John Zavacki wrote:
> Roxanne, in a noble effort to get a complex issue into dialogue makes this
> statement:
>
> > Kohn details the history and effect of Skinnerian
> > behaviorism on our schools, businesses and child-rearing techniques and
> > debunks Skinner's assumption that humans should be treated as lab rats.
> > He points out that the basis of "do this and you'll get that" is control
> > and manipulation.
>
> Caveat 1: I am, by education a cognitive, not a behavioral psychologist
> Caveat 2: I find Walden II the most interesting of Skinner's work
> Caveat 3: I also like Ayn Rand when I was 19
>
> I would appreciate an understanding here: Skinner is not responsible for
> capitalism and it's "carrot and stick" mentality. He studied behavior.
> His work explained many lower level cognitive functions. He was not a
> proponent of "carrot and stick" schema in complex organizational behavior.
> That said, we have intrinsica and extrinsica to discuss. Who among you
> will toss the first carrot?
Interestingly enough, Jack, the stick and carrot approach was used mostly
by dirt farmers using an ass to help them drag the plow through the rocks,
roots and, sometimes, dirt from which they planned to extract their
livelihood. There are times when workplaces seem very much like this
picture--but not signficantly enough for me. I'll toss the carrot--let's
just use decent feed instead! (I'll keep the stick in the back of my
pickup, though--just in case!).
Doc
-- Richard C. "Doc" Holloway, Limen Development Network - olypolys@nwrain.com" Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least."
-Goethe
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>