HENRY D SCHLINGER JR., Ph.D., BCBA-D - Jacque Fresco Centennial Event - March 12, 2016
-
0:00 - 0:04Henry D. Schlinger Jr.
received his PhD in psychology -
0:04 - 0:06from Western Michigan University.
-
0:06 - 0:08He is currently professor of psychology
-
0:08 - 0:10at California State University
Los Angeles. -
0:10 - 0:13Dr. Schlinger has published
nearly 70 scholarly articles -
0:14 - 0:16and commentaries in over
25 different journals. -
0:17 - 0:19He has also authored
or co-authored 3 books. -
0:19 - 0:22He is frequently invited
to give talks all around the world -
0:22 - 0:25on various aspects
of the behavioral sciences. -
0:25 - 0:26This is what I do for a living,
-
0:27 - 0:29and I have being doing it
for a living for many years, -
0:29 - 0:31that is, talking to groups of people;
they’re called students, -
0:32 - 0:34and I never stand behind a podium.
-
0:34 - 0:36So I’m going to walk around, plus
-
0:36 - 0:38it’s the only way I can see my slides.
-
0:41 - 0:42So the title of my talk is
-
0:42 - 0:44'Can We Act to Save the World?'
-
0:46 - 0:51I decided, when I was first invited
by Roxanne to present, -
0:52 - 0:55I thought about: should I present
a motivational talk -
0:55 - 0:56or an academic talk?
-
0:57 - 1:00And, I think Abby gave you
the motivational talk; -
1:00 - 1:03fortunately I decided
on the more academic talk. -
1:03 - 1:06Because, one of the things
that attracted me to -
1:06 - 1:09Jacque and Roxanne and The Venus Project,
-
1:09 - 1:13is their understanding that
without a science of human behavior, -
1:13 - 1:15without an understanding
of why we do what we do, -
1:15 - 1:18that none of the vision
-
1:18 - 1:21of The Venus Project
will ever be realized. -
1:21 - 1:24So we can have all the technology,
we can have all of the… -
1:25 - 1:28all of the rhetoric, but until
we understand why we do what we do, -
1:30 - 1:32as we’ve seen for hundreds
if not thousands of years, -
1:33 - 1:34we won’t change.
-
1:35 - 1:38The title of my talk comes
from an article by the -
1:38 - 1:41behavioral psychologist
B.F. Skinner, called -
1:41 - 1:43‘Why We Are Not Acting to Save the World.'
-
1:45 - 1:47And I’m going to talk
a little bit about that. -
1:52 - 1:55(Oops…How can I go back Kevin?)
-
2:02 - 2:06Okay. So, before I actually begin,
I want to thank -
2:06 - 2:10Jacque and Roxanne, first of all,
for inviting me to visit The Venus Project -
2:10 - 2:14in December, and I want to thank Roxanne
-
2:15 - 2:17for inviting me to present
at this very special occasion. -
2:18 - 2:21It’s an extreme honor for me to be able to
-
2:21 - 2:23help celebrate Jacque’s 100th birthday,
-
2:24 - 2:27and I hope that I’m able
to contribute in some small way -
2:27 - 2:32to, not only on his vision,
but our collective desire -
2:32 - 2:34to see change made.
-
2:37 - 2:40(Yeah, I’m gonna have
to walk up here and read this.) -
2:42 - 2:47So, I summarized this
from The Venus Project website. -
2:47 - 2:51What determines our behavior?
The environment. -
2:51 - 2:53Similarly to all other living
creatures, our behavior -
2:54 - 2:56is determined largely
by the factors in our environment. -
2:56 - 3:00The combination of influences
throughout our lives builds our character. -
3:00 - 3:03From the time our biological senses
started to develop, -
3:03 - 3:06different environmental influences
have an impact on us, -
3:06 - 3:08altering our behavior.
-
3:08 - 3:12Early childhood development
determines behavioral health in adults. -
3:12 - 3:14Behavioral habits in adults.
-
3:15 - 3:17The culture we live in
reinforces the habits -
3:17 - 3:18that we acquired while growing up,
-
3:18 - 3:20and many undesirable behaviors are just
-
3:20 - 3:23products of long exposure
to detrimental environments. -
3:24 - 3:26Well of course
I couldn’t agree with that more, -
3:26 - 3:31but that’s a general assumption
that I hope many of us share, -
3:31 - 3:33that is that the environment
determines our behavior. -
3:34 - 3:39But I’ve been studying this and working
on this for more than 25 years, -
3:40 - 3:45and what I want to do today
is to describe for you how -
3:45 - 3:46a behavioral science approach
-
3:47 - 3:50answers some of the questions
about why we behave. -
3:50 - 3:53I’m not going to offer too many answers
about what we should do, -
3:53 - 3:57because those are
the much more difficult answers, -
3:57 - 3:58or questions to ask.
-
4:00 - 4:02So this is just by way of an outline.
-
4:02 - 4:04First I’m going to talk
about Skinner’s article -
4:04 - 4:06'Why We Are Not Acting to Save the World.’
-
4:06 - 4:10I know Jacque met Skinner at one time
I believe, they at least communicated, -
4:11 - 4:16and Skinner wrote
throughout his life, often, about -
4:16 - 4:20what is wrong with culture,
and how we can change human behavior. -
4:22 - 4:25But later in his life
Skinner became pessimistic. -
4:26 - 4:28And I’m going to talk
why he became pessimistic. -
4:29 - 4:31And there’s an irony to his pessimism,
-
4:31 - 4:35even though for much of his life
he was very much the optimist. -
4:36 - 4:39I’m then going to talk a little bit
about what behavior science is, -
4:39 - 4:41otherwise known as behavior analysis.
-
4:41 - 4:43I’m going to address
the question of why we behave, -
4:44 - 4:47and finally I’m going to talk about
behavior analysis or behavior science, -
4:48 - 4:50and the good life, that is: can we achieve
-
4:51 - 4:55the vision that Jacque and Roxanne
-
4:55 - 4:59and many of us in this room
have for a sustainable future? -
5:00 - 5:03So, the title of my talk is
'Can We Act to Save the World?' -
5:04 - 5:08Well, one question we want to ask is:
what do we mean by the world? -
5:09 - 5:11This is not what we mean by the world.
-
5:12 - 5:14This world will be doing just fine.
-
5:15 - 5:16That’s what we mean by the world.
-
5:17 - 5:19So we’re very—people are…
-
5:19 - 5:21are they waving to themselves?
I don’t know. -
5:21 - 5:25People are very—
we’re very egocentric and arrogant, -
5:26 - 5:28with good reason,
and I’ll explain a little bit why. -
5:29 - 5:31As the great social philosopher
George Carlin stated: -
5:33 - 5:35“The planet has been
through a lot worse than us, -
5:35 - 5:37been through earthquakes,
volcanoes, plate tectonics, -
5:37 - 5:40continental drifts, solar flares,
sun spots, magnetic storms, -
5:40 - 5:42the magnetic reversal of the poles,
-
5:42 - 5:44hundreds of thousands of years
of bombardment by -
5:44 - 5:47comets and asteroids, and meteors,
worldwide floods, tidal waves, -
5:47 - 5:50worldwide fires, erosion,
cosmic rays, recurring ice ages, -
5:50 - 5:52and we think some plastic bags
and aluminum cans -
5:53 - 5:54are going to make a difference?
-
5:54 - 5:56The planet isn’t going anywhere.
-
5:56 - 5:59WE are. We are going away.
-
5:59 - 6:02Pack your shit folks! We’re going away.
-
6:02 - 6:04And we won’t leave much of a trace either,
-
6:04 - 6:06maybe a little Styrofoam.
-
6:06 - 6:08The planet will be here
and we’ll be long gone. -
6:08 - 6:10Just another failed mutation,
-
6:10 - 6:13just another closed-in biological mistake
-
6:13 - 6:14an evolutionary cul-de-sac.
-
6:15 - 6:18The planet will shake us off
like a bad case of fleas.” -
6:19 - 6:21By the way, I for one miss George Carlin.
-
6:23 - 6:26[Applause]
-
6:31 - 6:35But I have to admit that, like George,
and Skinner later in his life, -
6:35 - 6:37I’m not optimistic.
-
6:37 - 6:40I’m pessimistic, and somewhat cynical.
