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Misophonie

2013-01-25T16:44:30Z

163.231.6.87: /* Symptoms */

'''Misophonia''', literally “hatred of sound”, is a form of decreased sound tolerance. It is believed{{by whom|date=January 2013}} to be a neurological disorder characterized by negative experiences resulting only from specific sounds, whether loud or soft.<ref>{{cite web |title=Decreased Sound Tolerance: Hypersensitivity of Hearing |author=Jonathan Hazell |publisher=Tinnitus and Hyperacusis Centre, London UK |url=http://www.tinnitus.org/home/frame/hyp1.htm |accessdate= February 5, 2012}}</ref> The term was coined by American [[neuroscientist]]s Pawel Jastreboff and Margaret Jastreboff.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Tinnitis retraining therapy for patients with tinnitus and decreased sound tolerance |authors=Pawel J. Jastreboff, Margaret M. Jastreboff |journal=Otolaryngol Clin |date=April 2003 |volume=36(2) |pages=321–36 |pmid=12856300}}</ref> The term is often used interchangeably with the term '''selective sound sensitivity'''.<ref>{{cite doi|10.1136/jnnp-2012-303538.20}}</ref>

Unlike [[hyperacusis]], misophonia is specific for certain sounds. Little is known about the anatomical location of the physiological abnormality that causes such symptoms but it is most likely high [[central nervous system]] structures.<ref>{{cite book |title=Hearing, Second Edition: Anatomy, Physiology, and Disorders of the Auditory System |author=Aage R. Møller |publisher=Academic Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-12-372519-6}}</ref> It has been speculated that the anatomical location may be more central than that involved in [[hyperacusis]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Textbook of Tinnitis, part 1 |author=Aage R. Møller |year=2001 |pages=25–27 |doi=10.1007/978-1-60761-145-5_4 |url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/gl87436l77336151/ |accessdate=February 5, 2012}}</ref>

The emotional reaction to sound characteristic of misophonia is a respondent behavior.<ref>Skinner, B. F. (1938). The behavior of organisms: an experimental analysis. Oxford, England: Appleton-Century.</ref> A respondent behavior is elicited by a stimulus; an unconditioned response is elicited by an unconditioned stimulus. An example of this is a reflex such as the blink reflex, or pain or fear. With repeated pairings of a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned or conditioned stimulus, the neutral stimulus will elicit a physiological response similar to that elicited by the paired stimulus. When that happens, the neutral stimulus has become a "conditioned stimulus," and the reflex response is called a "conditioned response." In the case of misophonia, the respondent behavior elicited by the sound is often limited to or significantly stronger in specific individuals, supporting the premise that reaction to sound by a person with misophonia is a conditioned respondent behavior.

==Symptoms==
People who have misophonia are most commonly annoyed, or even enraged, by such gross sounds as other people clipping their nails, brushing teeth, eating, breathing, sniffing, talking, sneezing, yawning, walking, chewing gum, snoring or coughing; certain consonants; or repetitive sounds.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |title=When a Chomp or a Slurp is a Trigger for Outrage |author=Joyce Cohen |date=September 5, 2011 |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/06/health/06annoy.html?_r=3 |accessdate=February 5, 2012}}</ref> Intense anxiety and avoidant behavior may develop, which can lead to decreased socialization. Some people may feel the compulsion to mimic what they hear.<ref name=Hadjipavlou/>

==Prevalence and comorbidity==
The prevalence of misophonia is currently unknown but groups of people identifying with the condition suggest it is more common than previously recognized.<ref name=Hadjipavlou>{{cite journal |title=Selective Sound Intolerance and Emotional Distress: What Every Clinician Should Hear |authors=George Hadjipavlou, MD, MA, Susan Baer, MD, PhD, Amanda Lau and Andrew Howard, MD |journal=Psychosomatic Medicine |volume=70 |pages=739–40 |publisher=American Psychosomatic Society |year=2008 |url=http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/content/70/6/739.short |accessdate=February 2012}}</ref> Among patients with [[tinnitus]], which is prevalent in 4-5% of the general population,<ref>{{cite web |title=Components of decreased sound tolerance : hyperacusis, misophonia, phonophobia |author=Jastreboff, P., Jastreboff, M. |date=July 2, 2001 |url=http://www.tinnitus.org/home/frame/DST_NL2_PJMJ.pdf |accessdate = February 5, 2012}}</ref> some surveys report prevalence as high as 60%<ref name=Hadjipavlou/> while prevalence in a 2010 study was measured at 10%.<ref>{{cite journal |title=DPOAE in estimation of the function of the cochlea in tinnitus patients with normal hearing. |authors=Sztuka A, Pospiech L, Gawron W, Dudek K. |journal=Auris Nasus Larynx |year=2010 |volume=37(1) |pages=55–60 |pmid=19560298}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Hyperacusis]]
*[[Phonophobia]]
*[[Sensory defensiveness]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* http://www.misophonia.info
* http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/content/70/6/739.full
* http://www.misophonia-uk.org/
* http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090713/misophonia_sounds_090713/20090713
* [http://www.rosekivi.com/survey.html Misophonia & Sound Sensitivity Survey]
* http://www.misophonia.us
* [http://www.misophonia.us Proposed behavioral treatment]

[[Category:Diseases of the ear and mastoid process]]

[[ar:ميسوفونيا]]
[[es:Misofonia]]
[[fr:Misophonie]]
[[nl:Misofonie]]
[[pl:Mizofonia]]
[[zh:恐音症]]

Walden Zwei

2010-07-06T18:04:24Z

163.231.6.87: /* Novel ideas */

{{infobox Book | 
| name = Walden Two
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image =
| image_caption =
| author = [[B. F. Skinner]]
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = [[United States of America]]
| language = [[English language|English]]
| series =
| genre = [[Science fiction]], [[Utopian novel]]
| publisher = [[Hackett Publishing Company]]
| release_date = 1948
| english_release_date =
| media_type = Print
| pages = 301
| isbn = ISBN 0-87220-779-X
| oclc= 75310838
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}

'''''Walden Two''''' is a science fiction<ref>Skinner, B.F. (1987). Upon Further Reflection p. 194 "What the protagonist in Walden Two called a behavioral technology was at the time still science fiction, but it soon moved into the real world."</ref><ref>Skinner, B.F. (1948). ''Walden Two.'' Indianapolis: [[Hackett Publishing Company]]. Revised 1976 edition, page vi. ISBN 087220779X.</ref> novel written by [[Radical behaviorism|behavioral]] psychologist [[B. F. Skinner]] and first published in [[1948 in literature|1948]]. In that novel, the author describes an ''experimental community'' <ref>Skinner, B. F. (1968). "The Design of Experimental Communities", ''International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences'' (Volume 16). New York: Macmillan, 1968, pages 271-275.</ref> named Walden Two.<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 6.</ref> The community is located in a rural<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 6. Walden Two's address is ''Walden Two, R. D. 1, Canton.'' The ''"R. D."'' is an abbreviation for [[Rural District]].</ref> area and "has nearly a thousand members."<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 18.</ref> The members are portrayed as happy,<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 232.</ref> productive,<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 234.</ref> and creative.<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 165.</ref> The community encourages its members "to view every habit and custom with an eye to possible improvement" and to have "a constantly experimental attitude toward everything".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 25.</ref> When the members find a problem in their community they may design and experimentally test a possible solution, carefully documenting the results of their experiment in accordance with the [[scientific method]].<ref>''Walden Two.'' See "Our tea service", beginning at p. 25 and through p. 27.</ref> If the results of their testing indicates that the proposed solution would be an improvement over their current cultural practices then they may make that experimentally validated improvement into a component of their community's culture. This cultural optimization process is called "cultural engineering."<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 47.</ref>

In the preface of the revised, 1976 edition of ''Walden Two,'' the author critically examines contemporary American culture, noting that cities have become unmanageably large and that the over-consumption of resources is causing pollution. He writes, "It is now widely recognized that great changes must be made in the American way of life."<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. xvi.</ref> Then he asserts that, "The choice is clear: either we do nothing and allow a miserable and probably catastrophic future to overtake us, or we use our knowledge about human behavior to create a social environment in which we shall live productive and creative lives and do so without jeopardizing the chances that those who follow us will be able to do the same."<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. xvi.</ref> What kind of new "social environment" might be created to avoid a "catastrophic future"? The author concludes by suggesting that, "Something like a Walden Two would not be a bad start."<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. xvi.</ref>

''Walden Two'' challenges contemporary U.S. social conventions such as the value of modern education, the effectiveness of university professors, excessive work volume, and posits a planned economy, critical of allegedly inefficient capitalism. The community's government is not democratic. Planners and Managers govern the community and require only four daily hours of work from each person and promote the arts and applied scientific research. The community subscribes to a code of conduct based upon, and supported by, behaviorism.<ref>for example, see Skinner, B.F. (1953) Science and Human Behavior, Skinner, B.F. (1974) About Behaviorism, and others</ref> Children are reared communally by trained behavior specialists, outside the nuclear family, and loyalty to community, instead of the family, is encouraged.

''Walden Two'' is controversial for its rejection of democracy as effective government, viable socialist economy, an atheist society, the narrow range of available emotional expression, its appeal to dictators and to emulators of T.E. Frazier, the emotionally unstable protagonist.<ref>Kuhlmann's Living Walden Two</ref>

==The plot==
Six visitors arrive at a thousand-person community then ten years old. A decade earlier, T.E. Frazier wrote an article asking people join him in founding a community based on philosopher H. D. Thoreau's ideas. Two soldiers, returned from the war, seek Frazier, and enlist Professor Burris's help; he finds and communicates with Frazier, then joins the visit to the community. Prof. Burris invites Prof. Augustine Castle, and, with the two soldiers, Rogers and Steve Jamnick, and their girlfriends, Mary Grove and Barbara Macklin, they visit Walden Two.

The focus of the story evolves primarily toward the dialogue between Frazier, Prof. Castle, and Prof. Burris, each reflecting their own philosophical and practical concerns about the design and structure of the community. At story's end, one couple stay in the community, while the other visitors leave, however, in a sudden change of heart, Prof. Burris quits his university post and returns to the rural community.

