Book Reading #6 - Opening Skinner's Box

Chapter 1
In this chapter, we are introduced to the author and skinner's experiments. We learn a little of the background and learn that reward and consequence can have a great effect on a person's ability to perform an action. Specifically, the experiments Skinner had performed was in regards to animal training and how animals could be trained to do something specific if the reward was right and they were conditioned to do so. He explains that free will is a bit of an illusion and there are rewards and consequences that are considered when people do things. I don't really agree with this as I feel people are generally more complex than this, but it's an interesting topic. The thing I feel that differentiates us from more simple minded beings is that a lot more goes on in processing material than a simple trained animal. I think emotion plays a big part in how people think.

Chapter 2:
In this chapter, it caught me off guard a bit as it talked about Milgram's experiments and Obedience to Authority a bit more. He talked about how people are obedient and the vise versa and explained reasoning behind a few of Milgram's experiments. What caught my interest is that he interviewed people later on that were in his story and they very differently contrasted from how they were portrayed in the book. This either makes me think that the assumptions made by the author were incorrect or the two people interviewed had learned off what they had done and had changed as a result of it. I believe the first one more as I think it is hard to generalize someone without truly getting to know them deep down first.

Chapter 3:
This chapter was interesting. Mostly because I feel it touches on a subject most people usually have different opinions on. The author talked about an experiment in which normal-'seeming' people were 'diagnosed' with a mental problem and sent to a asylum to be 'taken care of'. A lot of what was in this chapter could be considered as interpretations and more definitely not factual, but I was interested in the author's view and how the psychiatrists reacted to the people who were supposed to be considered normal by most people.

I feel people in general are hard to categorize and most people who go about their lives probably have something deep down they deal with everyday and never realize. They instead think of themselves as normal, not realizing that other people think of life differently than they do (How could they?). They wake up everyday thinking some thought and considering the worry and physical pain from it to be normal and not realize they have a chemical deep down that makes that feeling appear more vibrant than most people do. Because you can't mentally put yourself in other people's minds, I do not believe it when people disagree with someone else's assumptions about themselves.

This chapter really got me thinking, especially when I heard how many people disagreed with people don't really have problems. True, you can get rid of most I feel from what I have read in the chapter through sheer will power, but to some people it is harder than most to do so. And the reason for that may be deeper than a simple worry at night.

Chapter 4:
This chapter was interesting to me in that it talked about social acceptance and how much another person's actions plays a part in your own actions. We learn how to survive life best by experiences and I feel that plays a part even until death. In some people it is more apparent than others. I feel that a lot of people never get out of that cycle and eventually don't give a second thought about their actions directly correlating to someone else's actions.

The chapter talked about an experiment in which smoke was produced inside a room with an actor and people who weren't yet acquainted with the room. The actor had acted like the smoke was a common occurrence and the people took his actions onto themselves and didn't make a big deal about the smoke.

I feel there are some people who are generally more independent and feel it is their own responsibility to act on their own accord even if other people don't think the same. But they are in the small percentage and usually people just accept what everyone else is doing. I think I am part of the first group, but I think it inside my head. If someone was in trouble and no one else was helping, I would act out if the time called for it. I have done it before and it is like another me is taking control.

Chapter 5:
This chapter was a little strange to me. I couldn't really make sense of what the author was trying to get it underneath it all. In short, it talked about dissonance and the ability of someone to do something else besides the norm based on social acceptance and recognition. It talked about a cult who believed a crazy myth and considered it to be normal because the other people in the cult followed the same way.

I think the author tried to generalize people too much in this chapter and like I have stated before, people aren't really that general and easy to predict. The example he gave that someone would change their mind over a dollar is an easy proof as to my belief that people aren't exactly sure themselves of what they want. But then again there are other people who are dead set in their ways and will not change for the end of the world. I feel that people are too inconsistent in general to be generalized like this.