-
6:41 - 6:43But that doesn’t mean that I don’t have
a little ray of optimism, -
6:43 - 6:45otherwise I wouldn’t be here.
-
6:45 - 6:49And there are two things, maybe three
things, that give me a ray of optimism. -
6:49 - 6:52One is the behavior science
that I’m schooled in, -
6:52 - 6:55because I believe
if everyone understood it— -
6:55 - 6:58and I don’t mean just everyone
in this room, but I mean everyone— -
6:58 - 7:01then we might able be use it
to change our behavior -
7:01 - 7:02to save ourselves from ourselves.
-
7:03 - 7:07The second ray of optimism
comes from Jacque and Roxanne, -
7:07 - 7:11and The Venus Project,
because I see in what they’ve done, -
7:12 - 7:14as Abby mentioned, a window
-
7:14 - 7:16by which we can hopefully open up
-
7:16 - 7:18and let in some fresh air
and change things. -
7:19 - 7:21And the third,
I don’t have a picture of him, -
7:21 - 7:23but the third is my 5-year old son.
-
7:23 - 7:28And whatever pessimism or cynicism I had,
-
7:28 - 7:31lessened considerably when he was born,
-
7:31 - 7:33and every day that I spend with him,
lessens even more. -
7:34 - 7:36So, partly I do it for him.
-
7:37 - 7:39Now I mentioned Skinner.
-
7:40 - 7:42I can’t think of a single psychologist,
-
7:42 - 7:44or maybe intellectual
in the past 100 years -
7:44 - 7:48that’s been more misrepresented
and misunderstood than B.F. Skinner. -
7:48 - 7:51So it’s not my job to rectify that but
-
7:51 - 7:54I want to talk about the fact that,
as I mentioned earlier, -
7:54 - 7:58he had for decades addressed
the same issues -
7:58 - 8:00that The Venus Project has addressed.
-
8:01 - 8:05First, in his novel 'Walden Two,'
which was published in 1948. -
8:06 - 8:08Now, in Walden Two, Skinner—
-
8:09 - 8:11it was a fictional, it’s a novel,
so it’s fictionalized— -
8:11 - 8:16Skinner designed a community
based on behavioral principles. -
8:17 - 8:19And many people called it
a utopian community, -
8:20 - 8:24but it really wasn’t a utopian community,
it was an experimental community. -
8:24 - 8:25And there’s a big difference.
-
8:25 - 8:27Because as Skinner wrote in his book,
-
8:28 - 8:29practices were not immutable.
-
8:30 - 8:34Practices were seen to be changed
if they needed to be changed. -
8:34 - 8:36One of the problems with our culture
-
8:36 - 8:38is that we have no way by which to assess
-
8:38 - 8:40whether what we do works or not,
-
8:40 - 8:42and so we keep doing the same stuff
over and over again, -
8:42 - 8:44especially the stuff that doesn’t work.
-
8:44 - 8:47So, an emphasis
on experimentation was critical. -
8:49 - 8:50In 1982 he wrote an article,
-
8:51 - 8:53which I mentioned, titled
'Why We Are Not Acting to Save the World.' -
8:54 - 8:56I’m going to talk about that article.
-
8:56 - 8:58In ’85 he wrote an article titled
-
8:58 - 9:00'What is Wrong with Daily Life
in the Western World.' -
9:01 - 9:03And much of which he cited as being wrong,
-
9:04 - 9:07Jacque and Roxanne and others
in this room have also talked about. -
9:09 - 9:11By then, by the way,
he was beginning to be pessimistic. -
9:12 - 9:14So I want to talk a little bit
about his article -
9:14 - 9:16because I don’t need
to reinvent the wheel. -
9:18 - 9:20We know that there are lot of problems
caused by human behavior. -
9:20 - 9:22And by the way, let me just say this,
-
9:22 - 9:24because I’ll mention this several times:
-
9:24 - 9:26The problems aren’t with the human mind,
-
9:26 - 9:29they’re not with human will,
they’re not with human motivation. -
9:29 - 9:33Those things are not real things.
Those things are made up constructs. -
9:33 - 9:35The problem is with what we actually do.
-
9:36 - 9:40So, these aren’t all of them,
these are just three of the main ones. -
9:41 - 9:44Overpopulation is obviously
a huge problem. -
9:45 - 9:49As a result of that, we are exhausting
our critical resources, -
9:49 - 9:52the ones that we would need
for a resource-based economy. -
9:53 - 9:56And as a result, the Earth
grows steadily less habitable, -
9:57 - 10:00for humans and for many other species.
-
10:01 - 10:03So why are we not doing more?
-
10:04 - 10:06Especially since we’ve
made extraordinary progress -
10:07 - 10:09in all kinds of scientific technologies:
-
10:09 - 10:12space exploration, genetic engineering,
electronic technology. -
10:15 - 10:19Well, what are some traditional explanations
for why we are not doing more? -
10:19 - 10:21I already mentioned them.
-
10:21 - 10:24People say we’re not doing more
because we lack resolve. -
10:24 - 10:25We lack the will.
-
10:26 - 10:28Somebody in the video said that, I think.
-
10:28 - 10:30Or we’re just not motivated.
-
10:30 - 10:32But you see, those aren’t real things.
-
10:32 - 10:34Those are not scientific concepts.
-
10:34 - 10:37You can’t find will power
or resolve or motivation. -
10:37 - 10:39Those are words that we made up. Right?
-
10:39 - 10:41So traditional explanations,
-
10:41 - 10:44while they sound good and they match
with the way we’ve been raised, -
10:44 - 10:47which is we’ve all been raised
as Cartesian dualists, -
10:47 - 10:50they match the way we’ve been raised
so we don’t really question them. -
10:51 - 10:55But of course, they can’t be
good explanations because -
10:55 - 10:57they haven’t solved any problems.
-
10:58 - 11:01So here are some problems
Skinner cited. A minor one is: -
11:01 - 11:03how do we affect a future
that isn’t here? That’s, -
11:03 - 11:07that’s not really unresolvable,
because the future is… -
11:07 - 11:09now, and then the future is now, so…
-
11:09 - 11:11But this is a more difficult one.
-
11:11 - 11:14How can we be affected
by a future that isn’t here? -
11:14 - 11:16You can tell people all kinds
of bad stuff that’s gonna happen -
11:16 - 11:19as a result of climate change,
or as a result of other things. -
11:20 - 11:22But telling them about it—
the future is not here: -
11:22 - 11:24it cannot come back into the past
and affect the present. -
11:24 - 11:26That’s a very difficult problem.
-
11:27 - 11:31Skinner also mentioned the fact that
we are hostages to our genetic history. -
11:32 - 11:33What did he mean by that?
-
11:34 - 11:36Well I’m going to get
a little bit more technical. -
11:36 - 11:37What he meant is that
-
11:38 - 11:42evolution has given us susceptibilities
to be reinforced by things, -
11:43 - 11:46which in the short run are
very pleasant and pleasurable, -
11:46 - 11:49in the long run they’re very detrimental.
There's a few. -
11:49 - 11:52[On slide: Salt, Sugar,
Sex, Violence, Drugs] -
11:52 - 11:56Obviously, in our evolutionary history,
we needed salt. -
11:56 - 11:58We needed sugar. Right?
-
11:59 - 12:02We needed sex, if we wanted
to pass on our genes. -
12:02 - 12:05Harm to others obviously evolved,
-
12:05 - 12:07just does it does in many other species,
to protect young, -
12:07 - 12:10to guard against predators, etc.
-
12:10 - 12:13The drugs part
is a little different because -
12:14 - 12:16we’ve evolved certain
receptor sites in the brain -
12:17 - 12:20that are sensitive to external agents,
but they’re also caused, -
12:20 - 12:23they’re also stimulated,
by internal agents. -
12:23 - 12:25So what’s the problem with these things?
-
12:25 - 12:27The problem is
-
12:27 - 12:30a problem which I’ll come back again
and talk about, and that is -
12:30 - 12:33the difference between immediate
versus remote consequences. -
12:33 - 12:38The immediate consequence
of ingesting sugar or salt, -
12:38 - 12:40or having sex, or doing drugs,
-
12:40 - 12:42or even hurting somebody,
-
12:42 - 12:45are very powerful reinforcers.
