We do not choose survival as a value, it chooses us.
B. F. SkinnerRead
The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote questions the ability of humans to think critically and thoughtfully compared to machines.
B. F. Skinner suggests that the true issue lies not in whether machines can emulate human thought processes but in the capacity of humans to engage in genuine thinking. This highlights a deeper concern about the nature of human cognition and the responsibilities of individuals in a world increasingly influenced by technology. It challenges us to reflect on our own thought processes and the extent to which we rely on external tools for understanding and decision-making.
Themes
MachinesThinkingHuman CognitionTechnologyPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the role of AI in society, one might quote Skinner to emphasize the importance of human thought.
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
I realized that Eastern thought had somewhat more compassion for all living things. Man was a form of life that in another reincarnation might possibly be a horsefly or a bird of paradise or a deer. So a man of such a faith, looking at animals, might be looking at old friends or ancestors. In the East the wilderness has no evil connotation; it is thought of as an expression of the unity and harmony of the universe.
William O. DouglasRead
Life is never fair, and perhaps it is a good thing for most of us that it is not.
Oscar WildeRead
First there must be order and harmony within your own mind. Then this order will spread to your family, then to the community, and finally to your entire kingdom. Only then can you have peace and harmony.
ConfuciusRead
Though the object of being a Great Power is to be able to fight a Great War, the only way of remaining a Great Power is not to fight one.
A. J. P. TaylorRead
The question is not, "Do you know you are a sinner?" the question is this, "As you have heard me preach the Gospel, has God so worked in your life that the sin you once loved you now hate?"
Paul WasherRead
Sincere friendship towards God, in all who believe him to be properly an intelligent, willing being, does most apparently, directly, and strongly incline to prayer; and it no less disposes the heart strongly to desire to have our infinitely glorious.
Jonathan EdwardsRead