We do not choose survival as a value, it chooses us.
B. F. SkinnerRead
I won't say that I'm an agnostic, since agnosticism maintains that one cannot know... but I'm not averse to the idea of some intelligence or some organizing force that set up the initial conditions of the universe in such a way that ultimately generated stars, planets and life.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a consideration of the possibility of a higher intelligence or force behind the universe's existence without claiming definitive knowledge of it.
B. F. Skinner's quote expresses a middle ground regarding belief in a higher intelligence, distinguishing between agnosticism and openness to the concept of a foundational force that facilitated the emergence of the universe. Rather than asserting ignorance, Skinner acknowledges the plausibility of an organizing intelligence without committing to any specific doctrine, emphasizing a balance between skepticism and curiosity in the quest for understanding existence.
Themes
AgnosticismIntelligenceUniverseExistencePhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about the existence of God, one could use this quote to highlight the open-mindedness toward the concept of a higher intelligence.
More from B. F. Skinner
All quotes →Each of us has interests which conflict the interests of everybody else... 'everybody else' we call 'society'. It's a powerful opponent and it always wins. Oh, here and there an individual prevails for a while and gets what he wants. Sometimes he storms the culture of a society and changes it to his own advantage. But society wins in the long run, for it has the advantage of numbers and of age.
B. F. SkinnerRead
No theory changes what it is a theory about; man remains what he has always been.
B. F. SkinnerRead
I am opposed to the military use of animals. I am also opposed to the military use of men.
B. F. SkinnerRead
The ideal of behaviorism is to eliminate coercion: to apply controls by changing the environment in such a way as to reinforce the kind of behavior that benefits everyone.
B. F. SkinnerRead
Unable to understand how or why the person we see behaves as he does, we attribute his behavior to a person we cannot see, whose behavior we cannot explain either but about whom we are not inclined to ask questions.
B. F. SkinnerRead
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