-
12:45 - 12:49That means we will engage in the same
behavior to produce those things. -
12:49 - 12:51I don’t need to convince you all of that.
-
12:51 - 12:54You all like your chocolate,
you like your salty stuff, -
12:54 - 12:56I assume you like your sex,
-
12:56 - 12:59and those of you who ingest drugs
you probably like those too. -
13:01 - 13:03This is a serious problem.
-
13:04 - 13:06This is a serious problem because
-
13:07 - 13:09in order to solve problems
related to these things, -
13:09 - 13:13we need to bring remote consequences
to be more immediate. -
13:13 - 13:15That’s a very difficult problem to solve.
-
13:16 - 13:18So, what are some traditional solutions?
-
13:18 - 13:20By the way when I use
the word traditional, that means -
13:21 - 13:22not good, okay?
-
13:26 - 13:28Warn people of the potential consequences.
-
13:29 - 13:32This is what we do all the time: we warn
people of the potential consequences. -
13:32 - 13:34By the way, this is
what parents do with little kids. -
13:35 - 13:37And, by the way, it doesn’t work, okay?
-
13:38 - 13:41And then as an alternative we give them
advice about what to do instead. -
13:41 - 13:43Don’t run out into the street
and play, rather -
13:43 - 13:45play in the front yard, okay?
-
13:45 - 13:47I hear and see parents doing this
with 3-year old kids. -
13:47 - 13:50The 3-year old kid has no clue
what the parent’s talking about. -
13:50 - 13:54This doesn’t work with kids,
it doesn’t work with adults. -
13:54 - 13:57Maybe a few adults,
but most adults it doesn’t work with. -
13:58 - 14:00So we obviously need another solution.
-
14:00 - 14:02As Dr. Phil says,
-
14:02 - 14:04“How’s that working for you?” Okay?
-
14:05 - 14:08I don’t watch Dr. Phil
but I do like this line, -
14:08 - 14:09because it’s not working.
-
14:11 - 14:14Now just like Jacque
and others in this room, -
14:14 - 14:16Abby for instance a few minutes ago,
-
14:16 - 14:19Skinner called out governments,
religions and capitalistic systems. -
14:20 - 14:23But, Skinner pointed out
from a scientific perspective -
14:23 - 14:27that those systems too
have evolved and been selected. -
14:27 - 14:31They’re not the result of some mad genius,
or a madman somewhere. -
14:32 - 14:36These systems mete out
both negative and positive consequences -
14:36 - 14:37in our culture.
-
14:37 - 14:39For example, money and goods:
-
14:39 - 14:42those are immediate reinforcers
that these systems use -
14:43 - 14:46to induce people to work
for a future beyond their own. -
14:46 - 14:49But it’s not a future of us,
it’s a future for business and industry. -
14:51 - 14:52Their justification is said to be
-
14:53 - 14:56“Well you have more abundant production
and distribution of stuff.” -
14:56 - 15:00And as Abby pointed out and others,
you know, we like our stuff. -
15:01 - 15:03Without those so-called justifications,
governments, religions -
15:03 - 15:06and capitalistic systems would not be able
to maintain their control. -
15:07 - 15:10However, suppose the futures
of governments, religions -
15:10 - 15:12and capitalistic systems were congruent
-
15:12 - 15:15with the future of the species,
well we wouldn’t be here today, would we? -
15:15 - 15:18Our problems would be solved,
because they have -
15:18 - 15:20the resources and wherewithal to do that.
-
15:21 - 15:24But it doesn’t behoove them—
I mean it doesn’t behoove us, -
15:24 - 15:26or them for that matter—to do that.
-
15:26 - 15:28This is from Skinner.
-
15:28 - 15:30“Governments, religions
and capitalistic systems, -
15:30 - 15:31whether public or private,
-
15:31 - 15:34control most of the reinforcers
of daily life. -
15:34 - 15:37They must use them as they have always done,
for their own aggrandizement. -
15:38 - 15:40And they have nothing to gain
by relinquishing power. -
15:41 - 15:43Those institutions are the embodiments
of cultural practices -
15:44 - 15:46that have come into existence
through selection.” -
15:46 - 15:48I’ll talk about what
that means in a second. -
15:48 - 15:51“But the contingencies
of selection for those systems -
15:52 - 15:55are not congruent with, or are in conflict with,
the future of the species.” -
15:57 - 15:59So let me talk about
what he means by selection. -
16:01 - 16:04Skinner wrote an article called
'Selection by Consequences.' -
16:06 - 16:10The first kind of selection
by consequences is biological evolution. -
16:10 - 16:12Obviously, in biological evolution,
-
16:13 - 16:16when individuals come into
the world with traits that are -
16:16 - 16:18beneficial in a given environment,
-
16:18 - 16:21then they live long enough to pass on
those traits to their offspring; -
16:21 - 16:23that’s how genes evolve.
-
16:24 - 16:27The term “selection”
refers to the fact that -
16:27 - 16:30living long enough to pass on
your genes, selects those genes -
16:30 - 16:33for future generations, assuming
the environment doesn’t change. -
16:34 - 16:37Skinner, who is one of the main
discoverers of operant conditioning, -
16:38 - 16:42applied this metaphor
of selection to the individual. -
16:42 - 16:46So the individual’s behavior
is also selected by its consequences. -
16:47 - 16:49Every time you behave,
it produces a consequence. -
16:50 - 16:52Now I’m not using the word consequence
the way my dad used it -
16:52 - 16:53when I was growing up.
-
16:53 - 16:56Like “If you don’t behave,
you’re gonna get the consequence.” -
16:56 - 16:58I just mean anything that
-
16:58 - 17:00behavior produces,
all the products of behavior. -
17:02 - 17:04If I had more time with you
I could convince you of this, -
17:04 - 17:07but I’ll just tell you now:
Every single thing you do -
17:07 - 17:09your entire life, produces consequences.
-
17:09 - 17:13And those consequences determine
whether you continue to do those things -
17:13 - 17:15or whether you don’t continue,
in a very simple way. -
17:16 - 17:18The third level of selection,
-
17:18 - 17:21of the metaphor of selection,
has to do at the cultural level. -
17:21 - 17:24So, when we talk about
governments, religions, -
17:24 - 17:28capitalistic systems,
they have evolved culturally. -
17:29 - 17:32There’s a hint of it in the documentary,
-
17:32 - 17:35but obviously they have evolved
and they’ve been selected for. -
17:35 - 17:37The contingencies that have been created
-
17:38 - 17:40are favorable for
those things to continue. -
17:41 - 17:43So, in our effort to think
about how to change that, -
17:43 - 17:46we need to think about
what are the cultural contingencies -
17:46 - 17:48for those institutions.
-
17:49 - 17:51So, possible solutions.
-
17:51 - 17:53Well, Skinner’s solution
is to turn to science, -
17:53 - 17:55the same as Jacque and Roxanne.
-
17:56 - 17:58Skinner believes that we need
to find scientists -
17:58 - 18:00who are uncommitted
to governments and religions. -
18:01 - 18:03Now there some who are committed
to them, but many are not. -
18:05 - 18:07For Skinner, scientists
can give us the best picture -
18:08 - 18:10of the future and, in fact,
we’re living it right now. -
18:10 - 18:13Because climatologists
and climate scientists are giving us -
18:13 - 18:16a very accurate picture
of what the future will be like, -
18:16 - 18:17because the future is here.
-
18:19 - 18:22You live in (many of you, not all of you)
many of you live in Florida, -
18:22 - 18:26and you know that, by the year 2100,
you’re gonna have to move. -
18:26 - 18:29Florida's going to be underwater.
It's already under water. -
18:29 - 18:32I live in California.
We need your water, okay? -
18:34 - 18:37So we already—the future is already here,
with respect to that. -
18:37 - 18:39For Skinner, however,
-
18:39 - 18:42the scientists that we need to turn to
are behavioral scientists. -
18:44 - 18:48So, I’m here to tell you that
we already have the science needed -
18:48 - 18:51to design a world that will take
our genetic nature into account, -
18:51 - 18:52whatever that genetic nature is,
-
18:52 - 18:55and correct many of
the miscarriages of evolution. -
18:55 - 18:59It’s called behavior science.