==Other utopias==
The rural utopia of ''Walden Two'' is contemporary, not in the future, and is accessible via a bus-and-car journey, unlike [[Thomas More]]’s Utopia with only a single entrance and exit from the island society. In the introduction, B.F. Skinner says his reasons for writing ''Walden Two'' were personal: <ref>Skinner, B.F. Walden Two, Revised 1976 edition</ref> he read ''[[New Atlantis]]'', by [[Francis Bacon]], on being told that [[William Shakespeare]] ''was'' Sir [[Francis Bacon]] <ref>Skinner, B.F. Particulars of my life</ref>, and his desire to describe an ''interesting'' Heaven. <ref>Skinner, B.F. Notebooks. see Skinner's comments on St. Augustine's "boring" Heaven</ref> The other utopias mentioned in the novel are ''[[Erewhon]]'' and ''[[Looking Backward]]''.

==The community==
''Walden Two'' describes a small, thousand-person planned community based upon the community posited by H. D. Thoreau and behavioural psychology. Frazier and five others are the governing Planners. The community is self-sufficient, emulating the self-sufficiency of the ''Walden'' utopia, and to allow for the experimental control of the community, as a pilot scientific experiment, however, the way things are done is changeable, if the evidence favours change.

==The members==
The community members are happy, productive, and creative; happiness derives from the promotion of rich social relationships and family life, free affection, the creation of art, music, and literature, opportunity for games of chess and tennis, and ample rest, food, and sleep. The community is self-governed; the members subscribe to the Walden Code of self-control techniques, which allow maintaining a happy, productive life in Walden Two with minimal strain. Self-governance, however, is supplemented with [[community counselors]] who supervise behaviour and are available to help the members with their problems in following the Walden Code.

==Community governance==
Walden Two has a constitution that "can be changed by a unanimous vote of the Planners and a two-thirds vote of the Managers".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 254.</ref>

The constitution provides for a "Board of Planners", which is Walden Two's "only government".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref> "Board of Planners" is a name that "goes back to the days when Walden Two existed only on paper".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref> "There are six Planners, usually three men and three women".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref> "The Planners are charged with the success of the community. They make policies, review the work of the Managers, keep an eye on the state of the nation in general. They also have certain judicial functions."<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref> A Planner "may serve for ten years, but no longer."<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref> A vacancy on the Board of Planners is filled by the Board "from a pair of names supplied by the Managers".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref>

Managers are "specialists in charge of the divisions and services of Walden Two".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref> A member of the community can "work up to be a Manager--through intermediate positions which carry a good deal of responsibility and provide the necessary apprenticeship".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 49.</ref> The Managers are '''not''' elected by the members of Walden Two.<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 49.</ref> The method of selecting Managers is not specified; however, since the Board of Planners is Walden Two's "only government",<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref> it is reasonable to suppose that Managers are appointed by the Board of Planners.

Walden Two has Planners, Managers, Workers, and ''Scientists.'' The Scientists conduct experiments "in plant and animal breeding, the control of infant behavior, educational processes of several sorts, and the use of some of our [Walden Two's] raw materials".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 49-50.</ref> The method of selecting Scientists is not specified but it is again reasonable to suppose that Scientists are appointed by the Board of Planners.

==Novel ideas==

In ''Walden Two'', Skinner argues for a 24 hour work week - four hours a day for six days, with one day off - and argues that it would be as productive as a full time shift from all of the members in comparable jobs outside of the community.

Frazier, the community founder, argues for the elimination of lectures, traditional education, democracy, capitalism, the family, and suggests that other things, like religion, will fall away in a more ideal social setting like ''Walden Two''.

The lecture as an 'inefficient means to transmit culture' and has been done away with in Walden Two. Traditional education is useless and is to be replaced by a practical education driven by the environment and learned as needed. Education is seen as a lifelong learning process where a “student” is free to choose what they want to learn and when it will be useful for them to learn it. By not having a structured and regimented education system learning is more meaningful and the “students” are more likely to retain the information. Democracy is an outdated and inefficient form of government which allows for the tyranny of the majority over the minority, which is supposedly not possible in Walden Two. Capitalism is claimed to be wasteful, due to duplication of effort in advertising and so on. It also relegates the common man to a lower place for using his hands in physical labor. The family is an outdated structure, like race, which has no real meaning when examined. It is to be replaced by the more efficient community unit. Religion is a product of social anxiety which in a non-anxiety producing culture like Walden Two will 'fall away'. Throughout the book he suggests that the solution to these outdated concepts of humanity is to control human behavior using positive reinforcement.

===Growth and population===

The community has an aggressive growth policy fueled by members having children at a young age ( 'in their teens' perhaps 15 or 16), as well as recruiting visitors like the characters in the book. This growth allowed them to reach one thousand members within ten years.

The next phase of the plan is Walden Six, a community whose architecture is designed all at once. Around half of the current members of Walden Two are to leave and build, manage and live in Walden Six.

Although initially eschewing political power for 'not giving them the chance we want', Frazier outlines a policy of taking over local political structures when possible. The aggressive growth policy gives the community political power in a democracy, and it creates for the members a Walden Ticket. The Walden Ticket tells the members who to vote for in the best interest of the community.

===Family===

Since teen marriage is common, members are encouraged to raise children in a collective manner. One reason is to lessen the burden on the new couple. A second reason is to develop positive, parental feelings by the children for many or all adults. To this end parents aren't to single their own children out for special favors, are to give gifts and shower attention on several children as well as their own, and are to be addressed by their proper names instead of 'mother' or 'father'. This method serves the purposes of alleviating the pressure parents feel by being the sole provider for their children and strengthening the ties of the children to the community.

===Clothing===

An important concept to note is the concept of clothing in this story because status and clothes are related.

The women were not required to dress a certain way. It is their belief that, “Going out of style isn’t a natural process, but a manipulated change which destroys the beauty of last year’s dress in order to make it worthless” (source: Skinner 34). They wanted to avoid wasting perfectly good clothing by continuously and quick changing styles but they still wanted to look good. They strategically chose the clothing that was good for past and the future. Women did not fill their closets with party dresses because they were not practical.

It seemed as the women were dressed well. Men wore things that are considered more normal in society. According to Frazier, “Men are less dependent on clothes....” (source: Skinner 37)

===Genetics and Eugenics===

Frazier suggests that the community may be able to implement a policy of eugenics, where parenthood and marriage are effectively separated. Marriage would be by choice, although with the guidance of the community, and parenthood would be by plan. This policy is not in effect at the time of Burris' visit, nor is it mentioned in Skinner's follow up ''News from Nowhere, 1984''.

Interestingly, in ''Walden Two'' Skinner speculates on the role of genetics playing a role in many areas of human behavior. This runs counter to the many accusations that his analysis rejects genetics, something he has refuted more than once.<ref>Skinner, B.F. (1974) About Behaviorism</ref>

===A Golden Age===

Frazier indicates that the artistic productivity of the members is designed to promote a [[Golden Age]] of art, music and literature. The art mentioned is primarily painting, the music mentioned is mostly classical - Bach's B-Minor Mass and some violin with piano accompaniment - and the literature is less clear because although many books are mentioned - from Machiavelli to H.G. Wells - it would be Anthony Trollope that might be the most fitting for the category. However, one wonders what the ideological ramifications of such works would be in the described society.

===Socialism===

The community practices total income sharing, with the members earning their living through a community accounting system-cum-currency called the labor credit. Although the labor credit is roughly one hour of work its value is adjusted up or down based on the value of the work. The value is determined in part by the popularity of the work, with unpopular work being worth more and popular work being worth less. A community member may work up to 8 hours a day if they choose only easy, popular work. If they choose unpopular work they may work less than the community 4 hour average.

==Thoreau's ''Walden''==
''Walden Two'''s title is a reference to [[Henry David Thoreau]]'s book ''[[Walden]]''. In the novel, the Walden Community is mentioned as having the benefits of living in a place like Thoreau's Walden, but "with company". It is, as the book says, 'Walden for two' - meaning a community and not a place of solitude. Originally, Skinner indicated that he wanted to title it ''The Sun is but a Morning Star'', a clear reference to Thoreau's ''Walden'', but the publishers suggested the current title as an alternative<ref>''The Sun is but a Morning Star'' is a reference to the last sentence in Thoreau's ''Walden''</ref>.

In theory and in practice, Thoreau's Walden experiment and the Walden Two experiment were far different from one another. For instance, Thoreau's Walden espouses the virtues of self-reliance at the individual level, while Walden Two espouses the virtues of self-reliance at the community level.

==''News From Nowhere, 1984''==

Skinner published a follow up to ''Walden Two'' in an essay titled ''News From Nowhere, 1984''<ref>This essay is reprinted in Skinner, B.F. (1987) Upon Further Reflection. Century Psychology Series.ISBN 0-13-938986-5</ref>. It details the discovery of [[Eric Blair]] in the community who seeks out and meets Burris, confessing his true identity as [[George Orwell]]. Blair seeks out Frazier as the 'leader' and the two have discussions which comprise the essay. Skinner, as Frazier, mentions that Walden Two has "no institutionalized system of government, religion, or economics" and relates this to the goal of 19th century [[anarchism]]. Skinner essentially posits Walden Two as a practical non-violent anarchist system.{{Fact|date=April 2008}}

==Real world efforts==

Many efforts to create a Walden Two in real life are detailed in Hilke Kuhlmann's ''Living Walden Two''<ref>Kuhlmann, Hilke (2005). ''Living Walden Two'' ISBN 0-252-02962-3</ref> and in Daniel W. Bjork's ''B.F.Skinner''.

