Skinner argued complexity in behavior does not imply free will.

Evidence

The problems imposed by the complexity of a subject matter must be dealt with as they arise. Apparently hopeless cases often become manageable in time. It is only recently that any sort of lawful account of the weather has been possible.… Self-determination does not follow from complexity.… Difficulty in calculating the orbit of the fly does not prove capriciousness, though it may make it impossible to prove anything else. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1168

Categorization

• QUESTION: Worth chasing how Skinner’s weather-forecasting analogy maps onto today’s claims that complex data can eventually make human behavior predictable.
• XREF: connects to: Skinner held that gaining knowledge destroys the illusion of free will — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1153; Behaviorism holds that free will is just ignorance of behavioral determinants — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1164; The physics view of behavior treats freedom as mere unexplained ignorance — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1315

Broader Connections

• Skinner held that gaining knowledge destroys the illusion of free will #corroborates (0.95) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1153
• Behaviorism holds that free will is just ignorance of behavioral determinants #corroborates (0.90) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1164
• The physics view of behavior treats freedom as mere unexplained ignorance #corroborates (0.82) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1315