Also known as behavior analysis. -
19:00 - 19:04Now, Skinner also pointed out
that you can’t simply impose -
19:04 - 19:07a new system on the world.
You can’t impose things on the world; -
19:07 - 19:10that will produce
counter-controlling resistance. -
19:10 - 19:15Nor could any new alternative
escape selection by consequences either. -
19:15 - 19:18Because any new practice that we install
-
19:18 - 19:21would appear as a variation
only to survive -
19:21 - 19:23if it contributed
to the strength of the group. -
19:24 - 19:26So, keeping in mind
this notion of selection. -
19:27 - 19:29Now Skinner ended
his article with a story. -
19:31 - 19:33Here’s our story.
-
19:33 - 19:36If the evidence survives,
visitors from outer space -
19:36 - 19:38may someday reconstruct a curious story.
-
19:39 - 19:41“The Earth was a small planet,
but it proved suitable for life. -
19:42 - 19:44At some point, atoms
came together in a molecule that, -
19:45 - 19:48under just the right circumstances,
reproduced itself. -
19:48 - 19:51Random variations
in the structure of that molecule -
19:51 - 19:54made reproduction possible
under less favorable circumstances. -
19:54 - 19:58Cells evolved and then organs,
organisms, and species. -
19:58 - 20:01Interchanges with the environment
became more and more complex. -
20:01 - 20:04In one species, Homo Sapiens,
-
20:04 - 20:07the vocal musculature
came under operant control, -
20:07 - 20:10and people began to talk to each other
and exchange experiences. -
20:10 - 20:12Elaborate cultural practices evolved,
-
20:12 - 20:14among them science and technology.
-
20:14 - 20:18Unfortunately, they were used
to support genetic dispositions -
20:18 - 20:20that had evolved at an earlier stage.
-
20:20 - 20:22Because food was reinforcing,
people raised, -
20:23 - 20:25stored and distributed
vast quantities of it. -
20:25 - 20:27Because moving about
was useful and exciting, -
20:27 - 20:30they invented trains, cars,
airplanes and spaceships. -
20:31 - 20:33Because good things could be taken
from other people -
20:33 - 20:36and then needed to be defended,
they invented clubs, guns and bombs. -
20:36 - 20:38Because they wished to avoid ill health,
-
20:38 - 20:41and the threat of death,
they practiced medicine and sanitation. -
20:41 - 20:43They lived longer,
and their numbers increased, -
20:44 - 20:45and they took over more
and more of the Earth -
20:45 - 20:47and brought it under cultivation.
-
20:47 - 20:50They consumed more and more
of its irreplaceable resources. -
20:50 - 20:53In the struggle for what was left
they began to build weapons -
20:53 - 20:56so powerful they could bring
life on Earth to an end.” -
20:57 - 20:59Perhaps you can understand why
-
20:59 - 21:01Skinner became pessimistic
later in his life. -
21:02 - 21:04But he did offer two possible solutions,
-
21:05 - 21:06two possible endings for the story.
-
21:07 - 21:10Here’s the first one;
this is the more pessimistic one. -
21:10 - 21:13"A few people saw the danger
and worried about it, -
21:13 - 21:16but their proposals conflicted with
the practices that were supported, -
21:16 - 21:20not only by immediate
and hence more powerful consequences, -
21:20 - 21:22but by the out-of-date moral
and ethical principles -
21:22 - 21:24that had been invented to justify them."
-
21:25 - 21:26Here's the more optimistic ending.
-
21:27 - 21:29"Those who saw the danger began to study
-
21:29 - 21:31human behavior
with the methods of science. -
21:32 - 21:34They turned from observing
what people had done up to that time, -
21:35 - 21:38to observing what people did
under carefully controlled conditions, -
21:38 - 21:39that is, experimentation.
-
21:40 - 21:42A science and a technology
of behavior emerged. -
21:42 - 21:45Better cultural practices were designed,
-
21:45 - 21:48and the species survived
for many thousands of years." -
21:48 - 21:49I left that part off.
-
21:51 - 21:54Now, the author Paul Chance in 2007,
-
21:55 - 21:57noted that toward the end
of his life and career, -
21:57 - 22:00B.F. Skinner became pessimistic
about our ability -
22:01 - 22:03to use behavior science
to solve the problems facing us. -
22:03 - 22:06Now why was that ironic?
It’s ironic because -
22:06 - 22:09he’s the one who helped develop
the behavioral science, -
22:09 - 22:11and it’s the thing
that made him most optimistic -
22:12 - 22:13throughout most of his career.
-
22:13 - 22:16It's hard to imagine but
he discovered that you can -
22:16 - 22:19get organisms to behave
-
22:19 - 22:21exactly as you want them to
by arranging their environment. -
22:21 - 22:25That’s got to have been
a very powerful thing for someone to see. -
22:26 - 22:29And once you see that
you think, oh my gosh, -
22:29 - 22:31we should be able
to apply this culture-wide -
22:31 - 22:33and get people to change their behavior.
-
22:38 - 22:39So, there’s the irony.
-
22:40 - 22:42Now I want to just list 5 of these things,
-
22:44 - 22:495 of the aspects of behavior science
that Skinner helped discover, -
22:49 - 22:51that made him pessimistic.
-
22:52 - 22:54The first one I’ve already
mentioned, that is, -
22:54 - 22:57immediate consequences
outweigh delayed or remote consequences. -
23:02 - 23:03This is perhaps the big one.
-
23:05 - 23:07We all behave for the immediate
consequences of our behavior. -
23:08 - 23:12All of us. Very few of us
behave for remote consequences, -
23:12 - 23:15and when we do,
it means that others have made -
23:15 - 23:18other immediate consequences
contingent on the behavior, -
23:18 - 23:22so that we could…
reap the ultimate consequences. -
23:23 - 23:26So for example, if you eat bad food,
-
23:27 - 23:30high in cholesterol, high in fat,
high in sugar, whatever, -
23:31 - 23:34then you run the risk
of developing serious conditions. -
23:34 - 23:38But you might have a group,
or parents, or friends, -
23:38 - 23:41who reinforce healthier
eating on your part. -
23:42 - 23:44Now the healthier eating,
for the most part, -
23:44 - 23:46is not as tasty as the bad eating.
-
23:47 - 23:50But you don’t do it
for the good taste, you do it because -
23:50 - 23:52you have a group around you
that reinforces that. -
23:53 - 23:56If someone tells you, you know,
if you keep eating that chocolate cake -
23:56 - 23:59and those cookies, you know,
you might get diabetes. -
23:59 - 24:00Well, when’s the diabetes?
-
24:01 - 24:03First of all, it’s not probable,
it’s not 100% probable, -
24:03 - 24:05so you might not get it.
-
24:05 - 24:08You know, the old story,
"My granddaddy smoked -
24:08 - 24:113 packs of cigarettes
till he was 100 and…" you know. -
24:12 - 24:14Yeah, well that’s true
for a very few people. -
24:14 - 24:17But most people who smoke 3 packs of
cigarettes aren’t around to talk about it. -
24:17 - 24:20But it’s a remote consequence, okay?
-
24:20 - 24:23So this is probably
the most powerful one. -
24:24 - 24:26If we’re going to redesign
the culture we need to -
24:26 - 24:30find other consequences
that can mediate that delay. -
24:31 - 24:34Consequences for the individual
outweigh consequences for others. -
24:34 - 24:38We are selfish individuals.
We are genetically selfish. -
24:38 - 24:40You are here,
-
24:40 - 24:43not for any purpose
in the future, you are here… -
24:43 - 24:46Well, I’ll tell you a story. My mother,
-
24:46 - 24:48she doesn’t ask me
these questions any more, but -
24:49 - 24:51she said to me “Why am I here?
What’s my purpose?” -
24:51 - 24:53And I said “Well mom,
you really want to know? -
24:54 - 24:56I said “you’re here
because your parents had sex.” -
24:56 - 24:58[Laughter]
-
24:59 - 25:01“No, that’s not what I mean.
I mean what’s my purpose?” -
25:01 - 25:04I said “Well, you know mom,
you’ve already served your purpose. -
25:04 - 25:07You’ve reproduced yourself 3 times, okay?”
-
25:07 - 25:11So, that’s not what she meant obviously.
