Customer Reviews

The Reluctant Alliance: Behaviorism and Humanism

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Irony: People are conditioned to reject conditioning. Our culture continues to criticize behavioral psychology because the conclusions are the opposite of what people learn to accept without question. Thank you Bobby Newman for providing a book that will expose people to the importance of this technology in a user friendly way. Behavioral technology and understanding human behavior is needed to not only improve the world and provide hope for the human race, but to also give people a true scientific perspective and understanding of how we fit in with the evolutionary process. We aren't magical autonomous freaks. We are beautiful animals that live in a world that selects our genetics as well as our behavior. Our society is starting to recognize the men of science, but their ignorance is obvious and sad. To understand the evolutionary chain you must understand human behavior and they just have no clue. Human behavior is based on consequences, selected for just like genetic material. Just like evolution the process isn't always obvious and can go against common sense, but the reality is obvious to anyone that gains understanding. Stop reading criticisms that show complete misunderstandings of behaviorism and read About Behaviorism by B.F. Skinner and then read this book. Hopefully one day the ignorance of people like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Steven Pinker, Christopher Hitchens, etc... won't be reinforced and the Bobby Newman's of this world that actually exhibit intelligent, compassionate, caring behavior will. Stop reading the criticisms. Read the sources. Great book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This early work by Bobby Newman closely examines the similarities and compatibility of 2 opposing schools of thought: Humanism and Behaviorism. The history and an overview of both areas are discussed in detail along with explanations of pertinent terminology. Controverial areas are addressed including the ethics of applied behavior analysis in addition to an examination of moral behavior.

For fans of Dr. Newman's writings, this book is heavier in content and excludes the twisted humor and personal stories which have become somewhat of his trademark.
Regardless, this disputatious yet brilliant work is well worth the intelligent read.