Behavioral Control and Spiritual Purpose
А. Ч. Бхактиведанта Свами Прабхупада
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Social engineering and the varnasrama system
This is B. F. Skinner. He's an American, contemporary American, and he's a behaviorist.
He believes that technology can control people just as we can adjust the course of a spaceship; the environment can shape the individual, and therefore it is up to us to control the environment.
That is a basic system to control the whole mass of people in classification: the intelligent class, the administrative class, the productive class, and the worker class, and less than them; and in their respective position, if they cooperate for the common cause, that becomes a perfect society.
Brāhmaṇa-kṛtya. Therefore this system is called varṇāśrama: four varṇas and four āśramas, social order and spiritual order. The ultimate end is spiritual.
But if the social order is not organized, the spiritual order is also disorganized. So there must be division of labor and activities.
Material reinforcement versus spiritual control
You know, he believes in what he calls reinforcement, reinforcing people's behavior. He doesn't believe in punishing people when they do wrong, but he believes more in a system of rewards.
He writes: "A government may prevent defection by making life more interesting, by providing bread and circuses, and by encouraging sports, gambling, the use of alcohol and other drugs, and various kinds of sexual behavior where the effect is to keep people within reach of aversive sanctions."
So he demands these things? So he believes that by providing the people with sense gratification, the government can keep people from acting uh in an antisocial way. That means he's also in the same category.
No, that will not help, just like the example is given in this connection that when there is fire, if you think that by putting more and more ghee, the fire is extinguished, that is not possible.
To keep the society in order, they must be educated according to their capacity, and uh they should be engaged for common benefit; that is required.
Not that to encourage them in their bad habits, things should be done nicely. No, that is not possible. He ultimately believes in bringing people under control.
He says if there is any purpose or direction in the evolution of a culture, it has to do with bringing people under the control of more and more of the consequences of their behavior. Yes. Human life is meant for control.
That is the Vedic process. Tapaḥ. Because the aim is spiritual perfection. If we allow material activities according to the desire of the people, then they forget spiritual identity altogether.
So that aim of life in the human form of body is missing. The basic civilization is how to raise one to the spiritual platform. Otherwise, animals and animals. Okay.
Defining the aim of human life
First of all, we must know what is the aim of life and then the question of organization. If we do not know what is the aim of life, material adjustment will not make the condition of the society very good.
His most famous book was Walden Two, which was first... Thoreau lived in Walden, Henry Thoreau, he lived alone. It was a solitary experiment of plain living and high thinking.
He writes, "We practice the Thoreauvian principle of avoiding unnecessary possessions." Thoreau pointed out that the average Concord laborer worked 10 or 15 years of his life just to have a roof over his head.
We could say 10 weeks and be on the safe side. Food is plentiful and healthful but not expensive. So he goes on to say that we strive for economic freedom. We do not believe in unnecessary consumption.
We consume less than the average American. So it's an attempt to construct a society somewhat similar to New Vrindaban, uh, with the exception of uh no spiritual basis as such. That is primitive, like jungle life, similar.
Of course, they claim to descend from monkey. They can go on like that. But that is not human, to keep the monkey in the jungle. We want a life, a very peaceful life without any unnecessary modern-called necessities.
That is all right. But the aim should be spiritual perfection. Therefore the first thing is: what is the aim of life? That should be high. Without that, if you launch on this ocean while you are going, that is useless.
That's it. We must first of all know what is the aim of life. These people, they do not know what is the aim of life. Simply, superficially, they are trying to adjust: "This will be done, this will be done." No.
These are all mental speculation. First of all, you must know what is the aim of life, and to that direction we have to adjust things. That is perfect civilization.
The necessity of religion in society
He writes: "Walden Two isn't a religious community; it differs in that respect from all other reasonably permanent communities of the past.
We don't give our children any religious training, though parents are free to do so if they wish."
Then he goes on to say that the simple fact is the religious practices which our members brought to Walden Two have fallen away little by little, like drinking and smoking.