-
25:11 - 25:13That’s why she doesn’t ask me
these questions anymore. -
25:13 - 25:15[Laughter]
-
25:16 - 25:17But…
-
25:18 - 25:21consequences for the individual
outweigh the consequences for the others. -
25:22 - 25:24If you’re going to redesign a culture,
you need to redesign it so that -
25:25 - 25:26people behave…
-
25:27 - 25:30we’re all going to behave selfishly,
but we need to behave so that -
25:30 - 25:32what reinforces us also benefits others.
-
25:33 - 25:36There are plenty of people who do that
but many people who don’t. -
25:37 - 25:39Coincidental events often
strengthen ineffective behavior. -
25:40 - 25:41Prayer is a good example.
-
25:42 - 25:44Now, we all know I think
in this room that prayer -
25:44 - 25:47doesn’t do what people
think it does, right? -
25:47 - 25:51But sometimes people pray,
and very very occasionally, -
25:51 - 25:53the thing they pray for comes for pass.
-
25:54 - 25:57And they go “See? I prayed
that she would live, and she lived.” -
25:57 - 25:59She had faith, you know: "Terminal cancer,
-
25:59 - 26:03and the doctors gave up hope and I prayed,
and somehow it happened -
26:03 - 26:04(you know) so my prayer must have worked."
-
26:05 - 26:07Of course they never remember
the thousands of other times they prayed, -
26:08 - 26:09and nothing came to pass.
-
26:10 - 26:12But the problem is that
-
26:12 - 26:15these are coincidental events
that people ascribe meaning to. -
26:17 - 26:20Susceptibility to social reinforcement
can incline us toward extreme views. -
26:21 - 26:23I had a picture of Donald Trump.
-
26:23 - 26:26I was wondering a month ago
when I started working on this talk, -
26:26 - 26:27whether I would be able
to use him as an example -
26:27 - 26:29I’m sorry to say
that I am able to do that. -
26:31 - 26:34Is Donald Trump really
an evil fascist? I don’t think so. -
26:35 - 26:38Donald Trump says stuff,
and he has for a long time. -
26:39 - 26:41The most ridiculous, outlandish, crazy,
-
26:41 - 26:44provocative stuff he says,
the more the people cheer. -
26:44 - 26:46And of course the media
also contributes to it as well. -
26:47 - 26:49I guarantee you
if you got up in a room like this -
26:49 - 26:51and no one was here,
he wouldn’t talk that way. -
26:51 - 26:54If no one paid attention to him,
he would stop talking that way. -
26:56 - 26:58So—and he’s just an example, right?
-
26:58 - 27:01We have plenty of examples
of people with extreme views, -
27:01 - 27:03and their extreme views
aren’t because they’re bad -
27:03 - 27:06or evil or whatever,
it’s because they get attention for it. -
27:07 - 27:09And finally, the use
of aversive control tends to reinforce -
27:09 - 27:13the behaviors who use it,
the behavior of people who use it. -
27:14 - 27:17Whenever a parent uses aversive control,
which means threats, -
27:17 - 27:20you know, punishment,
to get kids to behave, -
27:20 - 27:23the parent's behavior is reinforced
because the kid behaves. -
27:23 - 27:27So we need to design a culture or a world
where using that kind of control -
27:27 - 27:29does not reinforce the people who use it.
-
27:31 - 27:34So is there hope?
Or is there even time? -
27:34 - 27:36The only hope that Skinner
held out was winning over -
27:37 - 27:39a substantial number
of influential people— -
27:39 - 27:43educators, writers, journalists,
scientists and scholars— -
27:43 - 27:46who might then pressure policy makers
to take effective action. -
27:47 - 27:52But as the bleak view that Abby gave us,
-
27:52 - 27:53that’s obviously not gonna happen.
-
27:54 - 27:56And the fact that we’ve failed
in doing so is perhaps -
27:56 - 27:59even further support for Skinner’s view,
and for his pessimism. -
28:00 - 28:02But I want to tell you,
as I told you before: -
28:02 - 28:06the more we know about behavior science,
the more likely it is we can change. -
28:06 - 28:08So, let me talk about
what behavior science is. -
28:10 - 28:12Before I do that,
let me talk about some problems -
28:12 - 28:14standing in the way
of accepting behavior science. -
28:14 - 28:18And now I’m talking more to you…
directly I think. -
28:18 - 28:21Because even though you all,
we all share a vision in this room, -
28:21 - 28:26we all grew up in the same culture
that taught us about behavior. -
28:28 - 28:30First, we all think we know
and understand behavior. -
28:31 - 28:34I have a PhD in psychology.
I have 3 degrees in psychology. -
28:36 - 28:38As was mentioned
in the introduction, I’ve published -
28:38 - 28:43experimental work with nonhumans,
with kids, with adults. -
28:43 - 28:45I’ve written theoretical articles
in a variety of different journals, -
28:45 - 28:48I published 3 books,
I’m invited to talk all over the world. -
28:48 - 28:50I’m not bragging, I’m telling you that,
-
28:50 - 28:53when I am in a conversation with somebody
about human behavior -
28:53 - 28:55and they ask my opinion,
-
28:55 - 28:58which is an educated opinion
I would hazard to say, -
28:59 - 29:01they frequently go
“Well, I don’t agree with you.” -
29:01 - 29:02Or “That’s your opinion.”
-
29:03 - 29:05Now imagine if I were an astrophysicist,
-
29:05 - 29:07and someone asked me
about the recent discovery -
29:07 - 29:10of gravitational waves
predicted by Einstein’s theory. -
29:10 - 29:12And I told them and they said
“Oh well that’s cool, -
29:12 - 29:14that’s your opinion, I don’t think
that’s what really happened.” -
29:14 - 29:15[Laughter]
-
29:15 - 29:17Nobody would do that.
-
29:17 - 29:21But, when you’re an expert
on human behavior, everybody is equal. -
29:22 - 29:25Everybody’s a psychologist.
I’m sure you all know this. -
29:27 - 29:29And I don’t even have to tell people
what I do, to hear about this. -
29:30 - 29:31Why is that?
-
29:32 - 29:35Because nobody pretends to be an expert
in chemistry, physics or biology. -
29:35 - 29:39We all pretend to be experts in,
maybe the thing that’s more complicated. -
29:40 - 29:42First, we all behave.
-
29:43 - 29:45We seem to have intimate and personal
knowledge of our own behavior. -
29:45 - 29:48If you ask somebody
why she or he did something, -
29:48 - 29:50she can sort of introspect and look at
-
29:50 - 29:51what she was thinking or whatever
and tell you that. -
29:52 - 29:56Also, we’ve been told things
about behavior ever since we could talk. -
29:57 - 30:00The culture teaches us
through our parents, about behavior. -
30:00 - 30:02One of those things
is we have free will. -
30:04 - 30:07I spoke it to skeptics conference in 2005.
-
30:07 - 30:09Now skeptics, I thought
were skeptical, right? -
30:11 - 30:14But I discovered that they’re
only skeptical of obvious things, like -
30:14 - 30:18UFOs and astrology, and stuff like that.
-
30:18 - 30:20The stuff that I’m skeptical about
they’re not skeptical about, -
30:21 - 30:22because they all believe in free will.
-
30:23 - 30:24But we’ve been told
that we have free will. -
30:26 - 30:28We’ve been told that we can make
our own decisions -
30:28 - 30:29and are responsible for our own behavior.
-
30:29 - 30:31"Pull yourself up by your boot straps."
-
30:33 - 30:34Obviously, because I’m telling you this
-
30:35 - 30:36it means I disagree with all of this.
-
30:38 - 30:41As I said, compare this to physics,
chemistry and biology. -
30:41 - 30:43Nobody who doesn’t have
a degree in those things -
30:44 - 30:45would ever pretend to be an expert
-
30:45 - 30:47and yet we’re all experts
in human behavior. -
30:48 - 30:50This is one of the hurdles
that people like me -
30:50 - 30:52have to contend with.
-
30:53 - 30:55So, what is behavior science?
-
30:55 - 30:57Behavior science, behavior analysis,
-
30:57 - 31:00is a natural science,
just like chemistry, physics and biology. -
31:00 - 31:04It’s concerned with the description,
prediction and understanding of behavior. -
31:04 - 31:07Not mental events,
behavior, in its own right -
31:07 - 31:10(I’ll explain that in a minute)
as a function of environmental variables -
31:10 - 31:12and based on quantitative
empirical evidence, -
31:12 - 31:13that is, experimentation.