Some of them include:

* 1955 In New Haven, Connecticut a group led by Arthur Gladstone tries to start a community.
* 1966 Waldenwoods conference is held in Hartland, Michigan, comprising 83 adults and 4 children, coordinated through the Breiland list (a list of interested people who wrote to Skinner and were referred to Jim Breiland).
* 1966 [[Matthew Israel]] forms the Association for Social Design (ASD), to promote a Walden Two, which soon finds chapters in Los Angeles, Albuquerque, and Washington, D.C..
* 1967 Israel's ASD forms the Morningside House in Arlington, Massachusetts.
* 1967 [[Twin Oaks Community]] ([http://www.twinoaks.org/ web site]) is started in Lousia, Virginia.
* 1969 [http://www.absc.ku.edu/faculty/miller.shtml Keith Miller] in Lawrence, Kansas founds a [http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1311941 'Walden house'] <ref>Feallock, R. & Miller, L. K. (1976) The design and evaluation of a worksharing system for experimental group living1. ''Journal Applied Behavior Analysis, 9,'' 277–288.</ref> student collective that becomes The Sunflower House 11.
* 1971 Roger Ulrich starts [http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED107548&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=eric_accno&accno=ED107548 Lake Village] in Michigan originally conceptualized as a 'scientific behaviorist experiment'.
* 1971 [[Los Horcones]] ([http://www.loshorcones.org/index_eng.html web site]), is started in [[Hermosillo]], Mexico.
* 1972 Sunflower House 11 is (re)born in Lawrence, Kansas from the previous experiment.
* 1973 [[East Wind Community|East Wind]] in south central Missouri.<ref>Ramsey, Richard David, ''Morning Star: The Values-Communication of Skinner's '''Walden Two''''', Ph.D. dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, December 1979, available from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI.</ref>

Twin Oaks is detailed in Kat Kinkade's book, ''Twin Oaks: A Walden Two Experiment''<ref>Kat Kinkade,''Twin Oaks: A Walden Two Experiment''. ISBN 0688000207</ref>. Originally started as a Walden Two community, it has since rejected its Walden Two position, however it still uses its modified Planner-Manager system as well as a system of labor credits based on the book.

Los Horcones is described as being 'Walden Two' inspired by their website, but appears to have rejected the Planner-Manager system in favor of what it describes as 'Personocracy' <ref> See http://loshorcones.org/organization/personocracy.html which details this position. </ref>. It is strongly [[Radical Behaviorism|Radical behaviorist]] though, which it claims as the basis for the title of a ''Walden Two'' community.

==Cultural engineering==

Skinner wrote about cultural engineering in at least two books, devoting a chapter to it in both ''Science and Human Behavior'' and ''[[Beyond Freedom and Dignity]]''.

In ''Science and Human Behavior''<ref>Skinner, B.F. (1953) Chapter XXVIII ''Science and Human Behavior''. [http://www.bfskinner.org/SHBtext.pdf]</ref> a chapter is titled "Designing a Culture" and expands on this position as well as in other documents. In ''Beyond Freedom and Dignity'' there are many indirect references to ''Walden Two'' when describing other cultural designs.

For more information on cultural design today see [[behavioral engineering]].

==Criticisms==

Hilke Kuhlmann's ''Living Walden Two'' possesses many subtle and not-so-subtle criticisms of the original Walden Two which are related to the actual efforts that arose from the novel. One criticism is that many of the founders of real-life Walden Twos identified with, or wanted to emulate, Frazier, the uncharismatic founder of the community.

In a critique of ''Walden Two,'' Harvey L. Gamble, Jr., asserted that Skinner's "fundamental thesis is that individual traits are shaped from above, by social forces that create the environment", and that Skinner's goal "is to create a frictionless society where individuals are properly socialized to function with others as a unit", and to thus "make the community [Walden Two] into a perfectly efficient anthill".<ref>Gamble, Harvey L., Jr., (1999). [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-54552225/walden-two-postmodern-utopia.html "''Walden Two,'' Postmodern Utopia, and the Problems of Power, Choice, and the Rule of Law".] ''Texas Studies in Literature and Language,'' 41(1), p. 3. Retrieved September 19, 2009 from accessmylibrary.com</ref> Gamble writes, "We find at the end of Walden Two that Frazier [a founding member of Walden Two]... has sole control over the political system and its policies. It is he who regulates food, work, education, and sleep, and who sets the moral and economic agenda." However, contrary to Gamble's critique, it should be noted that neither Frazier nor any other person has the ''sole'' power to amend the constitution of Walden Two. See the "Community governance" section, above.

[[Noam Chomsky]] also compares Walden Two to a concentration camp and suggests that it would be a [[dystopia]]<ref>Chomsky, N. The Case Against B.F. Skinner, The New York Review of Books, December 30, 1971</ref>

And although Skinner himself was using the character of a philosopher, Castle, as his protagonist, Castle echoes what would be the very same criticisms of many of the novels critics. Thus the novel Walden Two possesses many of the self-same elements of criticism within it.

==Publication details==
* ISBN 0-87220-779-X ([[Hardcover]])(Worldcat link: [http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/oclc/75310838&tab=holdings&ht=edition])
* ISBN 0-87220-778-1 ([[Paperback]])(Worldcat link: [http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/oclc/61399513&tab=holdings&ht=edition])
* ISBN 0-02-411510-X ([[Mass market paperback]])(Worldcat link: [http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/oclc/33134847&tab=holdings&ht=edition]).

==See also==

*[[Beyond Freedom and Dignity]]
*[[New Atlantis]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Preview of [http://books.google.com/books?id=KEiYzfCVzv4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Walden+Two&ei=_eatSorxMp7CzQThoKTpBA#v=onepage&q=&f=false ''Walden Two'']
* [http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=2223170&blobtype=pdf Review of ''Living Walden Two: B. F. Skinner's Behaviorist Utopia and Experimental Communities''.] Richard F. Rakos (2006). ''The Behavior Analyst,'' volume 29(1), pp.153–157.
* [http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2733639 Discriminating utopian from dystopian literature: Why is ''Walden Two'' considered a dystopia?] Bobby Newman (1993). ''The Behavior Analyst,'' volume 16(2), pp. 167-175.
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_6884/is_3_6/ai_n28321083/ A multicultural feminist analysis of Walden Two.] Rita S. Wolpert (2005). ''The Behavior Analyst Today,'' volume 6(3), pp. 186-190.
* [http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/bsi/article/viewFile/95/120 Western Cultural Influences in Behavior Analysis as Seen From a Walden Two.] Comunidad Los Horcones (2002). ''Behavior and Social Issues,'' volume 11(2), pp. 204-212.
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=xySfPQAACAAJ&dq=Alexandra+Rutherford ''Beyond the Box: B.F. Skinner's Technology of Behavior from Laboratory to Life, 1950s-1970s.''] Alexandra Rutherford (2009). Toronto, Ontario: [[University of Toronto Press]], 224 pages. ISBN 0802096182.
**[http://psychjourney_blogs.typepad.com/psychjourney_podcasts/2009/05/beyond-the-box-bf-skinners-technology-of-behavior-from-laboratory-to-life-1950s-1970s.html Audio interview of Alexandra Rutherford.]
**[http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/bsi/article/viewFile/2551/2234 From Rats and Pigeons to Cultural Practices: A Review of ''Beyond the Box: B. F. Skinner's Technology of Behavior from Laboratory to Life, 1950s to 1970s.''] Peter Lamal (2009). ''Behavior and Social Issues,'' volume 18, Advance Online Publication.

==External links==
*[http://www.waldentwo.org A Walden Two website]

[[Category:Science fiction novels]]
[[Category:Utopian novels]]
[[Category:1948 novels]]
[[Category:Works by B. F. Skinner]]

[[ca:Walden 2]]
[[es:Walden dos]]
[[pt:Walden II]]

Walden Zwei

2010-07-06T18:00:52Z

163.231.6.87: /* A Golden Age */

{{infobox Book | 
| name = Walden Two
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image =
| image_caption =
| author = [[B. F. Skinner]]
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = [[United States of America]]
| language = [[English language|English]]
| series =
| genre = [[Science fiction]], [[Utopian novel]]
| publisher = [[Hackett Publishing Company]]
| release_date = 1948
| english_release_date =
| media_type = Print
| pages = 301
| isbn = ISBN 0-87220-779-X
| oclc= 75310838
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}

'''''Walden Two''''' is a science fiction<ref>Skinner, B.F. (1987). Upon Further Reflection p. 194 "What the protagonist in Walden Two called a behavioral technology was at the time still science fiction, but it soon moved into the real world."</ref><ref>Skinner, B.F. (1948). ''Walden Two.'' Indianapolis: [[Hackett Publishing Company]]. Revised 1976 edition, page vi. ISBN 087220779X.</ref> novel written by [[Radical behaviorism|behavioral]] psychologist [[B. F. Skinner]] and first published in [[1948 in literature|1948]]. In that novel, the author describes an ''experimental community'' <ref>Skinner, B. F. (1968). "The Design of Experimental Communities", ''International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences'' (Volume 16). New York: Macmillan, 1968, pages 271-275.</ref> named Walden Two.<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 6.</ref> The community is located in a rural<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 6. Walden Two's address is ''Walden Two, R. D. 1, Canton.'' The ''"R. D."'' is an abbreviation for [[Rural District]].</ref> area and "has nearly a thousand members."<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 18.</ref> The members are portrayed as happy,<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 232.</ref> productive,<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 234.</ref> and creative.<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 165.</ref> The community encourages its members "to view every habit and custom with an eye to possible improvement" and to have "a constantly experimental attitude toward everything".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 25.</ref> When the members find a problem in their community they may design and experimentally test a possible solution, carefully documenting the results of their experiment in accordance with the [[scientific method]].<ref>''Walden Two.'' See "Our tea service", beginning at p. 25 and through p. 27.</ref> If the results of their testing indicates that the proposed solution would be an improvement over their current cultural practices then they may make that experimentally validated improvement into a component of their community's culture. This cultural optimization process is called "cultural engineering."<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 47.</ref>

In the preface of the revised, 1976 edition of ''Walden Two,'' the author critically examines contemporary American culture, noting that cities have become unmanageably large and that the over-consumption of resources is causing pollution. He writes, "It is now widely recognized that great changes must be made in the American way of life."<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. xvi.</ref> Then he asserts that, "The choice is clear: either we do nothing and allow a miserable and probably catastrophic future to overtake us, or we use our knowledge about human behavior to create a social environment in which we shall live productive and creative lives and do so without jeopardizing the chances that those who follow us will be able to do the same."<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. xvi.</ref> What kind of new "social environment" might be created to avoid a "catastrophic future"? The author concludes by suggesting that, "Something like a Walden Two would not be a bad start."<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. xvi.</ref>

''Walden Two'' challenges contemporary U.S. social conventions such as the value of modern education, the effectiveness of university professors, excessive work volume, and posits a planned economy, critical of allegedly inefficient capitalism. The community's government is not democratic. Planners and Managers govern the community and require only four daily hours of work from each person and promote the arts and applied scientific research. The community subscribes to a code of conduct based upon, and supported by, behaviorism.<ref>for example, see Skinner, B.F. (1953) Science and Human Behavior, Skinner, B.F. (1974) About Behaviorism, and others</ref> Children are reared communally by trained behavior specialists, outside the nuclear family, and loyalty to community, instead of the family, is encouraged.

