Walden Two

In this book Skinner presents his blueprint for a utopia based on behavioral sciences. While someone who is just looking for a entertaining story may be disappointed or even call this book boring, I'm pretty sure that you'll like it if you have some serious interest in Behaviorism or behavioral engineering. Even if I have a master in cognitive sciences, I didn't find Skinner's ideas *really* "incompatible" with what I know, even if much of it probably remains to be proven, but the only way to prove it would be to set up such a community. Some other reviews call it a communist model, but the book actually includes chapters pointing out the differences between fascist and communist models, and Skinner's analysis shows, some 40 years before the Berlin wall collapses why the Soviet Union wouldn't survive.

I wouldn't call this book "unscientific" or "outdated" as some other reviewers did. True, I would enjoy some footnotes to connect Skinner's ideas from this book to the rest of his writing and I'm wondering what would happen if we "upgraded" this book to take place in the modern internet society and taking into account all new things cognitive sciences and emotional intelligence have brought us over the 50+ years since this book has been written. This book will give you enough "food for thought".

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Imagine a world where you got to choose what you did every day (as long as your four daily labor-credits are completed), where, as everyone is equal to everyone else, the words 'thank-you' are never used and where education, which is never forced, is something your kids just WANT to do. Is this better living through operant conditioning?

This fictional community is the brain-child of the famous (and imfamous) behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner. Skinner believed that all behavior can be controlled by modification and 'positive reinforcement.' Well, here it is. A Skinnerian utopia.

The book itself has no real plot to speak of. The central characters,a group of 2 university professors, 2 twenty-somethings fresh from army service, and their two girlfriends that have been invited to take a tour of the Walden Two community. The book (narrated by one of the professors) is the fictional account of the tour which gets extraordinarily specific. The communes education, commerce, child-rearing, and governing practices are well-examined and this book, whether you agree with good ol' B.F. or not, will have you constantly thinking from new angles. If you're anything like me (frightening thought!) you might find yourself actually talking back to the book. What a rare experience!

The four stars are for both the writing- Skinner does much better than most psychologists crossing over to fiction- and for the wealth of ideas which are sharp, challenging and scary. Although in the end, I disagree with just about every idea Skinner remonstrates, this is a book that I'm sure I will reread and ponder over quite often.

This influential book created quite a stir when it was first published in 1948, so much so, that many people actually started forming intentional, egalitarian communes and existing ones embraced many of the ideas of social structure presented in "Walden Two". Further, Aldus Huxley, author of "Brave New World", was so impressed with the ideas presented in "Walden Two", that he incorporated and expanded on them in his last novel, "Island". And many people feel this was his best work. I concur.

The book is not a monument to fine novel writing and was not intended to be, yet it is fascinating and eye-opening as a fictional dissertation on utopian social structure can be. Huxley's "Island", on the other hand was beautifully written and requires no awareness of the psychology of social construction going on at the same time- neither book does, really. They are both interesting and thought provoking.

Skinner's basic premise was that with gentle behavioral modifications using positive re-enforcement and academics, coupled with leveling the social playing field with no class structure our hyper-competitive, private enterprise, we could then concentrate all of our energies on education and entertainment, thereby removing most all of the ills and stress that conventional society suffers from- sounds enticing, on paper anyway.

B.F. Skinner was a famous research psychologist who had a life-time of noted insights into the human psyche and his constant experimentation with behavioral studies led him to map-out, in a fictional utopian setting, a demonstration of what the supposed benefits of behavioral modification would do for a large group of people. He was not trying to be a novelist, rather he was submitting to a broader audience than his peers, a theoretic utopian society that the general public could assess on their own and no doubt, Skinner was probably keen to see how the public would respond- further studies of human response to mechanisms- his favorite occupation.

His very clinical approach to human behavioral studies was often criticized, but he was always quick to point out that he had no interest in debate on his methods. The following two paragraphs are borrowed from Skinner's bio seen at the Muskingum College, New Concord, Ohio website Skinner pages. Material was compiled by Christa Swenson, 1999.

