Since I should be studying for a behavior analysis final tomorrow, I think I might as well write a blog post on the behaviorist perspective perspective on human nature. Behaviorism is a psychological theory that believes that all human behavior, thought, and action (actually, thought and action are a part of behavior) are influenced only by environmental stimuli and conditioning. They leave room for genetic influences and disabilities, but beyond that, all human behavior can be traced back to environmental influences. It is an interesting theory to say the least, because they believe that with the right environmental stimuli a human can learn to act or behave in almost any way. People often use behaviorist theories and techniques to treat people with mental deficiencies, suffering from phobias or other mental problems.
The philosophical problem comes when one realizes that through this theories, not only is there no free will, but one is merely a puppet to external forces. What is scarier is that more and more evidence is pointing to the fact that this might be the truth.
For those that are interested, one can read more here:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/behaviorism/
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