''Walden Two'' is controversial for its rejection of democracy as effective government, viable socialist economy, an atheist society, the narrow range of available emotional expression, its appeal to dictators and to emulators of T.E. Frazier, the emotionally unstable protagonist.<ref>Kuhlmann's Living Walden Two</ref>

==The plot==
Six visitors arrive at a thousand-person community then ten years old. A decade earlier, T.E. Frazier wrote an article asking people join him in founding a community based on philosopher H. D. Thoreau's ideas. Two soldiers, returned from the war, seek Frazier, and enlist Professor Burris's help; he finds and communicates with Frazier, then joins the visit to the community. Prof. Burris invites Prof. Augustine Castle, and, with the two soldiers, Rogers and Steve Jamnick, and their girlfriends, Mary Grove and Barbara Macklin, they visit Walden Two.

The focus of the story evolves primarily toward the dialogue between Frazier, Prof. Castle, and Prof. Burris, each reflecting their own philosophical and practical concerns about the design and structure of the community. At story's end, one couple stay in the community, while the other visitors leave, however, in a sudden change of heart, Prof. Burris quits his university post and returns to the rural community.

==Other utopias==
The rural utopia of ''Walden Two'' is contemporary, not in the future, and is accessible via a bus-and-car journey, unlike [[Thomas More]]’s Utopia with only a single entrance and exit from the island society. In the introduction, B.F. Skinner says his reasons for writing ''Walden Two'' were personal: <ref>Skinner, B.F. Walden Two, Revised 1976 edition</ref> he read ''[[New Atlantis]]'', by [[Francis Bacon]], on being told that [[William Shakespeare]] ''was'' Sir [[Francis Bacon]] <ref>Skinner, B.F. Particulars of my life</ref>, and his desire to describe an ''interesting'' Heaven. <ref>Skinner, B.F. Notebooks. see Skinner's comments on St. Augustine's "boring" Heaven</ref> The other utopias mentioned in the novel are ''[[Erewhon]]'' and ''[[Looking Backward]]''.

==The community==
''Walden Two'' describes a small, thousand-person planned community based upon the community posited by H. D. Thoreau and behavioural psychology. Frazier and five others are the governing Planners. The community is self-sufficient, emulating the self-sufficiency of the ''Walden'' utopia, and to allow for the experimental control of the community, as a pilot scientific experiment, however, the way things are done is changeable, if the evidence favours change.

==The members==
The community members are happy, productive, and creative; happiness derives from the promotion of rich social relationships and family life, free affection, the creation of art, music, and literature, opportunity for games of chess and tennis, and ample rest, food, and sleep. The community is self-governed; the members subscribe to the Walden Code of self-control techniques, which allow maintaining a happy, productive life in Walden Two with minimal strain. Self-governance, however, is supplemented with [[community counselors]] who supervise behaviour and are available to help the members with their problems in following the Walden Code.

==Community governance==
Walden Two has a constitution that "can be changed by a unanimous vote of the Planners and a two-thirds vote of the Managers".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 254.</ref>

The constitution provides for a "Board of Planners", which is Walden Two's "only government".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref> "Board of Planners" is a name that "goes back to the days when Walden Two existed only on paper".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref> "There are six Planners, usually three men and three women".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref> "The Planners are charged with the success of the community. They make policies, review the work of the Managers, keep an eye on the state of the nation in general. They also have certain judicial functions."<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref> A Planner "may serve for ten years, but no longer."<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref> A vacancy on the Board of Planners is filled by the Board "from a pair of names supplied by the Managers".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref>

Managers are "specialists in charge of the divisions and services of Walden Two".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref> A member of the community can "work up to be a Manager--through intermediate positions which carry a good deal of responsibility and provide the necessary apprenticeship".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 49.</ref> The Managers are '''not''' elected by the members of Walden Two.<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 49.</ref> The method of selecting Managers is not specified; however, since the Board of Planners is Walden Two's "only government",<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref> it is reasonable to suppose that Managers are appointed by the Board of Planners.

Walden Two has Planners, Managers, Workers, and ''Scientists.'' The Scientists conduct experiments "in plant and animal breeding, the control of infant behavior, educational processes of several sorts, and the use of some of our [Walden Two's] raw materials".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 49-50.</ref> The method of selecting Scientists is not specified but it is again reasonable to suppose that Scientists are appointed by the Board of Planners.

==Novel ideas==

In ''Walden Two'', Skinner argues for a 24 hour work week - four hours a day for six days, with one day off - and argues that it would be as productive as a full time shift from all of the members in comparable jobs outside of the community.

Frazier, the community founder, argues for the elimination of lectures, traditional education, democracy, capitalism, the family, and suggests that other things, like religion, will fall away in a more ideal social setting like ''Walden Two''.

The lecture as an 'inefficient means to transmit culture' and has been done away with in Walden Two. Traditional education is useless and is to be replaced by a practical education driven by the environment and learned as needed. Education is seen as a lifelong learning process where a “student” is free to choose what they want to learn and when it will be useful for them to learn it. By not having a structured and regimented education system learning is more meaningful and the “students” are more likely to retain the information. Democracy is an outdated and inefficient form of government which allows for the tyranny of the majority over the minority, which is not possible in Walden Two. Capitalism is wasteful, causing great duplication of effort in advertising, retailing, and so on. It also relegates the common man to a lower place for using his hands in physical labor. The family is an outdated structure, like race, which has no real meaning when examined. It is to be replaced by the more efficient community unit. Religion is a product of social anxiety which in a non-anxiety producing culture like Walden Two will 'fall away'. Throughout the book he suggests that the solution to these outdated concepts of humanity is to control human behavior using positive reinforcement.

===Growth and population===

The community has an aggressive growth policy fueled by members having children at a young age ( 'in their teens' perhaps 15 or 16), as well as recruiting visitors like the characters in the book. This growth allowed them to reach one thousand members within ten years.

The next phase of the plan is Walden Six, a community whose architecture is designed all at once. Around half of the current members of Walden Two are to leave and build, manage and live in Walden Six.

Although initially eschewing political power for 'not giving them the chance we want', Frazier outlines a policy of taking over local political structures when possible. The aggressive growth policy gives the community political power in a democracy, and it creates for the members a Walden Ticket. The Walden Ticket tells the members who to vote for in the best interest of the community.

===Family===

Since teen marriage is common, members are encouraged to raise children in a collective manner. One reason is to lessen the burden on the new couple. A second reason is to develop positive, parental feelings by the children for many or all adults. To this end parents aren't to single their own children out for special favors, are to give gifts and shower attention on several children as well as their own, and are to be addressed by their proper names instead of 'mother' or 'father'. This method serves the purposes of alleviating the pressure parents feel by being the sole provider for their children and strengthening the ties of the children to the community.

===Clothing===

An important concept to note is the concept of clothing in this story because status and clothes are related.

The women were not required to dress a certain way. It is their belief that, “Going out of style isn’t a natural process, but a manipulated change which destroys the beauty of last year’s dress in order to make it worthless” (source: Skinner 34). They wanted to avoid wasting perfectly good clothing by continuously and quick changing styles but they still wanted to look good. They strategically chose the clothing that was good for past and the future. Women did not fill their closets with party dresses because they were not practical.

It seemed as the women were dressed well. Men wore things that are considered more normal in society. According to Frazier, “Men are less dependent on clothes....” (source: Skinner 37)

===Genetics and Eugenics===

Frazier suggests that the community may be able to implement a policy of eugenics, where parenthood and marriage are effectively separated. Marriage would be by choice, although with the guidance of the community, and parenthood would be by plan. This policy is not in effect at the time of Burris' visit, nor is it mentioned in Skinner's follow up ''News from Nowhere, 1984''.

Interestingly, in ''Walden Two'' Skinner speculates on the role of genetics playing a role in many areas of human behavior. This runs counter to the many accusations that his analysis rejects genetics, something he has refuted more than once.<ref>Skinner, B.F. (1974) About Behaviorism</ref>

===A Golden Age===

Frazier indicates that the artistic productivity of the members is designed to promote a [[Golden Age]] of art, music and literature. The art mentioned is primarily painting, the music mentioned is mostly classical - Bach's B-Minor Mass and some violin with piano accompaniment - and the literature is less clear because although many books are mentioned - from Machiavelli to H.G. Wells - it would be Anthony Trollope that might be the most fitting for the category. However, one wonders what the ideological ramifications of such works would be in the described society.

===Socialism===

The community practices total income sharing, with the members earning their living through a community accounting system-cum-currency called the labor credit. Although the labor credit is roughly one hour of work its value is adjusted up or down based on the value of the work. The value is determined in part by the popularity of the work, with unpopular work being worth more and popular work being worth less. A community member may work up to 8 hours a day if they choose only easy, popular work. If they choose unpopular work they may work less than the community 4 hour average.

==Thoreau's ''Walden''==
''Walden Two'''s title is a reference to [[Henry David Thoreau]]'s book ''[[Walden]]''. In the novel, the Walden Community is mentioned as having the benefits of living in a place like Thoreau's Walden, but "with company". It is, as the book says, 'Walden for two' - meaning a community and not a place of solitude. Originally, Skinner indicated that he wanted to title it ''The Sun is but a Morning Star'', a clear reference to Thoreau's ''Walden'', but the publishers suggested the current title as an alternative<ref>''The Sun is but a Morning Star'' is a reference to the last sentence in Thoreau's ''Walden''</ref>.