"Skinner was never highly influenced by critical reactions, he is not interested in the right or wrong because they are either effective or ineffective, and arguments of no avail. For that reason he is not interested in psychological theories, rational equations, or other verbal systems that are required to be proven right."- whoa. And:


[Following the principles of Bacon, Skinner rejects verbal authority, stating, "I have studied nature not books asking questions of the organism rather than those who have studied the organism."... "Observation overemphasizes stimuli; experimentation includes the rest of the contingencies which generate repertoires" (Dews, 1970, p18).]

It is interesting to note about his life that he is mainly remembered for such famous/infamous experiments as his "Skinner Box"- a replica of the famous Russian psychologist, Ivan Pavlov and his "Pavlov's Dog" positive response contraption. To say the least, he was highly impressed with Pavlov's work, but instead of dogs, he preferred rats and humans for study subjects and behavior reaction, not dog saliva studies (however interesting that might be).

So I would imagine that if Skinner were alive today, he would get a kick out of the reviews here that are somewhat unflattering and he would have no problem brushing them off as he would also see fit to do with the flattering ones.

His Walden Two book was influenced by the writings of such greats as: Henry David Thoreau's "Walden" and E. F. Schumacher's "Small is Beautiful". No wonder then, that he was keen to let that influence mellow his somewhat starchy, clinical outlook when he wrote it. And we are thankful for that- it made for a much more human and pleasing read.

Understandably, it does not please many that his story characters had embraced such social quirks as seeing no benefit in saying "thank you" and many other social graces- this is Skinner's personality coming through: social graces are a waste time. Level-headed, nothing-to-hide, and non-competitive people supposedly don`t need that nonsense.

Did Skinner miss something in the demonstrated efficacy of social courtesy? No matter, he lets many of his characters have their conventional, "good" social habits- he has to, to show contrast.

The communal setting the book describes is egalitarian, fair and desires no material gain other than normal sustenance. Labor needs are divvied-up at the start of each day and earn the communards "work credits" to ensure that they work a minimal amount for their keep. Over-work is discouraged and considered counter-productive, education and entertainment are much more important and with a large labor pool, daily chores can be completed quickly.

New incoming members must agree to the communities social dictates: "The Walden Code" , a set of easy rules of conduct for harmony in the communal setting. Administrative members called "Planners" have a bit more leeway and can over-ride the rules when dealing with the outside world. All social positions are on a rotating basis including work, to facilitate an even distribution of duties so everyone can gain experience of the total spectrum of communal life.


So what became of the communities that formed on Skinner's ideas? Many of them are still going and the most renown one modeled completely around Walden Two, "Twin Oaks Community", is still at it. Kathleen "Kat" Kinkade, one of the founding members, wrote a book about the "real" experimental commune, "A Walden Two Experiment"- Foreword by Skinner himself.

This assessment of the project was written about two years into the project and then followed by another report, "Is It Utopia Yet?: An Insider's View of Twin Oaks Community In Its 26th Year". Kat Kinkade is now the longest standing member and although she left the community for some time and then returned, she has a substantial history and intimate view of the project. Her assessments are an open, frank and honest look at intentional, communal living with all of it's inherrant ups and downs and is a fascinating follow-up to Skinner's Walden Two.

Walden Two is a work of fiction that gives us an outline for a modern utopia. In the book, six people - two college professors, a former student and his friend from the army, and the girlfriends of the two young men - visited a commune out in the country. The commune had been created by an old school mate of one of the two professors. When Professor Burris received a visit from his former student, Rogers, and Rogers' friend Jamnik, about T. E. Frazier, who had set out to create a modern utopia, Burris discovered that his old friend Frazier had indeed succeeded at creating his utopia. But even more interesting was that when Burris sent a letter to Frazier, a return letter invited Burris and some friends to visit and see Frazier's utopia, Walden Two. Rogers and Jamnik were delighted to accompany him and brought their girlfriends along. Burris also brought along another professor, Castle, who was intrigued by the creation of a utopia, a feat he had believed impossible. Together, the six traveled into the countryside to find the utopia of which Frazier had boasted.

