We do not choose survival as a value, it chooses us.
B. F. SkinnerRead
Fame is also won at the expense of others. Even the well-deserved honors of the scientist or man of learning are unfair to many persons of equal achievements who get none. When one man gets a place in the sun, the others are put in a denser shade. From the point of view of the whole group there's no gain whatsoever, and perhaps a loss.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Fame often overshadows the contributions of others, resulting in a net loss for society.
This quote by B. F. Skinner reflects on the idea that while fame and recognition may be awarded to individuals, it often comes at the cost of overlooking the equal contributions of many others within the same field. It highlights that the success of one does not necessarily lead to a benefit for all, suggesting that such accolades can create imbalances and inequities within groups of achievers.
Themes
FameRecognitionAchievementsInequalitySuccess
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the ethics of fame in the scientific community.
More from B. F. Skinner
All quotes βEach 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.
B. F. SkinnerRead
No theory changes what it is a theory about; man remains what he has always been.
B. F. SkinnerRead
I am opposed to the military use of animals. I am also opposed to the military use of men.
B. F. SkinnerRead
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.
B. F. SkinnerRead
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.
B. F. SkinnerRead
Similar quotes
But there is in everything a reasonable division of labour. I have written the book, and nothing on earth would induce me to read it.
Gilbert K. ChestertonRead
The Dhamma has to be found by looking into your own heart and seeing that which is true and that which is not, that which is balanced and that which is not balanced.
Ajahn ChahRead
And much as Wine has played the Infidel, And robbed me of my Robe of Honor Well, I often wonder what the Vintners buy One half so precious as the stuff they sell.
Edward FitzgeraldRead
I'm open to everything. When you start to criticize the times you live in, your time is over.
Karl LagerfeldRead
Misogyny runs deeper than religion.
Katha PollittRead
Feminism began to dawn on my brain belatedly in life.
Gloria SteinemRead