In theory and in practice, Thoreau's Walden experiment and the Walden Two experiment were far different from one another. For instance, Thoreau's Walden espouses the virtues of self-reliance at the individual level, while Walden Two espouses the virtues of self-reliance at the community level.

==''News From Nowhere, 1984''==

Skinner published a follow up to ''Walden Two'' in an essay titled ''News From Nowhere, 1984''<ref>This essay is reprinted in Skinner, B.F. (1987) Upon Further Reflection. Century Psychology Series.ISBN 0-13-938986-5</ref>. It details the discovery of [[Eric Blair]] in the community who seeks out and meets Burris, confessing his true identity as [[George Orwell]]. Blair seeks out Frazier as the 'leader' and the two have discussions which comprise the essay. Skinner, as Frazier, mentions that Walden Two has "no institutionalized system of government, religion, or economics" and relates this to the goal of 19th century [[anarchism]]. Skinner essentially posits Walden Two as a practical non-violent anarchist system.{{Fact|date=April 2008}}

==Real world efforts==

Many efforts to create a Walden Two in real life are detailed in Hilke Kuhlmann's ''Living Walden Two''<ref>Kuhlmann, Hilke (2005). ''Living Walden Two'' ISBN 0-252-02962-3</ref> and in Daniel W. Bjork's ''B.F.Skinner''.

Some of them include:

* 1955 In New Haven, Connecticut a group led by Arthur Gladstone tries to start a community.
* 1966 Waldenwoods conference is held in Hartland, Michigan, comprising 83 adults and 4 children, coordinated through the Breiland list (a list of interested people who wrote to Skinner and were referred to Jim Breiland).
* 1966 [[Matthew Israel]] forms the Association for Social Design (ASD), to promote a Walden Two, which soon finds chapters in Los Angeles, Albuquerque, and Washington, D.C..
* 1967 Israel's ASD forms the Morningside House in Arlington, Massachusetts.
* 1967 [[Twin Oaks Community]] ([http://www.twinoaks.org/ web site]) is started in Lousia, Virginia.
* 1969 [http://www.absc.ku.edu/faculty/miller.shtml Keith Miller] in Lawrence, Kansas founds a [http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1311941 'Walden house'] <ref>Feallock, R. & Miller, L. K. (1976) The design and evaluation of a worksharing system for experimental group living1. ''Journal Applied Behavior Analysis, 9,'' 277–288.</ref> student collective that becomes The Sunflower House 11.
* 1971 Roger Ulrich starts [http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED107548&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=eric_accno&accno=ED107548 Lake Village] in Michigan originally conceptualized as a 'scientific behaviorist experiment'.
* 1971 [[Los Horcones]] ([http://www.loshorcones.org/index_eng.html web site]), is started in [[Hermosillo]], Mexico.
* 1972 Sunflower House 11 is (re)born in Lawrence, Kansas from the previous experiment.
* 1973 [[East Wind Community|East Wind]] in south central Missouri.<ref>Ramsey, Richard David, ''Morning Star: The Values-Communication of Skinner's '''Walden Two''''', Ph.D. dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, December 1979, available from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI.</ref>

Twin Oaks is detailed in Kat Kinkade's book, ''Twin Oaks: A Walden Two Experiment''<ref>Kat Kinkade,''Twin Oaks: A Walden Two Experiment''. ISBN 0688000207</ref>. Originally started as a Walden Two community, it has since rejected its Walden Two position, however it still uses its modified Planner-Manager system as well as a system of labor credits based on the book.

Los Horcones is described as being 'Walden Two' inspired by their website, but appears to have rejected the Planner-Manager system in favor of what it describes as 'Personocracy' <ref> See http://loshorcones.org/organization/personocracy.html which details this position. </ref>. It is strongly [[Radical Behaviorism|Radical behaviorist]] though, which it claims as the basis for the title of a ''Walden Two'' community.

==Cultural engineering==

Skinner wrote about cultural engineering in at least two books, devoting a chapter to it in both ''Science and Human Behavior'' and ''[[Beyond Freedom and Dignity]]''.

In ''Science and Human Behavior''<ref>Skinner, B.F. (1953) Chapter XXVIII ''Science and Human Behavior''. [http://www.bfskinner.org/SHBtext.pdf]</ref> a chapter is titled "Designing a Culture" and expands on this position as well as in other documents. In ''Beyond Freedom and Dignity'' there are many indirect references to ''Walden Two'' when describing other cultural designs.

For more information on cultural design today see [[behavioral engineering]].

==Criticisms==

Hilke Kuhlmann's ''Living Walden Two'' possesses many subtle and not-so-subtle criticisms of the original Walden Two which are related to the actual efforts that arose from the novel. One criticism is that many of the founders of real-life Walden Twos identified with, or wanted to emulate, Frazier, the uncharismatic founder of the community.

In a critique of ''Walden Two,'' Harvey L. Gamble, Jr., asserted that Skinner's "fundamental thesis is that individual traits are shaped from above, by social forces that create the environment", and that Skinner's goal "is to create a frictionless society where individuals are properly socialized to function with others as a unit", and to thus "make the community [Walden Two] into a perfectly efficient anthill".<ref>Gamble, Harvey L., Jr., (1999). [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-54552225/walden-two-postmodern-utopia.html "''Walden Two,'' Postmodern Utopia, and the Problems of Power, Choice, and the Rule of Law".] ''Texas Studies in Literature and Language,'' 41(1), p. 3. Retrieved September 19, 2009 from accessmylibrary.com</ref> Gamble writes, "We find at the end of Walden Two that Frazier [a founding member of Walden Two]... has sole control over the political system and its policies. It is he who regulates food, work, education, and sleep, and who sets the moral and economic agenda." However, contrary to Gamble's critique, it should be noted that neither Frazier nor any other person has the ''sole'' power to amend the constitution of Walden Two. See the "Community governance" section, above.

[[Noam Chomsky]] also compares Walden Two to a concentration camp and suggests that it would be a [[dystopia]]<ref>Chomsky, N. The Case Against B.F. Skinner, The New York Review of Books, December 30, 1971</ref>

And although Skinner himself was using the character of a philosopher, Castle, as his protagonist, Castle echoes what would be the very same criticisms of many of the novels critics. Thus the novel Walden Two possesses many of the self-same elements of criticism within it.

==Publication details==
* ISBN 0-87220-779-X ([[Hardcover]])(Worldcat link: [http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/oclc/75310838&tab=holdings&ht=edition])
* ISBN 0-87220-778-1 ([[Paperback]])(Worldcat link: [http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/oclc/61399513&tab=holdings&ht=edition])
* ISBN 0-02-411510-X ([[Mass market paperback]])(Worldcat link: [http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/oclc/33134847&tab=holdings&ht=edition]).

==See also==

*[[Beyond Freedom and Dignity]]
*[[New Atlantis]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Preview of [http://books.google.com/books?id=KEiYzfCVzv4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Walden+Two&ei=_eatSorxMp7CzQThoKTpBA#v=onepage&q=&f=false ''Walden Two'']
* [http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=2223170&blobtype=pdf Review of ''Living Walden Two: B. F. Skinner's Behaviorist Utopia and Experimental Communities''.] Richard F. Rakos (2006). ''The Behavior Analyst,'' volume 29(1), pp.153–157.
* [http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2733639 Discriminating utopian from dystopian literature: Why is ''Walden Two'' considered a dystopia?] Bobby Newman (1993). ''The Behavior Analyst,'' volume 16(2), pp. 167-175.
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_6884/is_3_6/ai_n28321083/ A multicultural feminist analysis of Walden Two.] Rita S. Wolpert (2005). ''The Behavior Analyst Today,'' volume 6(3), pp. 186-190.
* [http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/bsi/article/viewFile/95/120 Western Cultural Influences in Behavior Analysis as Seen From a Walden Two.] Comunidad Los Horcones (2002). ''Behavior and Social Issues,'' volume 11(2), pp. 204-212.
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=xySfPQAACAAJ&dq=Alexandra+Rutherford ''Beyond the Box: B.F. Skinner's Technology of Behavior from Laboratory to Life, 1950s-1970s.''] Alexandra Rutherford (2009). Toronto, Ontario: [[University of Toronto Press]], 224 pages. ISBN 0802096182.
**[http://psychjourney_blogs.typepad.com/psychjourney_podcasts/2009/05/beyond-the-box-bf-skinners-technology-of-behavior-from-laboratory-to-life-1950s-1970s.html Audio interview of Alexandra Rutherford.]
**[http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/bsi/article/viewFile/2551/2234 From Rats and Pigeons to Cultural Practices: A Review of ''Beyond the Box: B. F. Skinner's Technology of Behavior from Laboratory to Life, 1950s to 1970s.''] Peter Lamal (2009). ''Behavior and Social Issues,'' volume 18, Advance Online Publication.