-
31:15 - 31:17Now there are three assumptions
of behavior science that I -
31:18 - 31:19just want to go over briefly.
-
31:21 - 31:22And by the way these are assumptions
-
31:22 - 31:24that contradict the way many of us were raised.
-
31:25 - 31:27The first one is physicalism,
which basically says: -
31:27 - 31:29everything in the universe is physical.
-
31:30 - 31:32And you might go, yeah, I agree with that.
-
31:32 - 31:35But you see, you were all
raised as dualists. -
31:35 - 31:38That is, you believe
you have minds and bodies. -
31:38 - 31:40Some of you think your mind is your brain
-
31:40 - 31:42but most of you think
your mind is something else: -
31:42 - 31:45some kind of intangible nonmaterial thing
-
31:45 - 31:48that makes you do things.
And we have all kinds of expressions -
31:48 - 31:51in our vocabulary
that talk about the mind. -
31:51 - 31:53“In my mind, I was doing…”
Well where is that? -
31:53 - 31:56Was that like, next to your bathroom?
In my mind, you know? -
32:00 - 32:03Explanations of behavior then,
have to point to physical events. -
32:03 - 32:05They can’t point to mental events.
-
32:06 - 32:08Number 2: determinism.
-
32:09 - 32:12The assumption of determinism
is that behavior is lawful and orderly. -
32:12 - 32:14And it’s caused by physical events.
-
32:15 - 32:17Now a lot of people go
“Behavior can’t be a lawful and orderly -
32:17 - 32:18because we’re all different.”
-
32:19 - 32:20Well snowflakes are all different too.
-
32:20 - 32:24And yet the causes of snowflakes
are exactly the same, okay? -
32:24 - 32:26So, the fact that we behave differently
-
32:26 - 32:29doesn’t mean that the causes
of our behavior are different. -
32:30 - 32:33That contradicts the notion
of free will, by the way, -
32:33 - 32:34and as I tell my students,
-
32:35 - 32:37whom all believe in free will,
at least until they have me, -
32:40 - 32:42they say “Well yeah, I believe
that some of my behavior’s determined -
32:42 - 32:44and some of it I can choose freely.”
-
32:44 - 32:47And you know what I tell them?
“You got to pick a side.” -
32:47 - 32:49It’s like being pregnant. You can’t say
-
32:49 - 32:51“I’m kind of pregnant,” okay?
-
32:51 - 32:53It’s like, you’re
either pregnant, or you’re not. -
32:53 - 32:55It’s just black or white, right?
You had to pick a side. -
32:56 - 32:58I've picked my side; it’s determinism.
-
32:58 - 33:00My students, not so sure.
-
33:01 - 33:04Explanations of behavior then
must not only point to physical events, -
33:04 - 33:08they must also point to those laws
that have been discovered. -
33:09 - 33:11The third assumption
is one called parsimony. -
33:12 - 33:14That is, descriptions
and explanations of behavior -
33:14 - 33:16must make the fewest assumptions.
-
33:17 - 33:20Explanations then, must be parsimonious.
-
33:20 - 33:22One in my favorite examples,
-
33:22 - 33:24a child throwing a tantrum.
-
33:24 - 33:28I’m assuming you’ve all seen
children throw tantrums in stores, right? -
33:29 - 33:31On multiple occasions,
maybe some of you were those children. -
33:32 - 33:34Maybe some of you still throw tantrums.
-
33:35 - 33:37So here's a child who throws a tantrum,
-
33:37 - 33:39the parent takes the child into the store,
-
33:39 - 33:41the child says “I want candy,”
the parent says No, -
33:41 - 33:44the child starts screaming
and crying, and throwing things. -
33:44 - 33:47So you go up to 3 people and you say
“Why is that child doing that?” -
33:48 - 33:51Person number 1 says “Well it’s obvious,
she’s possessed by demons. -
33:52 - 33:53[Laughter]
-
33:54 - 33:56And those demons are making her do that.”
-
33:56 - 33:58And so you get to person number 2,
and that person says -
33:58 - 33:59“No, no, no, that’s not it.
-
34:00 - 34:01Her id is so powerful
-
34:02 - 34:04that her poor weak ego can’t stand it,
-
34:04 - 34:06and the super ego was never developed,
-
34:06 - 34:08so she’s completely id-dominated.”
-
34:08 - 34:10See, you all didn’t laugh
as much at that one. -
34:10 - 34:13And yet that one is no better
than the evil spirits one. -
34:14 - 34:16And the third person goes “No, no.
-
34:16 - 34:18She tantrums because she gets candy.”
-
34:18 - 34:22Now, a parsimonious
description or explanation -
34:22 - 34:24must point to the fewest assumptions.
-
34:25 - 34:27The one of those explanations
that makes fewest assumptions -
34:27 - 34:30is that one that says,
she tantrums because she gets candy. -
34:31 - 34:34The other ones make assumptions,
many assumptions. -
34:34 - 34:37Now can we prove that she’s
not possessed by demons? No. -
34:38 - 34:41Can we prove that her id
is overpowering her ego? Nope. -
34:41 - 34:44Can we prove the candy
causes her tantrum? Yes. -
34:44 - 34:47I’ve done it lots of times with parents.
-
34:47 - 34:50And the reason you can prove it
is because the candy is physical, -
34:50 - 34:53and the tantrum is physical;
they’re both observable, -
34:53 - 34:54you can do something about them.
-
34:58 - 35:00What are the traditional views
about why we behave? -
35:02 - 35:06I’m sure many still hold this:
behavior comes from "within you." -
35:06 - 35:08We behave because
of what we think, feel, want, -
35:08 - 35:11wish, decide, intend and desire. Or,
-
35:11 - 35:13because of certain traits we have, like
-
35:13 - 35:16intelligence, aggression,
shyness, creativity, integrity. -
35:16 - 35:18Or because of our genes and our brains.
-
35:20 - 35:24Hopefully after today you will be,
at least question these notions. -
35:24 - 35:27By the way these things,
they’re just words: -
35:27 - 35:29intelligence…
-
35:30 - 35:33integrity, shyness, they’re just words,
they don’t exist anywhere. -
35:33 - 35:36If you say she does something
because she’s intelligent, -
35:36 - 35:39as Jacque said, show me
the intelligence, right? -
35:39 - 35:42It’s just in her behavior that leads you
to say that she’s intelligent. -
35:45 - 35:47And again, we freely choose
our own behavior. -
35:48 - 35:51Some people go “I know I choose my
own behavior; I don’t believe it’s free.” -
35:51 - 35:53But you don’t even choose
your own behavior. -
35:54 - 35:58I call this as a naive philosophy,
that many of us have. -
35:58 - 36:00It's taught to us by parents as kids,
-
36:00 - 36:04but then it’s codified
by the social sciences: psychology, -
36:04 - 36:06sociology, criminal justice, etc.
-
36:07 - 36:10The culture buys in
to these traditional views. -
36:11 - 36:14And one of my points today is
as long as we continue to accept -
36:14 - 36:16that behavior comes from
within the individual, -
36:17 - 36:20we will never be able to figure out
how to change our behavior -
36:20 - 36:22in time to save ourselves.
-
36:25 - 36:27I’ve talked about explaining behavior.
-
36:27 - 36:30Most traditional explanations are faulty.
-
36:30 - 36:32I’m given you a little example there.
-
36:35 - 36:38They're faulty because they point
to mental or cognitive events -
36:38 - 36:39and not physical events.
-
36:40 - 36:42If you want to explain
behavior scientifically -
36:42 - 36:46you have to point to a physical event
that can be observed. Okay? -
36:49 - 36:51They don’t point to laws of behavior,
-
36:52 - 36:54and they’re not parsimonious.
-
36:54 - 36:56Because you might say “She
-
36:56 - 37:00scored really high in that test
because she's so damn bright!” -
37:00 - 37:04And that sounds good. But that’s no better
than evil spirits or demons. -
37:04 - 37:07Because you can’t see the intelligence,
and you can’t see the evil spirits. -
37:07 - 37:10You better find some
other physical explanation -
37:10 - 37:13for why she does well in school
versus somebody else. -
37:14 - 37:15Scientific explanations, on the other hand,
-
37:15 - 37:18must point to physical events
that can be observed -
37:18 - 37:20independently of the behavior.
