We Shouldn't Teach Great Books; We Should

The Real Problem Is Not Whether Machines Think But Whether Men Do.

To Say That A Man Is Sinful Because He Sins Is To Give An Operational Definition Of Sin. To Say That He Sins Because He Is Sinful Is To Trace His Behavior To A Supposed Inner Trait. But Whether Or Not A Person Engages In The Kind Of Behavior Called Sinful Depends Upon Circumstances Which Are Not Mentioned In Either Question. The Sin Assigned As An Inner Possession (the Sin A Person "knows") Is To Be Found In A History Of Reinforcement.

A Person Who Has Been Punished Is Not Thereby Simply Less Inclined To Behave In A Given Way; At Best, He Learns How To Avoid Punishment.

A Culture Must Be Reasonably Stable, But It Must Also Change, And It Will Presumably Be Strongest If It Can Avoid Excessive Respect For Tradition And Fear Of Novelty On The One Hand And Excessively Rapid Change On The Other.

A Vast Technology Has Been Developed To Prevent, Reduce, Or Terminate Exhausting Labor And Physical Damage. It Is Now Dedicated To The Production Of The Most Trivial Conveniences And Comfort.