==External links==
*[http://www.waldentwo.org A Walden Two website]

[[Category:Science fiction novels]]
[[Category:Utopian novels]]
[[Category:1948 novels]]
[[Category:Works by B. F. Skinner]]

[[ca:Walden 2]]
[[es:Walden dos]]
[[pt:Walden II]]

Walden Zwei

2010-07-06T17:58:50Z

163.231.6.87:

{{infobox Book | 
| name = Walden Two
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image =
| image_caption =
| author = [[B. F. Skinner]]
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = [[United States of America]]
| language = [[English language|English]]
| series =
| genre = [[Science fiction]], [[Utopian novel]]
| publisher = [[Hackett Publishing Company]]
| release_date = 1948
| english_release_date =
| media_type = Print
| pages = 301
| isbn = ISBN 0-87220-779-X
| oclc= 75310838
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}

'''''Walden Two''''' is a science fiction<ref>Skinner, B.F. (1987). Upon Further Reflection p. 194 "What the protagonist in Walden Two called a behavioral technology was at the time still science fiction, but it soon moved into the real world."</ref><ref>Skinner, B.F. (1948). ''Walden Two.'' Indianapolis: [[Hackett Publishing Company]]. Revised 1976 edition, page vi. ISBN 087220779X.</ref> novel written by [[Radical behaviorism|behavioral]] psychologist [[B. F. Skinner]] and first published in [[1948 in literature|1948]]. In that novel, the author describes an ''experimental community'' <ref>Skinner, B. F. (1968). "The Design of Experimental Communities", ''International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences'' (Volume 16). New York: Macmillan, 1968, pages 271-275.</ref> named Walden Two.<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 6.</ref> The community is located in a rural<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 6. Walden Two's address is ''Walden Two, R. D. 1, Canton.'' The ''"R. D."'' is an abbreviation for [[Rural District]].</ref> area and "has nearly a thousand members."<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 18.</ref> The members are portrayed as happy,<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 232.</ref> productive,<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 234.</ref> and creative.<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 165.</ref> The community encourages its members "to view every habit and custom with an eye to possible improvement" and to have "a constantly experimental attitude toward everything".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 25.</ref> When the members find a problem in their community they may design and experimentally test a possible solution, carefully documenting the results of their experiment in accordance with the [[scientific method]].<ref>''Walden Two.'' See "Our tea service", beginning at p. 25 and through p. 27.</ref> If the results of their testing indicates that the proposed solution would be an improvement over their current cultural practices then they may make that experimentally validated improvement into a component of their community's culture. This cultural optimization process is called "cultural engineering."<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 47.</ref>

In the preface of the revised, 1976 edition of ''Walden Two,'' the author critically examines contemporary American culture, noting that cities have become unmanageably large and that the over-consumption of resources is causing pollution. He writes, "It is now widely recognized that great changes must be made in the American way of life."<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. xvi.</ref> Then he asserts that, "The choice is clear: either we do nothing and allow a miserable and probably catastrophic future to overtake us, or we use our knowledge about human behavior to create a social environment in which we shall live productive and creative lives and do so without jeopardizing the chances that those who follow us will be able to do the same."<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. xvi.</ref> What kind of new "social environment" might be created to avoid a "catastrophic future"? The author concludes by suggesting that, "Something like a Walden Two would not be a bad start."<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. xvi.</ref>

''Walden Two'' challenges contemporary U.S. social conventions such as the value of modern education, the effectiveness of university professors, excessive work volume, and posits a planned economy, critical of allegedly inefficient capitalism. The community's government is not democratic. Planners and Managers govern the community and require only four daily hours of work from each person and promote the arts and applied scientific research. The community subscribes to a code of conduct based upon, and supported by, behaviorism.<ref>for example, see Skinner, B.F. (1953) Science and Human Behavior, Skinner, B.F. (1974) About Behaviorism, and others</ref> Children are reared communally by trained behavior specialists, outside the nuclear family, and loyalty to community, instead of the family, is encouraged.

''Walden Two'' is controversial for its rejection of democracy as effective government, viable socialist economy, an atheist society, the narrow range of available emotional expression, its appeal to dictators and to emulators of T.E. Frazier, the emotionally unstable protagonist.<ref>Kuhlmann's Living Walden Two</ref>

==The plot==
Six visitors arrive at a thousand-person community then ten years old. A decade earlier, T.E. Frazier wrote an article asking people join him in founding a community based on philosopher H. D. Thoreau's ideas. Two soldiers, returned from the war, seek Frazier, and enlist Professor Burris's help; he finds and communicates with Frazier, then joins the visit to the community. Prof. Burris invites Prof. Augustine Castle, and, with the two soldiers, Rogers and Steve Jamnick, and their girlfriends, Mary Grove and Barbara Macklin, they visit Walden Two.

The focus of the story evolves primarily toward the dialogue between Frazier, Prof. Castle, and Prof. Burris, each reflecting their own philosophical and practical concerns about the design and structure of the community. At story's end, one couple stay in the community, while the other visitors leave, however, in a sudden change of heart, Prof. Burris quits his university post and returns to the rural community.

==Other utopias==
The rural utopia of ''Walden Two'' is contemporary, not in the future, and is accessible via a bus-and-car journey, unlike [[Thomas More]]’s Utopia with only a single entrance and exit from the island society. In the introduction, B.F. Skinner says his reasons for writing ''Walden Two'' were personal: <ref>Skinner, B.F. Walden Two, Revised 1976 edition</ref> he read ''[[New Atlantis]]'', by [[Francis Bacon]], on being told that [[William Shakespeare]] ''was'' Sir [[Francis Bacon]] <ref>Skinner, B.F. Particulars of my life</ref>, and his desire to describe an ''interesting'' Heaven. <ref>Skinner, B.F. Notebooks. see Skinner's comments on St. Augustine's "boring" Heaven</ref> The other utopias mentioned in the novel are ''[[Erewhon]]'' and ''[[Looking Backward]]''.

==The community==
''Walden Two'' describes a small, thousand-person planned community based upon the community posited by H. D. Thoreau and behavioural psychology. Frazier and five others are the governing Planners. The community is self-sufficient, emulating the self-sufficiency of the ''Walden'' utopia, and to allow for the experimental control of the community, as a pilot scientific experiment, however, the way things are done is changeable, if the evidence favours change.

==The members==
The community members are happy, productive, and creative; happiness derives from the promotion of rich social relationships and family life, free affection, the creation of art, music, and literature, opportunity for games of chess and tennis, and ample rest, food, and sleep. The community is self-governed; the members subscribe to the Walden Code of self-control techniques, which allow maintaining a happy, productive life in Walden Two with minimal strain. Self-governance, however, is supplemented with [[community counselors]] who supervise behaviour and are available to help the members with their problems in following the Walden Code.

==Community governance==
Walden Two has a constitution that "can be changed by a unanimous vote of the Planners and a two-thirds vote of the Managers".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 254.</ref>

The constitution provides for a "Board of Planners", which is Walden Two's "only government".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref> "Board of Planners" is a name that "goes back to the days when Walden Two existed only on paper".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref> "There are six Planners, usually three men and three women".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref> "The Planners are charged with the success of the community. They make policies, review the work of the Managers, keep an eye on the state of the nation in general. They also have certain judicial functions."<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref> A Planner "may serve for ten years, but no longer."<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref> A vacancy on the Board of Planners is filled by the Board "from a pair of names supplied by the Managers".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref>

Managers are "specialists in charge of the divisions and services of Walden Two".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref> A member of the community can "work up to be a Manager--through intermediate positions which carry a good deal of responsibility and provide the necessary apprenticeship".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 49.</ref> The Managers are '''not''' elected by the members of Walden Two.<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 49.</ref> The method of selecting Managers is not specified; however, since the Board of Planners is Walden Two's "only government",<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 48.</ref> it is reasonable to suppose that Managers are appointed by the Board of Planners.

Walden Two has Planners, Managers, Workers, and ''Scientists.'' The Scientists conduct experiments "in plant and animal breeding, the control of infant behavior, educational processes of several sorts, and the use of some of our [Walden Two's] raw materials".<ref>''Walden Two,'' p. 49-50.</ref> The method of selecting Scientists is not specified but it is again reasonable to suppose that Scientists are appointed by the Board of Planners.

==Novel ideas==

In ''Walden Two'', Skinner argues for a 24 hour work week - four hours a day for six days, with one day off - and argues that it would be as productive as a full time shift from all of the members in comparable jobs outside of the community.

Frazier, the community founder, argues for the elimination of lectures, traditional education, democracy, capitalism, the family, and suggests that other things, like religion, will fall away in a more ideal social setting like ''Walden Two''.

The lecture as an 'inefficient means to transmit culture' and has been done away with in Walden Two. Traditional education is useless and is to be replaced by a practical education driven by the environment and learned as needed. Education is seen as a lifelong learning process where a “student” is free to choose what they want to learn and when it will be useful for them to learn it. By not having a structured and regimented education system learning is more meaningful and the “students” are more likely to retain the information. Democracy is an outdated and inefficient form of government which allows for the tyranny of the majority over the minority, which is not possible in Walden Two. Capitalism is wasteful, causing great duplication of effort in advertising, retailing, and so on. It also relegates the common man to a lower place for using his hands in physical labor. The family is an outdated structure, like race, which has no real meaning when examined. It is to be replaced by the more efficient community unit. Religion is a product of social anxiety which in a non-anxiety producing culture like Walden Two will 'fall away'. Throughout the book he suggests that the solution to these outdated concepts of humanity is to control human behavior using positive reinforcement.

===Growth and population===

The community has an aggressive growth policy fueled by members having children at a young age ( 'in their teens' perhaps 15 or 16), as well as recruiting visitors like the characters in the book. This growth allowed them to reach one thousand members within ten years.

The next phase of the plan is Walden Six, a community whose architecture is designed all at once. Around half of the current members of Walden Two are to leave and build, manage and live in Walden Six.

Although initially eschewing political power for 'not giving them the chance we want', Frazier outlines a policy of taking over local political structures when possible. The aggressive growth policy gives the community political power in a democracy, and it creates for the members a Walden Ticket. The Walden Ticket tells the members who to vote for in the best interest of the community.

===Family===

Since teen marriage is common, members are encouraged to raise children in a collective manner. One reason is to lessen the burden on the new couple. A second reason is to develop positive, parental feelings by the children for many or all adults. To this end parents aren't to single their own children out for special favors, are to give gifts and shower attention on several children as well as their own, and are to be addressed by their proper names instead of 'mother' or 'father'. This method serves the purposes of alleviating the pressure parents feel by being the sole provider for their children and strengthening the ties of the children to the community.

===Clothing===

An important concept to note is the concept of clothing in this story because status and clothes are related.

The women were not required to dress a certain way. It is their belief that, “Going out of style isn’t a natural process, but a manipulated change which destroys the beauty of last year’s dress in order to make it worthless” (source: Skinner 34). They wanted to avoid wasting perfectly good clothing by continuously and quick changing styles but they still wanted to look good. They strategically chose the clothing that was good for past and the future. Women did not fill their closets with party dresses because they were not practical.

