We do not choose survival as a value, it chooses us.
B. F. SkinnerRead
Death does not trouble me. I have no fear of supernatural punishments, of course, nor could I enjoy an eternal life in which there would be nothing left for me to do, the task of living having been accomplished.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a lack of fear regarding death, emphasizing the idea that life is complete when it has been fully lived.
B. F. Skinner reflects on the concept of death, indicating that he does not fear it nor the idea of supernatural consequences. He suggests that eternal life would be unappealing if there were no purpose or tasks remaining, valuing the completion of life's endeavors over the idea of endless existence.
Themes
DeathFearLifePurposeExistence
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophical discussion about the nature of existence.
More from B. F. Skinner
All quotes →Each of us has interests which conflict the interests of everybody else... 'everybody else' we call 'society'. It's a powerful opponent and it always wins. Oh, here and there an individual prevails for a while and gets what he wants. Sometimes he storms the culture of a society and changes it to his own advantage. But society wins in the long run, for it has the advantage of numbers and of age.
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No theory changes what it is a theory about; man remains what he has always been.
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I am opposed to the military use of animals. I am also opposed to the military use of men.
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The ideal of behaviorism is to eliminate coercion: to apply controls by changing the environment in such a way as to reinforce the kind of behavior that benefits everyone.
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Unable to understand how or why the person we see behaves as he does, we attribute his behavior to a person we cannot see, whose behavior we cannot explain either but about whom we are not inclined to ask questions.
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