Skinner’s once-scorned behavioral control dream now attracts massive capital and state protection

Evidence

In our time of surveillance exceptionalism, as astonishment succumbs to helplessness and resignation, the resistance that Skinner lamented appears to be waning. The belief that we can choose our destiny is under siege, and, in a dramatic reversal, the dream of a technology of behavioral prediction and control—for which Skinner had endured such public scorn—is now a flourishing fact. This prize now attracts immense capital, human genius, scientific elaboration, governmental protection, ecosystems of institutionalization, and the glamour that always has and always will attach to power. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1210

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to earlier coverage of behavioral surplus and prediction products; the reversal of Skinner’s fortunes is the social history beneath the economic framework. — connects to: Skinner’s 1953 work anticipated today’s engineered casino and platform behavior-shaping. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1172; Skinner’s behaviorist vision now wins acceptance that once triggered moral revulsion. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1333

Broader Connections

• Skinner’s behaviorist vision now wins acceptance that once triggered moral revulsion. #corroborates (0.95) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1333