We do not choose survival as a value, it chooses us.
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the tendency to attribute behavior to unseen influences rather than seeking to understand the individual directly.
B. F. Skinner's quote suggests that humans often find it challenging to comprehend the reasons behind others' behaviors. Instead of engaging in inquiry about the visible person, we might attribute their actions to influences or factors that are intangible and complex, highlighting our inclination to avoid deeper questioning about human behavior and its motivations.
Themes
BehaviorUnderstandingInfluenceAttributionPsychology
In practice
Example use cases
In a psychology class discussing the dynamics of behavior, this quote could be referenced to explore attribution theory.
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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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.
B. F. SkinnerRead
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