He says: "We have no need for formal religion either as ritual or philosophy." He has no need of religion, as he said. This is what he said.
Without religion, without spiritual ideas, then what is the difference between dogs and men? There is no difference. Dharmeṇa paśubhiḥ samānāḥ — that is the edict of Vedic civilization.
If you do not know what is the spiritual necessity of life, and for awakening the spiritual interest of life, the religious system is introduced in the human society.
But in that, of course, so-called religion system will not help. Therefore you repeatedly say: religion means the execution of the order of God.
If we have no conception of God, no conception, no idea what is God's order, then there is no religion also. That is not religion. So that kind of religion also can be neglected. But religion must be there.
Otherwise the human society becomes another edition of the animal society. Well, his conception of religion is that of it playing some music and, uh, dalliance with the supernatural, intellectual, aesthetic enjoyment.
He says, "What else does organized religion provide?" Religion is a form of sort of enjoying art. No, art is there. And singing is there, dancing is there. But, uh, that is based on spiritual conception.
That is the difficulty in the Western countries, that, uh, they are not fully aware of the conception of religion. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says that, uh, cheating.
There is no purpose, simply a recreation of refined nature in material life. That means they do not know, except sense gratification, any other engagement.
They think religion is also another, um, refined type of sense gratification, and so we can perform it. And actually that is going on.
Whenever there is some festival, they change the daily way of life into some more eating, drinking, and dancing like that.
But religion means to understand God and our relationship with God and live in God practically; that is their religion. That is the aim of life.
Critique of secular social prescriptions
In Walden Two, he advised women to get married at about the age of 16 so that by the time she's 22 or 23, a girl will be finished with bearing children, and then she can be on an equal par with men; uh, her role can then be equal and she can devote her time to other interesting prospects.
What is that interesting part? That he doesn't know. Well, uh, he mentions, oh, working together, types of work; all types of work are shared equally. Family ties are discouraged. Children, uh, are generally held in common.
People can live the good life, and he defines the good life means a chance to exercise talents and abilities, and we have leisure. So,
we have time for sports, hobbies, arts and crafts, and most important of all, the expression of that interest in the world which is science in the deepest sense. An exploration of nature.
Last of all, the good life means relaxation and rest. So the, uh, the woman would be able to participate in the good life when she's finished bearing children at the age of twenty-three or whatever.
They are, uh, difficulty that is missing the—what is the ideal life, what is the aim of life? So he is prescribing so many things that will not help the human society.
Um, Oman, uh, about Omar, this idea that he should be married at sixteen years old. That is good. Um, but it is not that woman stops child breeding, uh, by the twenty-two years age. You know, there
are many women, and they can beget children in an advanced age. Yes. I, so, personally I know. My mother was the youngest daughter and she was born when my grandmother was fifty years old. So it
is not that the woman stops child begetting at the age of twenty-two years age. Nowadays after thirty years, twenty-five years, no man, woman is married. So how she can stop? He wouldn't say stop.
He says a young couple will live quite as well together, whether married or unmarried. Sex is no problem in itself. Here the adolescent finds an immediate and satisfactory expression of his natural impulses.
So since the children are held in common... Marriage—you may get married if you like, but it's not required. Then the children are held in common. They're not—they don't acknowledge any particular parent.
He feels his society is a society of, um, what we call "do your own thing." That is, uh, he doesn't really condemn anything. He says, "What's wrong with love or marriage or parenthood? What's unwholesome about sex?
Why make unnecessary problems? Unnecessary delays?" The idea is to simplify everything and to get rid of all of the impediments to an enjoyable life. But he does not know what is that enjoyable life.
He cannot define definitely what is that enjoyable life. He's simply hankering after it; that is natural. But he does not know definitely what is that enjoyable life.
As close as he comes to a definition of it, he says we simply arrange a world in which serious conflicts occur as seldom as possible or with a little luck. Not at all. What could they mean? How about that?
He's trying to make an ideal arrangement where no conflicts come about. Well, that is materially impossible. Unless you come to the spiritual platform, that is not possible at all.
