Review: Walden Two

Walden Two by B.F. Skinner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The operant conditioning chamber (also known as the Skinner box) created by B. F. Skinner would be enough to assure fame for the American psychologist, behaviorist, author, inventor, and social philosopher. This renaissance man is also a novelist. Having recently read Walden, I decided to take on this “controversial novel”. Technocrats of an apparently unexciting alternative 40s American decide on a lark to visit a self-sustaining commune, Walden Two. The productivity and happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising their children. Walden Two, like Thoreau, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure. Unlike thorough, the community is not about one man’s solitude or a rejection of modern technology. Quite the opposite. (In 1967, Kat Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other aspects described in Skinner's book.)

The visiting group seems split in their opinions and a friendly fascism of the founder seems darker in this outburst on refuting the value of historical context:

"Are you saying that you gain no perspective-I mean, no detached
opinion-from a sense of history?"

"I mean that and more. Nothing confuses our evaluation of the present more than a sense of history-unless it's a sense of destiny. Your Hitlers are the men who use history to real advantage. It's exactly what they need. It obfuscates every attempt to get a clear appreciation of the present.

"Race, family, ancestor worship-these are the handmaidens of history, and we should have learned to beware of them by now. What we give our young people in Walden Two is a grasp of the current forces which a culture must deal with. None of your myths, none of your heroes-no history, no destiny-simply the Now! The present is the thing. It's the only thing we can deal
with, anyway, in a scientific way. But we've got a long way from the dictator.

Some parts of the founder’s philosophy seem calculated to offend some, such as finding autocratic powers in turning the other cheek:

"No, accident. Jesus discovered one principle because it had immediate consequences, and he got another thrown in for good measure.”

I began to see light.

"You mean the principle of love your enemies'?'' I
said.

"Exactly! To 'do good to those who despitefully use you' has two unrelated consequences. You gain the peace of mind we talked about the other day. Let the stronger man push you around-at least you avoid the torture of your own rage. That's the immediate consequence. What an astonishing discovery it must have been to find that in the long run you could control the stronger man in the same way!"

There is a hopefully benevolent paternalism here,

"The question is: Can men live in freedom and peace? And the answer is: Yes, if we can build a social structure which will satisfy the needs of everyone and in which everyone will want to observe the supporting code. But so far this has 'been achieved only in Walden Two. Your ruthless accusations to the contrary, Mr. Castle, this is the freest place on earth. And it is free precisely because we make no use of force or the threat of force. Every bit of our research, from the nursery through the psychological management of our adult membership, is directed toward that end-to exploit every alternative to forcible control. By skillful planning, by a wise choice of techniques we increase the feeling of freedom.

"It's not planning which infringes upon freedom, but planning which uses force. A sense of freedom was practically unknown in the planned society of Nazi Germany, because the planners made a fantastic use of force and the threat of force.

"No, Mr. Castle, when a science of behavior has once been achieved, there's no alternative to a planned society. We can't leave mankind to an accidental or biased control. But by using the principle of positive reinforcement-carefully avoiding force or the threat of force-we can preserve a personal sense of freedom."

Still, even Utopia needs its sheep. The practical commune is a subculture, needing larger culture to survive not really even an alternative culture or model for society at large.

"Suppose we need experts. Why not elect them?"

“For a very simple reason. The people are in no position to evaluate experts. And elected experts are never able to act as they think best. They can't experiment. The amateur doesn't appreciate the need for experimentation. He wants his expert to know. And he's utterly incapable of sustaining the period of doubt during which an experiment works itself out. The experts must either disguise their experiments and pretend to know the outcome in advance or stop experimenting altogether and struggle to maintain the status quo."

Skinner’s vision is an improved democracy at a time when Socialism held broad appeal (Looking Backward: 2000-1887 is referred to, along with other Utopian works):

"The government of Walden Two," he continued, "has the virtues of democracy, but none of the defects. It's much closer to the theory or intent of democracy than the actual practice in America today. The will of the people is carefully ascertained. We have no election campaigns
to falsify issues or obscure them with emotional appeals, but a careful study of the satisfaction of the membership is made. Every member has a direct channel through which he may protest to the Managers or even the Planners. And these protests are taken as seriously as the pilot of an airplane takes a sputtering engine…

Ultimately, this is a controlled experiment, and an experiment of control that is both complete and gentle:

"What is love,,' he said, with a shrug, "except another name for the use of positive reinforcement?"
it Or vice versa," I said.

Definitely, a thought-provoking work and an interesting way to present a community blueprint.


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