Chapter 6:
This chapter talked about Harry Harlow and his experiments with bonds and monkeys. I didn't really like his experiments, but seemed to enjoy the reactions of other people in class more than his findings. I agreed with the people who said it was a horrible experiment to perform and that it took away a bond that should have been cherished to begin with. Who's to say that animals in general aren't as important to humans?

I found it interesting that bonds were important in the early stages of life, but I feel that is common sense and can be seen even by the normal events that happen in even humans lives. Many families are broken up because they lack this initial bond to begin with.

Chapter 7:
I found this chapter interesting. It talked about addiction and the belief Alexander and other people had that it wasn't the ingredients that caused addiction in drugs, but instead the environment of the drug-user to begin with. I found myself agreeing with both sides a bit. Like most things, too many things play a part in to most reasons that can't really be explained today. I do feel environments play a factor in addiction, but I think it's not the environment that makes this true, but the way the drug-user feels inside of the environment.

If their life just plain sucks, of course they will look to other actions that will make their lives seem better. On the other hand, someone who's life is perfect will most likely in my view use drugs with a less chance than the previous. But there are also people with lives so perfect that are messed up with a mistake as simple as this as well. It's hard to generalize, but I do feel what happens in peoples heads (non chemical) plays the most important part in this topic.

Chapter 8:
This chapter talked about memory and experiment Loftus did where a 'false' memory was considered as being the correct one. It was an experiment done to a person's memory where they were told they were lost in a mall at a young age. Being that young and with no recollection of this memory, it turns out around 1/4 of the people experimented on believed the false occurrence.

I found myself with a sharp contrast in belief to this experiment. This just makes me think at this point, were the first 8 chapters I have read so far all for nothing? I do not feel I fall with the 1/4 and cannot see how I can be told something about myself that I didn't already remember. When my parents tell me I was a certain way when I was younger, I feel I can support their claims with my own feelings at that age. If they told me something that wasn't in my collection and didn't make sense with something that I would normally do, I wouldn't trust it.

I personally feel my memory is better than my parents and I remember things when I was only 2 or 3 years old. They tell me that's not possible to remember at that young of an age, but I really do feel I remember. I can remember details they have forgotten and only realized were true many years later when they visited the house I said I remember. I feel I am strong in my views and that is really different than I feel most people think.

Chapter 9:
I feel as this chapter and the following were most interesting of all chapters as it talked about areas that are a bit more factual and go into a person's beliefs and their willingness to fix themselves. It talked about Eric Kandel and his patients when undergoing a surgery called a lobotomy. This is where the frontal lobe of the brain is poked, removed, and prodded until the symptom the patient is experiencing is removed and 'cured'. I  do feel that humans are like computers in a way and certain parts of the brain control specific functions, so it makes sense that messing with a specific part of a brain can cure certain issues. But I do not feel we are far enough technologically to make this possible safely. The patient talked about the surgery working and his OCD being less apparent. I feel this may be true, but there was also another patient who did not recover and is living 'broken' unable to learn new memories. I feel the areas of science are important, but we should look at other ways to solving this than what was performed above.

Chapter 10:
This is the second most interesting chapter to me as it talked a bit more about the lobotomies performed and drugs that also alter a person's way he or her thinks. The downsides to both procedures and drugs were talked about and I do feel myself agreeing that drugs can have more of an effect in the long term than the short term issues that come up with surgeries. I feel drugs and surgeries are there for people if they need them, but feel it depends on if the person wants them or not. I feel alternatives should be suggested and a REAL actual effort must be put into self-cure if the ability is possible before so.



Summary:
Before this book, I had no idea who Skinner was. It was an interesting read but I feel afterwards that all this book makes me think is that what I read all a waste? People can't really be generalized and it can be harmful if a specific algorithm is applied to everyone as a whole. In relation to computer science, that was my belief. I do not feel there is enough information as we are not that technologically advanced yet to investigate this further. In the future, I do feel that people can be adapted to and 'modified' in their ways more scientifically but it will probably end up as a nanite or something small in everyone that detects the differences in people and takes those in consideration before modifying something.