Beyond Freedom And Dignity: Difference between revisions

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The social environment is what is called culture. It shapes and maintains the behavior of those who live in it. A given culture evolves as new practices arise, possibly for irrelevant reasons, and are selected by their contributions to the strength of the culture as it "competes" with the physical environment and with other cultures. A major step is the emergence of practices which induce members to work for the survival of their culture. Such practices cannot be traced to personal goods, even when used for the good of others, since the survival of culture beyond the lifetime of the individual cannot serve as a source of conditioned reinforcers. Other people may survive the person they induce to act for their good, and the culture whose survival is at issue is often identified with them or their organizations, but the evolution of a culture introduces a and additional kind of good or value. A culture which <i>for any reason</i> induces its members to work for its survival is more likely to survive. It is a matter of the good the culture, not the individual. Explicit design promotes that good by accelerating the evolutionary process, and since a science and technology of behavior make for better design, they are important "mutations" in the evolution of culture. If there is any purpose or direction in the evolution of culture, it has to do with bringing people under the control of more and more of the consequences of their behavior.

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