Skinner saw freedom and accidents shrinking as computation expands knowledge of behavior.
Evidence
In this view, “freedom” or “accidents” shrink as our developing capabilities in measurement and computation provide more information about the vortex of stimuli. Ignorance about human behavior is like a melting iceberg on a warming planet, destined to yield to the mounting heat as we invent the means and methods smart enough to first decipher and then control the vortex of stimuli that shapes each fact of human behavior. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1167
Categorization
- DEFINE: Articulates Skinner’s core claim that ‘freedom’ is merely ignorance of causes, which measurement removes.
- XREF: Connects to the broader determinism debate and to surveillance capitalism’s premise in earlier chapters that prediction displaces freedom. — connects to: Skinner envisioned a population-scale technology of behavioral control that rejected freedom — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1012; Skinner held that gaining knowledge destroys the illusion of free will — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1153; Skinner saw Enlightenment freedom values as impediments to behavioral science — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1207 (+4 more)
Broader Connections
- Skinner held that gaining knowledge destroys the illusion of free will
#corroborates(0.92) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1153 - Skinner saw Enlightenment freedom values as impediments to behavioral science
#expands(0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1207 - Early behaviorists saw knowledge requiring the forfeit of freedom
#corroborates(0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1159 - Skinner’s reinforcement schedules replace simple stimulus-response with engineered behavior shaping.
#expands(0.75) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 924