The physics view of behavior treats freedom as mere unexplained ignorance

Evidence

Microsoft’s patent returns us to Planck, Meyer, and Skinner and the viewpoint of the Other-One. In their physics-based representation of human behavior, anomalies are the “accidents” that are called freedom but actually denote ignorance; they simply cannot yet be explained by the facts. Planck/Meyer/Skinner believed that the forfeit of this freedom was the necessary price to be paid for the “safety” and “harmony” of an anomaly-free society in which all processes are optimized for the greater good. Skinner imagined that with the correct technology of behavior, knowledge could preemptively eliminate anomalies, driving all behavior toward preestablished parameters that align with social norms and objectives. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1315

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the Skinnerian ‘Other-One’ viewpoint that frames anomaly as ignorance rather than freedom — core to understanding surveillance’s predictive logic.
• DEEPTHINKING: The equation of freedom with ignorance is a dense, paradigm-level reframing of what behavioral prediction claims about human agency.
• XREF: connects to: Belief in free will functions as a defense against acknowledging environmental determinism — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1154; Early behaviorists saw knowledge requiring the forfeit of freedom — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1159; Behaviorism holds that free will is just ignorance of behavioral determinants — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1164 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Physics’ pursuit of objectivity paradoxically de-materialized nature #expands (0.80) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 575