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 →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.
B. F. SkinnerRead
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