Chris--do you have a source for that quote--love it as so on target. Hope I'm not repeating myself . . . but whatever, attended a lecture by Skinner in the early 1980's at Loyola University in Chicago and left rather depressed. The reason was, as per that quote, I had always understood Skinner's position that our notion of free-will was an illusion in a general sense and was one of the few that found his book, "Beyond Freedom and Dignity," interesting and thoughtful. But I clearly never received his message on a personal level until attending this lecture. Only then did I feel distressed by the reality of MY lack of free-will as he was so clear, engaging and brilliant but also distressing as I finally had to accept "determinism for me also?!" But I also knew that soon my illusion of free-will would return and, of course, it did. After that experience, I finally understood why Skinner's work has been so viciously attacked and eagerly dismissed as it's simply too punishing to our our important perception of having personal autonomy.
Joan jwarm...@oakton.edu > Free will for me. Determinism (genetic or environmental) for thee. > > Chris Green > currently in Montreal... reading and enjoying _The Spirit Level: Why > Equlaity is Better for Everyone_, in which Oliver James is occasionally > cited, which I am sure will rankle Allen's apparently reflexive Toryism. > :-) > > ================= > > Rick Froman wrote: >> I don't see any evidence that either right or left wingers really are >> motivated to find the ultimate causes of behavior in either genetics or >> environment. The majority still feel that such explanations de-humanize >> and violate human freedom and responsibility. I think that is true for >> the majority of both left and right and, despite what they might think >> about the causes of other's behavior, very few act as if they believe >> their own behaviors are not largely freely chosen. >> >> To find evidence of both left and right support for genetic >> explanations, one need look no further than >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics. As Wikipedia is reflective of the >> wisdom of the crowds >> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wisdom_of_Crowds), no critical >> thinking required). >> >> Fear the Beard! >> >> Rick >> >> Dr. Rick Froman, Chair >> Division of Humanities and Social Sciences >> John Brown University >> Siloam Springs, AR 72761 >> rfro...@jbu.edu >> ________________________________________ >> From: Mike Palij [m...@nyu.edu] >> Sent: Saturday, October 16, 2010 11:29 AM >> To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) >> Cc: Mike Palij >> Subject: RE: Re:[tips] Are Genes Left-Wing? >> >> . >> >> Re: (2) Except that genetic explanations have a long history in >> right-wing >> politics and environmental explanation have a long history in left-wing >> politics. As we learn more about gene-environment interactions, the >> overly simplistic conceptions of nature vs nurture ideologies will have >> to >> be reworked. But, just as creationsists will not find any scientific >> evidence >> that undermines creation science to be credible, eugenics-oriented >> right wingers will not be deterred by evidence that their conceptions >> of "bad genes" are invalid. Left-wingers, I think, should be cautious >> in embracing genetic explanations unless the research is really, really >> good. >> --- >> > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: jwarm...@oakton.edu. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=49240.d374d0c18780e492c3d2e63f91752d0d&n=T&l=tips&o=5735 > or send a blank email to > leave-5735-49240.d374d0c18780e492c3d2e63f91752...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5736 or send a blank email to leave-5736-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
