notably, Skinner came up with the concept of operant conditioning. This is a “type of learning in which behavior changes based on its consequences,” per VeryWellMind. You reinforce a behavior that you want to strengthen, and you punish a behavior that you don’t want someone to do again. He also invented gadgets such as the Skinner box and the cumulative recorder.
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Quote of the Day by B.F. Skinner
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This quote comes from Skinner’s 1971 book, Beyond Freedom and Dignity, in a chapter titled “The Design of a Culture.” The book description calls this work “profound and profoundly controversial,” and in it he “makes his definitive statement about humankind and society.”
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He then writes about utopian literature and how someone could design a utopian society and find solutions to do so through a sort of cultural engineering. This is all, of course, a thought experiment, with Skinner shooting off ideas about why, theoretically, one could eventually exist.
Even though those cultures or societies have failed in the past, and might not be possible right now, better designs await. Sure, there are a lot of great arguments as to why a utopia could never exist with humans as they are. But if you just stop looking for answers on how to get there altogether, we definitely won’t ever experience one.
Outside of the context of his book and this chapter, the quote can absolutely inspire people to persevere. Even though it can be easy to see a failure or misstep as a mistake and you might want to just quit, it’s important to remember that it’s not an indictment of who you are or what you’re capable of. And if you stop altogether, you really will fail because it'll be like you didn't even try in the first place: nothing will come out of quitting.
More Quotes from B.F. Skinner
“A person who has been punished is not thereby simply less inclined to behave in a given way; at best, he learns how to avoid punishment.”“Behavior is determined by its consequences.”“The major difference between rats and people is that rats learn from experience.”“Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.”“We are only just beginning to understand the power of love because we are just beginning to understand the weakness of force and aggression.”“It is not a question of starting. The start has been made. It's a question of what's to be done from now on.”Up Next:
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