The Garbled Epoch

Last year my mom signed me up for this class that greatly impacted my life. Without it I doubt that I would even dare to write about the subjects I do. Every Monday I sit down at 12 o'clock and enter into a world of debate, politics, religion, sports, computers, etc.... We discuss anything and everything. There are a few things that people need to know. 1. How to carry on a conversation. 2. How to speak in public. 3. How to debate. All are three very different things which sound the same. I am looking forward to this year because I had to learn number three last year. Now, I believe that I am able to present my writing in a more clear precise manner. However this is what I ask of you.

Do I present the material that you read in a clear precise manner?

If yes, then please inform me of subjects you'd like to hear about.

If no, then please inform me of ways that I might make my writings more clear and what you'd like to hear about.



Now this week I had to do homework before I go to class which starts tomorrow. I had to read Walden Two, and answer certain questions in my notebook. You know the basics, what are the basics of ethics and morality in Walden Two... what do they feel about history in Walden Two... etc... But more on those questions later, let me first BRIEFLY explain Walden Two.

Walden Two was written by B.F. Skinner a psychologist who believed that man is a product of the environment he is placed in. That man is nothing more than a complex machine that can be culturally, socially conditioned. Walden Two, based in the late 1940's after WWII, is about a utopian society that a psychologist named Frazier created. This place, ironically, believes in the same thing that the author believes, that man can be conditioned to be good.

After awhile of reading this book I can only come to one, personal conclusion. I HATE IT. The idea that man is basically nothing more than a machine, programmed by nothing other than his society is just BULLCRAP. I will admit that society plays a role in a persons life, but man is not just a simple machine! Humans simply cannot be conditioned out of the evil that plagues us. It is a part of us just like our desire to do good is a part of us.

There is a struggle for good and evil in the world that man must realize. Our desire to do good, because that is what humans were created to do. It was only when we did mess up that evil came into this world and it is something that we can't get rid of on our own.

Culturally this is a dangerous thought, that man can be programmed because it imposes the belief that man is something like an animal or computer. It doesn't place the amount of relevance on humans that we are due. We are sentient beings aware of our existence and capable of free though. If we believe Skinner, then murder isn't something evil, its just evidence of a failure of society, and not the man's failure. I'm sorry but I don't like the idea of being a robot.

That’s my ranting for today. I'm very P.O.'d at Skinner. So much for briefly.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 21, 2005 at 11:02 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.