-
37:23 - 37:25Genes, by the way,
would constitute physical events -
37:25 - 37:27that can be observed
independent of behavior, -
37:28 - 37:31and it’s certainly true that genes
contribute to our behavior. -
37:32 - 37:36But genes—there is no single gene
for individual behaviors. -
37:37 - 37:39The human genome project,
before it came out, -
37:39 - 37:42people thought “Well they’re going to
find out humans have millions of genes,” -
37:42 - 37:44because we always thought we were
the best and the brightest on the planet. -
37:44 - 37:46We must have the most genes.
-
37:47 - 37:48Guess how many genes
we have, anybody know? -
37:49 - 37:51About 26,000.
-
37:52 - 37:53That’s pretty humbling.
-
37:53 - 37:57Now, those 26,000 genes
do pretty incredible things. -
37:57 - 38:01Wheat has more genes
than humans does…humans do. -
38:02 - 38:04But, genes are certainly
physical and observable -
38:04 - 38:08so they constitute, at least,
part of the scientific explanation. -
38:09 - 38:11People nowadays like
to talk about the brain. -
38:12 - 38:14Mostly people who have
no clue about the brain. -
38:14 - 38:17Very few people who know about
the brain talk this way but -
38:17 - 38:21we all talk—“Oh my amygdala was”
you know "kind of acting up." -
38:21 - 38:24"The executive function”—
it’s like: what are you talking about? -
38:25 - 38:27Are you a neuroscientist? No.
-
38:27 - 38:30But it is true that the brain
is a physical event -
38:30 - 38:33and there’s no question that the brain
mediates every single thing we do. -
38:34 - 38:38That’s the only thing that we have
that’s completely accessible, -
38:38 - 38:41observable, and changeable
without an incredible technology, -
38:41 - 38:43and we can do it right now:
the environment. -
38:46 - 38:49So, what’s the behavior analytic view
about why we behave? -
38:50 - 38:52First of all, we study behavior
in its own right. -
38:52 - 38:56In other words, it’s not an index
or a reflection of a mental event -
38:56 - 38:59or a cognitive event, or feelings,
or anything like that. -
39:00 - 39:02You take what you got, right?
-
39:02 - 39:06Now that’s not to say that all behavior
is observable, some of it is unobserved, -
39:06 - 39:08but we still consider it behavior.
-
39:09 - 39:12Behavior, in its own right,
as caused by environmental events. -
39:13 - 39:15This is an expression
I like to give my students. -
39:15 - 39:17You might recognize this
-
39:18 - 39:21as a paraphrase of an expression
that Bill Clinton used -
39:21 - 39:23in the 1992 presidential election.
-
39:25 - 39:27I don’t need to give the whole story,
some of you are old enough to remember, -
39:27 - 39:30but the expression was
“It’s the economy, stupid.” -
39:30 - 39:34So I paraphrased it
“It’s the environment, stupid.” Because it is! -
39:34 - 39:36It’s the environment that results,
-
39:37 - 39:40that caused you to have the genes you have
(it’s your evolutionary environment), -
39:40 - 39:42and it’s your learning environment
from the time you were born -
39:42 - 39:44that produced the behavior
that you have now. -
39:46 - 39:49The main law that behavior science
uses is something called the law of effect, -
39:49 - 39:50or reinforcement.
-
39:52 - 39:55That’s as…the most succinct
-
39:55 - 39:57parsimonious description I can give—
6 words: -
39:58 - 39:59Behavior is determined
by its consequences. -
40:00 - 40:01I mentioned this earlier.
-
40:01 - 40:03Everything you do produces a consequence.
-
40:04 - 40:08When I push the button correctly
on this device here, -
40:08 - 40:10and my slide progresses,
-
40:10 - 40:12then that reinforces my behavior.
-
40:12 - 40:14I’m likely to push the same
button in the same way. -
40:14 - 40:17If by accidentally push
a different button, and I lose it, -
40:17 - 40:18then I’m less likely to do that.
-
40:19 - 40:21I don’t determine whether
I’m going to push the button. -
40:21 - 40:23This determines whether I’m going
to push the button correctly. -
40:24 - 40:26And that’s okay.
I’m not depressed by that. -
40:26 - 40:29I’m not depressed by giving over
control of my behavior of button pushing -
40:30 - 40:31to this device.
-
40:32 - 40:34And by the way, the chair
determines that you’ll sit in it, -
40:35 - 40:36and the water bottle
determines that you’ll -
40:36 - 40:39twist the cap off and drink
from it, and I can go on. -
40:43 - 40:45So let me go back
to the child throwing the tantrum. -
40:48 - 40:50Because the child’s behavior
is determined by its consequences -
40:50 - 40:52and so is the parent’s.
-
40:53 - 40:55So, here’s just a brief little thing here.
-
40:55 - 40:57So here we have the child’s behavior,
-
40:57 - 41:00and here you have the parent’s behavior.
(I’m gonna go over here so Jacque can see.) -
41:04 - 41:06This is very simplistic.
-
41:07 - 41:11But here we have, the child
is in the store with the parent, -
41:11 - 41:14the child asks for candy,
the parent says No, -
41:14 - 41:16the child throws a tantrum.
-
41:16 - 41:19What does the child get? Candy.
-
41:21 - 41:23Now, you might say, well—
-
41:23 - 41:26because I know, how I feel
about children like that in public. -
41:26 - 41:29I hate those kids. Shut that kid up!
-
41:29 - 41:32What’s wrong with that kid? You know?
-
41:32 - 41:34You know what? There’s
nothing wrong with the kid. -
41:34 - 41:37The kid is behaving exactly
as she or he should be behaving. -
41:38 - 41:41If you could only get food
by tantruming, guess what? -
41:41 - 41:43That’s what you would do. And by the way,
-
41:44 - 41:47if you think tantruming is something
that all kids do, you’re wrong, they don’t. -
41:47 - 41:50If you think it’s something that’s…
a stage that all kids go through, -
41:50 - 41:51you’re wrong.
-
41:52 - 41:55If you take a kid and put them
on a desert island all by themself, -
41:56 - 41:58they will never ever tantrum.
-
41:58 - 42:00I’ll let you think about why.
-
42:03 - 42:07But there are two actors on this stage;
that’s the child behavior. -
42:07 - 42:10By the way that stands for
positively reinforcing consequence; -
42:10 - 42:12that means the next time the child
and the parent are in the store, -
42:12 - 42:14the child's going to do
the exact same thing. -
42:15 - 42:18The parent is in the store with the child
and the child starts tantruming. -
42:18 - 42:20What’s the parent do? They give candy.
-
42:20 - 42:24What do they get? Quiet.
The child stops tantruming. -
42:25 - 42:28So, the parent and the child,
you would predict, -
42:28 - 42:30will do the same thing over
and over again. And they do. -
42:31 - 42:33And it gets worse between the two.
-
42:33 - 42:35Some of you may know.
I don’t need to tell you that. -
42:35 - 42:37My point with this example is this.
-
42:38 - 42:41Both the parent and the child’s behavior
are completely determined -
42:41 - 42:44by the consequence.
I’ve worked with a lot of parents, -
42:44 - 42:47many of them have children
who cry or tantrum in various places, -
42:47 - 42:50and if you stop giving the child
candy, guess what? -
42:50 - 42:52The child will stop tantruming.
-
42:52 - 42:54Do you need to talk about
what the child feels, -
42:54 - 42:56what the child thinks,
what the child expects? -
42:57 - 42:57Nope!
-
42:58 - 43:01You stop giving them the candy,
they will stop tantruming. -
43:02 - 43:04Sometimes parents ask me
what to do when their little -
43:04 - 43:07princess comes home from preschool
and says the F word. -
43:08 - 43:10Because you know how parents react, right?
-
43:10 - 43:13“Oh, don’t say that,
it’s a bad word!” Right? -
43:13 - 43:16Now, look it from the child’s perspective.
-
43:16 - 43:19Children like cartoons,
they like dramatic things. -
43:19 - 43:22So they come out with some word,
they have no clue what it means, -
43:22 - 43:23and what do they see you do?
