A review by bogdanbalostin
Walden Two by B.F. Skinner
5.0
Re-read: I find the ideas more fascinating this time around, and I can bear the dry prose and annoying characters better. Unfortunately, I can see the flaws of the ideas for the first generation building Walden Two. It's indeed possible and we should strive to change the evil human nature towards "good behavior" but we will never accomplish it with 100% efficiency.
In another book, Life 3.0 I first encountered the idea that simple animals are Life 1.0 which means they change very slowly only through direct genetic evolution and humans are Life 2.0 because they can improve both their body (genetic) and their mind (use of tools and cultural). I believe we are only scratching the surface in terms of what is possible culturally and in terms of organization at a societal level.
Original Review: As a novel, this book deserves less than a one-star rating. There, I said it, and I think even B.F. Skinner would agree with me if we both lived in Walden Two.
Now let me tell you first why it's an awful novel. Characters are caricatures, awkward dialogue and descriptions, no plot, literally, nothing happens in this novel. It's just a long dialogue without any kind of consequences. So if recently you've only read books that grab you and never let you go, a bestseller or a page-turner, think again before you start reading this. Good news, a page-turner is written using behavioral science, though in the way marketing (and manipulation) works.
Anyway, on the brilliance of the book, the philosophical treaty, the pornography of a behaviorist (as one reviewer said). The thing is reading this book made me want to cry. With the advancement of technology, nothing changed. The governments are even worse than before, all the problems we had 100 or 50 years ago, we still have them only on a greater scale. You would think a democratic government would improve with time, but unfortunately, when Skinner describe the government of the 1950s he is practically describing the worst problems of today's government. It's like we don't learn. Quite the contrary, behavioral science was criticized until it disappear from the mainstream medium but the techniques are still used to control people. What Skinner proposes is to let people know they don't have free will (so to speak, there are many kinds of will) and help them make the best decision for the community. That sounds controversial and dictatorial, so it was impossible. Instead, nowadays, everyone tries to control the population (with great success) while lying that we are free to do anything. Just look at clickbait title, aggressive marketing, emotion-based marketing, democratic elections (!!!), media manipulation.
The thing is if you read this book, do it with an open mind. Even I was shocked at some suggestions because they come against my free spirit and the free choice of man. I'm not going to write them here because if you don't read the whole book, you will not get the right meaning. It happened to me, I was curious about what kind of society Walden Two would be without reading the book and my view was skewed by my current culture when I read a summary of the points that made Walden Two work.
In another book, Life 3.0 I first encountered the idea that simple animals are Life 1.0 which means they change very slowly only through direct genetic evolution and humans are Life 2.0 because they can improve both their body (genetic) and their mind (use of tools and cultural). I believe we are only scratching the surface in terms of what is possible culturally and in terms of organization at a societal level.
Original Review: As a novel, this book deserves less than a one-star rating. There, I said it, and I think even B.F. Skinner would agree with me if we both lived in Walden Two.
Now let me tell you first why it's an awful novel. Characters are caricatures, awkward dialogue and descriptions, no plot, literally, nothing happens in this novel. It's just a long dialogue without any kind of consequences. So if recently you've only read books that grab you and never let you go, a bestseller or a page-turner, think again before you start reading this. Good news, a page-turner is written using behavioral science, though in the way marketing (and manipulation) works.
Anyway, on the brilliance of the book, the philosophical treaty, the pornography of a behaviorist (as one reviewer said). The thing is reading this book made me want to cry. With the advancement of technology, nothing changed. The governments are even worse than before, all the problems we had 100 or 50 years ago, we still have them only on a greater scale. You would think a democratic government would improve with time, but unfortunately, when Skinner describe the government of the 1950s he is practically describing the worst problems of today's government. It's like we don't learn. Quite the contrary, behavioral science was criticized until it disappear from the mainstream medium but the techniques are still used to control people. What Skinner proposes is to let people know they don't have free will (so to speak, there are many kinds of will) and help them make the best decision for the community. That sounds controversial and dictatorial, so it was impossible. Instead, nowadays, everyone tries to control the population (with great success) while lying that we are free to do anything. Just look at clickbait title, aggressive marketing, emotion-based marketing, democratic elections (!!!), media manipulation.
The thing is if you read this book, do it with an open mind. Even I was shocked at some suggestions because they come against my free spirit and the free choice of man. I'm not going to write them here because if you don't read the whole book, you will not get the right meaning. It happened to me, I was curious about what kind of society Walden Two would be without reading the book and my view was skewed by my current culture when I read a summary of the points that made Walden Two work.