But he has no idea of the spiritual platform. These dreams are there because everyone is a spiritual being. So he wants that ideal society.
But because he has no spiritual idea or aim, he is simply putting some program which is almost utopian. It will never be possible.
Necessity of spiritual leadership and authority
He feels that Walden Two should be a community without a leader, that... Uh, he wants to become leader. That is that, the man who's setting up the community. That's all right. He's suggesting that, "Make me leader."
That is the... This sounds very familiar. Everyone says, "Don't accept leader, accept me as leader."
But our proposal is that without a leader nothing can be, uh, done, and the supreme leader is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His representative should become leader. Then the society will be perfect.
The Supreme Leader is God. So He gives instruction, and a real leader takes the instruction by disciplic succession and, for the benefit of the total human society, they spread the message of God.
That is our Krishna consciousness. Without a leader, nothing can be done. Even if he says that without a leader, his preaching is also leadership. So why people should accept his leadership? And there's no need of a leader.
This was the position of Mr. Rose, who started to try to try a community at where we have New Vrindaban now. The man we initially bought New Vrindaban from. This was his position. No leaders.
But it turned out that he wanted to be the leader. Who is that then? How is it pronounced? Mr. Rose. We have... you met him once. I recall. He's not initially... Oh no, no. He lives in West Virginia.
Oh yes, yes, in the beginning. In the very beginning. Yes, yes, I met him. He came with another gentleman. That's right.
His... his theory of... of death is this: "When I die I shall cease to exist in every sense of the word as a personal figure. I shall be as unidentifiable as my ashes." No belief in immortality at all.
So why is that? To philosophize everything is going to be finished, then why is he philosophizing? What is he... why is he taking so much trouble? That is the... this class of man is accepted as a philosopher.
Well, he bec... he became very popular through this book. I don't know how. No, if you prescribe such a nonsense book, everyone will read it. This is... this is the conclusion of B. F. Skinner.
Self control versus material utopian speculation
He felt that the goal is to improve the world and then man.
He believes that now as never before, man can lift himself up by his own bootstraps and achieving control of the world of which he is a part, he may learn to learn at last to control himself.
Man attempts first of all to control the world. First control the world and then you can control yourself. That's his theory. If you... if one cannot control himself, how can you control the world? Irresponsible.
Ultimately, he feels that man has no duty. It is reasonable to look forward to a time when man will seldom have anything to do, although he may show interest, imagination and productivity. Imagination.
He, he thinks like that, that our society will work on imagination. Then what we can say, I put.
This child is that, is going on practically: everyone is becoming a leader like him, and he's trying to make some followers of his own imagination. That is going, he believes. He has got imagination.
He believes in his own imagination. So others can believe in his own imagination. So we're going to follow him. He, he has to demand and satisfy with his imagination. Everyone has got imagination.
Why this is one should follow him?
Like Aldous Huxley, he feels that if happiness isn't possible through not doing anything, and in the not too distant future, the motivational and emotional conditions of normal daily life will probably be maintained in any desired state.
Again, probably through the use of drugs. His advocacy of drugs. Any emotional state you wish to be in, you can put yourself in that emotional state by simply taking a pill. And put the society in chaotic condition.
And this way society can be controlled through the use of drugs. Who will control? Well, he doesn't believe in any leaders. We control society, control without any controller. What is its meaning?
It's a type of communism where the people work together in a communal way. How they will work together? To force them to work. Still, in communist country, they're the manager class. Not only worker class, a manager class.
So this is all utopian theory. It has no practical value. In the United States, back all of the successful utopian communities have had a strong religious leader. Leaders are not religious. The leaders are not religious.
Everyone has leaders. The communist has got leaders and we, Krishna Con, we have also leaders. So without leader, nothing can be done. They will defy leadership, they will defy authorities.
But one who defies authority, he wants to become authority. So this is natural. Without a leader, nothing at all. That's the end of B. F. Skinner.