It seemed as the women were dressed well. Men wore things that are considered more normal in society. According to Frazier, “Men are less dependent on clothes....” (source: Skinner 37)

===Genetics and Eugenics===

Frazier suggests that the community may be able to implement a policy of eugenics, where parenthood and marriage are effectively separated. Marriage would be by choice, although with the guidance of the community, and parenthood would be by plan. This policy is not in effect at the time of Burris' visit, nor is it mentioned in Skinner's follow up ''News from Nowhere, 1984''.

Interestingly, in ''Walden Two'' Skinner speculates on the role of genetics playing a role in many areas of human behavior. This runs counter to the many accusations that his analysis rejects genetics, something he has refuted more than once.<ref>Skinner, B.F. (1974) About Behaviorism</ref>

===A Golden Age===

Frazier indicates that the artistic productivity of the members is designed to promote a [[Golden Age]] of art, music and literature. The art mentioned is primarily painting, the music mentioned is mostly classical - Bach's B-Minor Mass and some violin with piano accompaniment - and the literature is less clear because although many books are mentioned - from Machiavelli to H.G. Wells - it would be Anthony Trollope that might be the most fitting for the category.

===Socialism===

The community practices total income sharing, with the members earning their living through a community accounting system-cum-currency called the labor credit. Although the labor credit is roughly one hour of work its value is adjusted up or down based on the value of the work. The value is determined in part by the popularity of the work, with unpopular work being worth more and popular work being worth less. A community member may work up to 8 hours a day if they choose only easy, popular work. If they choose unpopular work they may work less than the community 4 hour average.

==Thoreau's ''Walden''==
''Walden Two'''s title is a reference to [[Henry David Thoreau]]'s book ''[[Walden]]''. In the novel, the Walden Community is mentioned as having the benefits of living in a place like Thoreau's Walden, but "with company". It is, as the book says, 'Walden for two' - meaning a community and not a place of solitude. Originally, Skinner indicated that he wanted to title it ''The Sun is but a Morning Star'', a clear reference to Thoreau's ''Walden'', but the publishers suggested the current title as an alternative<ref>''The Sun is but a Morning Star'' is a reference to the last sentence in Thoreau's ''Walden''</ref>.

In theory and in practice, Thoreau's Walden experiment and the Walden Two experiment were far different from one another. For instance, Thoreau's Walden espouses the virtues of self-reliance at the individual level, while Walden Two espouses the virtues of self-reliance at the community level.

==''News From Nowhere, 1984''==

Skinner published a follow up to ''Walden Two'' in an essay titled ''News From Nowhere, 1984''<ref>This essay is reprinted in Skinner, B.F. (1987) Upon Further Reflection. Century Psychology Series.ISBN 0-13-938986-5</ref>. It details the discovery of [[Eric Blair]] in the community who seeks out and meets Burris, confessing his true identity as [[George Orwell]]. Blair seeks out Frazier as the 'leader' and the two have discussions which comprise the essay. Skinner, as Frazier, mentions that Walden Two has "no institutionalized system of government, religion, or economics" and relates this to the goal of 19th century [[anarchism]]. Skinner essentially posits Walden Two as a practical non-violent anarchist system.{{Fact|date=April 2008}}

==Real world efforts==

Many efforts to create a Walden Two in real life are detailed in Hilke Kuhlmann's ''Living Walden Two''<ref>Kuhlmann, Hilke (2005). ''Living Walden Two'' ISBN 0-252-02962-3</ref> and in Daniel W. Bjork's ''B.F.Skinner''.

Some of them include:

* 1955 In New Haven, Connecticut a group led by Arthur Gladstone tries to start a community.
* 1966 Waldenwoods conference is held in Hartland, Michigan, comprising 83 adults and 4 children, coordinated through the Breiland list (a list of interested people who wrote to Skinner and were referred to Jim Breiland).
* 1966 [[Matthew Israel]] forms the Association for Social Design (ASD), to promote a Walden Two, which soon finds chapters in Los Angeles, Albuquerque, and Washington, D.C..
* 1967 Israel's ASD forms the Morningside House in Arlington, Massachusetts.
* 1967 [[Twin Oaks Community]] ([http://www.twinoaks.org/ web site]) is started in Lousia, Virginia.
* 1969 [http://www.absc.ku.edu/faculty/miller.shtml Keith Miller] in Lawrence, Kansas founds a [http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1311941 'Walden house'] <ref>Feallock, R. & Miller, L. K. (1976) The design and evaluation of a worksharing system for experimental group living1. ''Journal Applied Behavior Analysis, 9,'' 277–288.</ref> student collective that becomes The Sunflower House 11.
* 1971 Roger Ulrich starts [http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED107548&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=eric_accno&accno=ED107548 Lake Village] in Michigan originally conceptualized as a 'scientific behaviorist experiment'.
* 1971 [[Los Horcones]] ([http://www.loshorcones.org/index_eng.html web site]), is started in [[Hermosillo]], Mexico.
* 1972 Sunflower House 11 is (re)born in Lawrence, Kansas from the previous experiment.
* 1973 [[East Wind Community|East Wind]] in south central Missouri.<ref>Ramsey, Richard David, ''Morning Star: The Values-Communication of Skinner's '''Walden Two''''', Ph.D. dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, December 1979, available from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI.</ref>

Twin Oaks is detailed in Kat Kinkade's book, ''Twin Oaks: A Walden Two Experiment''<ref>Kat Kinkade,''Twin Oaks: A Walden Two Experiment''. ISBN 0688000207</ref>. Originally started as a Walden Two community, it has since rejected its Walden Two position, however it still uses its modified Planner-Manager system as well as a system of labor credits based on the book.

Los Horcones is described as being 'Walden Two' inspired by their website, but appears to have rejected the Planner-Manager system in favor of what it describes as 'Personocracy' <ref> See http://loshorcones.org/organization/personocracy.html which details this position. </ref>. It is strongly [[Radical Behaviorism|Radical behaviorist]] though, which it claims as the basis for the title of a ''Walden Two'' community.

==Cultural engineering==

Skinner wrote about cultural engineering in at least two books, devoting a chapter to it in both ''Science and Human Behavior'' and ''[[Beyond Freedom and Dignity]]''.

In ''Science and Human Behavior''<ref>Skinner, B.F. (1953) Chapter XXVIII ''Science and Human Behavior''. [http://www.bfskinner.org/SHBtext.pdf]</ref> a chapter is titled "Designing a Culture" and expands on this position as well as in other documents. In ''Beyond Freedom and Dignity'' there are many indirect references to ''Walden Two'' when describing other cultural designs.

For more information on cultural design today see [[behavioral engineering]].

==Criticisms==

Hilke Kuhlmann's ''Living Walden Two'' possesses many subtle and not-so-subtle criticisms of the original Walden Two which are related to the actual efforts that arose from the novel. One criticism is that many of the founders of real-life Walden Twos identified with, or wanted to emulate, Frazier, the uncharismatic founder of the community.

In a critique of ''Walden Two,'' Harvey L. Gamble, Jr., asserted that Skinner's "fundamental thesis is that individual traits are shaped from above, by social forces that create the environment", and that Skinner's goal "is to create a frictionless society where individuals are properly socialized to function with others as a unit", and to thus "make the community [Walden Two] into a perfectly efficient anthill".<ref>Gamble, Harvey L., Jr., (1999). [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-54552225/walden-two-postmodern-utopia.html "''Walden Two,'' Postmodern Utopia, and the Problems of Power, Choice, and the Rule of Law".] ''Texas Studies in Literature and Language,'' 41(1), p. 3. Retrieved September 19, 2009 from accessmylibrary.com</ref> Gamble writes, "We find at the end of Walden Two that Frazier [a founding member of Walden Two]... has sole control over the political system and its policies. It is he who regulates food, work, education, and sleep, and who sets the moral and economic agenda." However, contrary to Gamble's critique, it should be noted that neither Frazier nor any other person has the ''sole'' power to amend the constitution of Walden Two. See the "Community governance" section, above.

[[Noam Chomsky]] also compares Walden Two to a concentration camp and suggests that it would be a [[dystopia]]<ref>Chomsky, N. The Case Against B.F. Skinner, The New York Review of Books, December 30, 1971</ref>

And although Skinner himself was using the character of a philosopher, Castle, as his protagonist, Castle echoes what would be the very same criticisms of many of the novels critics. Thus the novel Walden Two possesses many of the self-same elements of criticism within it.

==Publication details==
* ISBN 0-87220-779-X ([[Hardcover]])(Worldcat link: [http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/oclc/75310838&tab=holdings&ht=edition])
* ISBN 0-87220-778-1 ([[Paperback]])(Worldcat link: [http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/oclc/61399513&tab=holdings&ht=edition])
* ISBN 0-02-411510-X ([[Mass market paperback]])(Worldcat link: [http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/oclc/33134847&tab=holdings&ht=edition]).

==See also==

*[[Beyond Freedom and Dignity]]
*[[New Atlantis]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Preview of [http://books.google.com/books?id=KEiYzfCVzv4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Walden+Two&ei=_eatSorxMp7CzQThoKTpBA#v=onepage&q=&f=false ''Walden Two'']
* [http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=2223170&blobtype=pdf Review of ''Living Walden Two: B. F. Skinner's Behaviorist Utopia and Experimental Communities''.] Richard F. Rakos (2006). ''The Behavior Analyst,'' volume 29(1), pp.153–157.
* [http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2733639 Discriminating utopian from dystopian literature: Why is ''Walden Two'' considered a dystopia?] Bobby Newman (1993). ''The Behavior Analyst,'' volume 16(2), pp. 167-175.
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_6884/is_3_6/ai_n28321083/ A multicultural feminist analysis of Walden Two.] Rita S. Wolpert (2005). ''The Behavior Analyst Today,'' volume 6(3), pp. 186-190.
* [http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/bsi/article/viewFile/95/120 Western Cultural Influences in Behavior Analysis as Seen From a Walden Two.] Comunidad Los Horcones (2002). ''Behavior and Social Issues,'' volume 11(2), pp. 204-212.
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=xySfPQAACAAJ&dq=Alexandra+Rutherford ''Beyond the Box: B.F. Skinner's Technology of Behavior from Laboratory to Life, 1950s-1970s.''] Alexandra Rutherford (2009). Toronto, Ontario: [[University of Toronto Press]], 224 pages. ISBN 0802096182.
**[http://psychjourney_blogs.typepad.com/psychjourney_podcasts/2009/05/beyond-the-box-bf-skinners-technology-of-behavior-from-laboratory-to-life-1950s-1970s.html Audio interview of Alexandra Rutherford.]
**[http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/bsi/article/viewFile/2551/2234 From Rats and Pigeons to Cultural Practices: A Review of ''Beyond the Box: B. F. Skinner's Technology of Behavior from Laboratory to Life, 1950s to 1970s.''] Peter Lamal (2009). ''Behavior and Social Issues,'' volume 18, Advance Online Publication.