-
43:24 - 43:25Behaving like a cartoon character.
-
43:26 - 43:29And guess what?
They use it again and again. -
43:30 - 43:32So I tell parents, if your child
comes home from preschool -
43:32 - 43:35and says a bad word, pay it no attention.
-
43:35 - 43:39“(Gasp!) Well, how will they ever learn
that it’s not an appropriate word to say?" -
43:39 - 43:42Because they won’t say it again if they
don’t get attention. That’s how they’ll learn. -
43:42 - 43:44Parents have a hard time
understanding that. -
43:46 - 43:48Behavior is determined
by its consequences. -
43:50 - 43:52So, how can we achieve the good life?
-
43:53 - 43:56Well I would have to say
the natural sciences have done their share. -
43:56 - 43:57Psychology has failed.
-
43:59 - 44:02Why has psychology
made such little progress? -
44:02 - 44:04One, a continued determines to dualism.
-
44:05 - 44:09They still talk about mind
and mentalism, and cognitive events. -
44:10 - 44:11I don’t talk about them anymore.
-
44:11 - 44:13Do I use them in a casual
conversation? Sure. -
44:14 - 44:15Because I’m a human. Right?
-
44:15 - 44:18But in scientific conversation,
I make no mention of them. -
44:19 - 44:21And they lack a true
experimental methodology. -
44:22 - 44:25As I mentioned earlier,
and as I believe Is implicit in the -
44:26 - 44:27philosophy of The Venus Project,
-
44:27 - 44:31you have to have experimentation
at all levels to figure out what works. -
44:32 - 44:35In fact, all of the research centers that
they’ve designed into The Venus Project, -
44:35 - 44:36that’s what they do.
-
44:37 - 44:39So there needs to be
one for human behavior, -
44:39 - 44:41a research center for human behavior.
-
44:42 - 44:44Behavior analysis,
behavior science, is the exception. -
44:44 - 44:46It is not dualistic.
-
44:46 - 44:48We study behavior in and of itself.
-
44:49 - 44:51And it has already discovered
laws of behavior. -
44:52 - 44:54Now there’s an applied branch
of behavior analysis, -
44:55 - 44:58which has always improved
the lives of many people, -
44:58 - 45:01by offering practical solutions
to many behavioral problems. -
45:02 - 45:03And in a very simplistic way,
-
45:04 - 45:06by reducing problematic
behaviors and increasing -
45:07 - 45:08healthy productive behaviors.
-
45:09 - 45:11Now, I’m not going to read
this list, I just put it up. -
45:12 - 45:15This is just from one volume
of one of our journals. -
45:15 - 45:18This is just a list of topics
that have been changed -
45:18 - 45:20by applying the laws of behavior.
-
45:30 - 45:32That’s just in one volume of one journal.
-
45:34 - 45:38Now, if we’re able to change
all of those behaviors, -
45:38 - 45:39and many many more,
-
45:40 - 45:42then that’s what gives me
a little optimism -
45:43 - 45:46that we might be able
to apply it more culture-wide. -
45:47 - 45:50But behavior analysis can be used
even more widely in society -
45:50 - 45:53to create conditions
that will encourage people to flourish. -
45:53 - 45:55What does it mean to flourish?
-
45:55 - 45:58It means to grow and develop
in a healthy vigorous way, -
45:58 - 46:03especially as a result
of a particularly favorable environment. -
46:05 - 46:07I’m going to go through this quickly because
-
46:07 - 46:09I’ve probably overused my time.
-
46:10 - 46:14But here would be 3 simple steps
in behavior analytic approach -
46:14 - 46:16to get people to flourish.
-
46:16 - 46:20First you have to identify the behaviors
that you want people to do. -
46:22 - 46:24In other words, these are behaviors
that would lead us to say -
46:24 - 46:27that someone is virtuous,
or helpful, or caring. -
46:27 - 46:30Because helpful, caring,
moral, those are just words. -
46:30 - 46:32You can’t observe them, right?
-
46:32 - 46:34But you can observe the behavior
that lead us to SAY -
46:35 - 46:36that people are helpful and caring.
-
46:37 - 46:40Describe the behaviors in terms
that at least two people can observe. -
46:41 - 46:42That makes it scientific.
-
46:43 - 46:462nd. Create an environment to increase
the likelihood of virtuous behavior. -
46:47 - 46:51The technology derived from the science
of applied behavior analysis -
46:51 - 46:53involves altering
individual’s environments -
46:54 - 46:56to promote healthy productive behaviors,
-
46:56 - 46:59and to reduce unhealthy unproductive ones.
-
47:00 - 47:02By the way, as I mentioned in the video,
-
47:02 - 47:06by environment I don’t mean
the house you grew up in, -
47:06 - 47:08the parents you have,
the school you went to. -
47:08 - 47:10I mean all the stimuli
-
47:10 - 47:13that affect your behavior
at a given moment. -
47:14 - 47:16That means your environment
changes moment to moment. -
47:17 - 47:21It means that your environment
is inside you as well as outside you -
47:21 - 47:24because they’re stimuli
inside your body, like pain. -
47:24 - 47:26It also means that no two people
can have the same environment. -
47:27 - 47:29Even if you're physically
conjoined identical twins, -
47:29 - 47:31you cannot have the same environment.
-
47:32 - 47:35Now the traditional notion
of environment is much simpler. -
47:35 - 47:37But it’s also an ineffective one.
-
47:38 - 47:41This is a much more complicated one,
but much more effective. -
47:42 - 47:463rd step: Use experimentation to confirm
that behavior did in fact change. -
47:47 - 47:49How often do you—
you go to a therapist and -
47:50 - 47:51you leave and you say “How are you doing?”
-
47:51 - 47:53“Well I think I’m doing better.”
“Well, you mean you don’t know?” -
47:53 - 47:55“No, I feel a little bit better.” Right?
-
47:55 - 47:57Or you go to the chiropractor.
(which by the way— -
47:58 - 47:59Well, don’t get me started
on chiropractors.) -
48:00 - 48:02“Yeah, I’m doing good,
I’m doing good!” right? -
48:03 - 48:04“Do you have to go back next?”
“Oh yeah, I go every week.” -
48:04 - 48:06Well!—What’s the point, right?
-
48:06 - 48:08It's supposed to fix you, right?
-
48:08 - 48:11There should be some way of telling
whether you are different or not, -
48:11 - 48:13other than you own self-report.
-
48:15 - 48:18Experimentation is the hallmark
of all sciences, -
48:18 - 48:21including the science of behavior,
and its technological application. -
48:22 - 48:25So here’s a vision of the good life,
that we’ve already seen. -
48:26 - 48:29It’s just one vision;
seems like a good one to me. -
48:31 - 48:33This is from my visit
to The Venus Project. -
48:34 - 48:36But the good life,
-
48:37 - 48:39a life of virtuousness,
-
48:39 - 48:42a sustainable Resource-Based Economy,
-
48:42 - 48:45will not happen unless or until
-
48:45 - 48:48we understand why we do what we do,
-
48:48 - 48:52and we can arrange environments
to change what we do. -
48:52 - 48:56That’s why I think I’m here today,
and why I was included in the video. -
48:58 - 48:59As Skinner said, “Either we do nothing,
-
48:59 - 49:03and allow a miserable and probably
catastrophic future to overtake us, -
49:03 - 49:07or we use our knowledge about human
behavior to create a social environment -
49:07 - 49:09in which we shall live
productive and creative lives, -
49:10 - 49:13and do so without jeopardizing
the chances that those who follow us -
49:13 - 49:14will be able to do the same.”
-
49:15 - 49:16So I believe that
-
49:17 - 49:21between my 5-year old
and The Venus Project, -
49:21 - 49:24and a behavior science, that we
can actually begin to achieve that. -
49:26 - 49:27Thank you very much.
-
49:27 - 49:30[Applause]
- Title:
- HENRY D SCHLINGER JR., Ph.D., BCBA-D - Jacque Fresco Centennial Event - March 12, 2016
- Description:
-
Henry "Hank" Schlinger talks about the science of behavior and explains why more cohesive and sustainable social conditions are difficult when a majority of people are uninformed about the factors that shape our attitudes & conduct.
http://www.calstatela.edu/academic/psych/hschlin.html
- Video Language:
- English
- Duration:
- 49:31