==External links==
*[http://www.waldentwo.org A Walden Two website]

[[Category:Science fiction novels]]
[[Category:Utopian novels]]
[[Category:1948 novels]]
[[Category:Works by B. F. Skinner]]

[[ca:Walden 2]]
[[es:Walden dos]]
[[pt:Walden II]]

Nonsan

2008-04-30T15:10:07Z

163.231.6.87:

{{Infobox Ort in Südkorea|Titel=Nonsan Stadt
|Hangeul=논산시
|Hanja=論山市
|Rr=Nonsan-si
|Mr=Nonsan-si
|Kurz=논산 (論山, Nonsan)
|Provinz=[[Chungcheongnam-do]]
|Fläche=554,82
|Einwohner=136.356
<small>Stand [[2003]]</small>
|Dichte=246
|Gliederung=2 eup, 11 myeon und 2 dong
|Karte=[[Image:Map Nonsan-si.png|Karte: Nonsan in der Provinz Chungcheongnam-do]]
}}
'''Nonsan''' ist eine Stadt in der Provinz [[Chungcheongnam-do]] in [[Südkorea]], ca. 30 km südwestlich der Millionenstadt [[Daejeon]]. Nonsan hat etwa 130.000 Einwohner. Sie ist bekannt für ihr ''Erdbeer-Festival'' im April und für getrocknete Fische, die im Markt verkauft werden sowie für den ''Gwanchoksa-Tempel''. Die [[Konyang-Universität]] wurde [[1991]] gegründet.

[[Reis]]anbau ist Nonsans wichtigstes Agrarprodukt. Des Weiteren werden in der Stadt und der Umgebung [[Erdbeeren]], [[Ginseng]], [[Äpfel]], [[koreanische Birne]]n, [[Gerste]] und [[Weintraube]]n angebaut.

== Persönlichkeiten ==
* Kim Soon-jin (김 순진), Gründerin der größten Restaurantkette Südkoreas Nolboo (놀부).<ref>http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200701/kt2007011817051244430.htm; http://news.hankooki.com/lpage/culture/200601/h2006010917183675680.htm ) </ref>
* Politiker [[Rhee In-je]] .<ref>"Can Minor Candidates Become Major Leaguers," ''Korea Times'' online November 21, 2007: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2007/11/113_14066.html</ref>

== Weblinks ==
* [http://www.nonsan.chungnam.kr/indexEng.php3. homepage der Stadt]
* [http://korea.wikia.com/wiki/Nonsan Wikia zu Nonsan (auf Englisch)]
* [http://www.konyang.ac.kr/english/ homepage der Konyang-Universität]
* [http://www.allag.com/korean_pears.html koreanische Birnen]

== Quellen ==

<references />

{{Navigationsleiste Orte in Chungcheongnam-do}}

[[Kategorie:Ort in Südkorea]]
[[Kategorie:Chungcheongnam-do]]

[[en:Nonsan]]
[[es:Nonsan]]
[[fr:Nonsan]]
[[ja:論山市]]
[[ko:논산시]]
[[ru:Нонсан]]
[[sv:Nonsan]]

SimEarth

2008-04-14T18:57:07Z

163.231.6.87:

{{Infobox VG| title = SimEarth: The Living Planet
|image = [[Image:Simearth-box.jpg|250px|SimEarth PC Game Packaging]]
|developer = [[Maxis]]
|publisher = [[Maxis]]
|designer = [[Will Wright (game designer)|Will Wright]] (''SimCity'' series)
|engine =
|released = [[1990 in video gaming|1990]]
|genre = [[life simulation game|Life Simulation]]
|modes = [[Single player]]
|ratings = [[ELSPA]]: 3+ (Windows) </br> [[Entertainment Software Ratings Board|ESRB]]: Everyone (E)
|platforms = [[IBM PC]], [[Commodore Amiga]], [[TurboGrafx-16]] / [[TurboDuo]], [[Apple Macintosh]], [[X68000]], [[Sega Mega-CD]], [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|Super NES]], [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]]
|media = [[Cartridge (electronics)|Cartridge]] or [[CD-ROM]]
|requirements = [[Windows 3.1]] or greater; 386 processor or greater (for IBM PC version)
|input = [[computer keyboard|Keyboard]] & [[computer mouse|mouse]]
}}

{{nihongo|'''''SimEarth: The Living Planet'''''|幸せな地球シム}} is a [[life simulation game|life simulation]] [[computer game]] designed by [[Will Wright (game designer)|Will Wright]] and published in [[1990 in video gaming|1990]] by [[Maxis]], in which the player controls the development of an entire [[planet]]. Although the game was much admired when it was released, it was not a big seller compared to its hit predecessor ''[[SimCity]]''. Versions were made for the [[Apple Macintosh]], [[TurboGrafx-16]] / [[TurboDuo]], [[Commodore Amiga]], [[IBM PC]] and the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|SNES]] (which was developed and published by [[Fujisankei Communications International|FCI]] in 1992).

== Overview ==
In ''SimEarth'', the player can vary a planet's [[atmosphere]], [[temperature]], [[landmass]]es, etc, then place various forms of [[life]] on the planet and watch them [[evolution|evolve]]. Since it is a [[software toy]], the game does not have any required goals. The big (and difficult) challenge is to evolve [[Sentience|sentient]] life and an advanced [[civilization]]. The development stages of the planet can be reverted and repeated, until the planet "dies" 10 billion years after its creation, the estimated time when the [[Sun]] will become a [[red giant]] and kill off all of the planet's life.

The game models the [[Gaia hypothesis]] of [[James Lovelock]] (who assisted with the design and wrote an introduction to the manual), and one of the options available to the player is the simplified "[[Daisyworld]]" model.

[[Image:SimEarth IBM PC.png|thumb|225px|left|''SimEarth'' screenshot, [[IBM PC]] version. In this simulated planet, [[radiates]] have developed [[sentience]] and are beginning to form [[civilization]]s.]]

The player's control of the planet in the game is quite comprehensive; display panels allow the player to regulate everything from atmospheric gases, with percentages to three decimal places, to the rate of continental drift, to the rate of reproduction and mutation of lifeforms. In addition, the player is given options to place [[terraforming|equipment or items]] that interfere with the planet's development, such as [[Oxygen]] Generators, which increase the composition of oxygen in the atmosphere, and the [[The Monolith|Monolith]], a take on the one found in ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey]]'', which aids in increasing intelligence of a lifeform through extraterrestrial contact.

The list of disasters ranges from natural occurrences, such as [[hurricane]]s and wild [[fire]]s, to population-dependent disasters, such as [[Pestilence|plagues]] and [[pollution]]. Effects on the planet may be minor or major depending on the current conditions. Increased [[volcano|volcanic]] eruptions, for example, increase the amount of dust in the atmosphere, lowering global temperature; [[earthquake]]s in a body of water may produce [[tsunami]]s; and the shortage of nuclear fuel for a nuclear power-dependent civilization may potentially trigger [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear war]].

All player-triggered actions have a cost specified in "energy units" or "omega (Ω) units"; for example, 50 energy units are required to lay down a single terrain square, while 500 units are required to lay down a terraforming device. The energy budget is determined by the level of development of the planet, and the chosen difficulty level; on the lowest difficulty level, the energy budget is unlimited.

Despite the humor, both in game and manual, game play itself can be somewhat mystifying; species may thrive or die out for no apparent reason. [[Mass extinction]]s, however, are often followed by periods of renewed evolutionary diversification, allowing the player to experiment with new sets of species and ecosystems.

=== Taxa ===
[[Image:Simearth.JPG|thumb|225px|right|''SimEarth'', [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|Super NES]] version. When civilizations begin to [[Industrialisation|industrialize]], [[pollution]] becomes a major concern.]]

A feature of the game is that all [[taxon|taxa]] of multicellular organisms are on an equal footing, and thus it is possible to evolve intelligent [[mollusc]]s. The two single-celled lifeform taxa, [[Prokaryote]]s and [[Eukaryote]]s (or [[Bacteria]] and [[Amoeba]]s, in-game respectively) are treated specially. Some examples of animal taxa include [[Radiata|Radiates]] and [[Cetaceans]] as well as more well known taxa such as [[fish]] and [[birds]]. As an "[[Easter egg (virtual)|Easter egg]]," there is also [[self-replicating machine|machine life]], which can appear if a city of the highest technology level ([[nanotechnology]]) is destroyed by a nuclear explosion. Machine life can thrive in any biome or environmental conditions, generally out-competing any other life forms present, and can itself eventually evolve intelligence and build cities. Additionally, there are Carniferns, which are mutated, [[carnivorous plant]]s, which can occur only naturally. Having an abundance of insects allows for these life-forms to develop. Carniferns are able to develop [[intelligence]] just as animals can. In addition to the familiar types, the long-extinct "[[Tribrachidium|trichordate]]s" are included. The game states that "we [the game's developers] felt sorry for them, and are giving them a chance for survival in ''SimEarth''".

== External links ==
* [http://miyabi18.hp.infoseek.co.jp/date/snes2.txt Japanese-to-English Translations for Super Famicom games]
* {{moby game|id=/simearth-the-living-planet|name=SimEarth}}
* {{StrategyWiki}}

{{SimUniverse}}

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[[da:SimEarth]]
[[fr:SimEarth: The Living Planet]]
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