The visitors found that the members of the utopia worked short days, on average four-hour work days, had a great appreciation for art and science, used a hybrid economic system combining Marxism and capitalism that worked for the benefit of all members, and enjoyed happiness all the time. Frazier had thought the entire utopia through, and did many things very differently than the rest of the United States of America, from the communal raising of children, to new systems of education, and even to new ways of raising farm animals. He even used new ways of carrying food from the food lines of the communal mess halls to nooks in the "Ladder," a long stairway that doubled as a communal gathering place. Frazier had created an efficient utopia in a corrupt world. Though they see it before their eyes, some of them don't believe it, and they try to look for problems in the system. Professor Castle is always on Frazier's heels, trying to find contradictions in the system and failures to achieve true fairness and equality; he even accuses Frazier of being the despotic dictator of Walden Two. But Frazier is always ready for any attack with a defense, and even an attack of his own at times. From the "Ladder" to the "Walk", Frazier's Walden Two Utopia was truly something to be admired.

And how had he managed it? He had used a science called "Behavioral Engineering". In this system, adults signed contracts to abide by the rules of Walden Two and reinforced one another's behavior through their common acceptance of these rules. Children were raised to absorb and live by the values of this modern utopia, including the values of sharing, working their fair share for the benefit of the whole community, and maintaining impartiality. The adults used positive reinforcement to encourage appropriate behavior by the children. It seemed like a viable system, but I think an all too well known cynical writer, George Orwell, would have a field day with how this might go wrong if even one person failed to absorb the communal values and found a way to use the system for his own personal gain.

Despite how good this community sounds, we must remember that this is a work of fiction. Though creating a "Walden Two" type of community could be a good start towards forming a fair society, I am not convinced that this model could work in a large society. In the small community, where everyone knows each other and trusts each other, there is a sense of loyalty that keeps the members subscribing to the ideals of the fair society. In a large society, nobody knows everyone and therefore cannot trust everyone, and this undermines trust in the system itself.

Walden Two is worth reading if you're trying to find a way to create a modern utopia. But, if you are going to read this book, I also suggest reading "The Case Against B. F. Skinner", by Noam Chomsky. The essay discusses why Skinner is wrong about the malleability of human nature, and why this society would fail to attract enough members to be viable. Walden Two and "The Case Against B.F. Skinner" are very "hard reads," and take a lot of time to fully understand the points that are being made. Take a month or two so you can read it slowly and understand the concepts that are being presented. If you do not understand anything, that is okay. The ideas are pretty hard to understand. I recommend talking it over with a political science teacher. Still, despite the difficulty, this book is a great read for an intellectual mind, and the essay is as well.

There is a lot of confusion about this book.

Walden Two is one big dialogue on the possibilities of society design. Like Orwell's 1984 or Plato's Republic, it is about ideas. All that happens in it is a lot of gab about how we might or might not want to design a society, so it makes poor light reading. The book has little stylistic or rhetorical appeal, so if it became your favorite book it would probably be because you liked thinking about the things Skinner was thinking about.

The concept at the heart of Walden Two is that of making our social institutions scientifically self-improving - matching up our needs and problems with any relevant solutions, and designing the institutions so that they will readily develop and take up scientific knowledge. The reader is invited to evaluate the feasibility and desirability of this via Skinner's sketch of one implementation and its consequences.

That sketch dominates the book with little details, leading many readers (pro and con alike) to conclude that the details presented were Skinner's literal suggestions. I suggest sidestepping the issue by evaluating ideas rather than people, as Skinner provided us with no firm evidence of what he believed (in my opinion a definite, but not unrecoverable, flaw of the work). Walden Two was devised by the character Frazier, who has some rhetorical similarities to Skinner in his more rhetorical moods. On the other hand, the narrator shares a wealth of detail with Skinner, and particular is very distinct from Frazier. He
is named Burris (to Skinner's Burrhus), teaches unhappily at University, finds Frazier to be personally irritating and arrogant, and is interested in the possibilities of improving society and applying behavior, though often giving Frazier mild challenges. Of particular note, Burris admits quite explicitly that he does not understand the basis of the techniques that Frazier is using. They are wild future technology. All we see of them - via Burris - are a handful of brief sketches and a lot of results. Like the flying car or Newspeak, the implementation is not the point, but the consequences are. Once again, the book will be more interesting if you can separate out the overarching ideas.

Walden Two is (by assumption, obviously not empirically) leaderless, policeless, and virtually free of any punishment, restraint, surveillance or coercion. The techniques do not involve any surgery or drugging. Anyone but Skinner, the steadfast determinist, would characterize them as minimal-impact, minimal-control, giving people as much choice as possible and using the same kind of incentives that now 'control' us, but in the pursuit of more leisurely, healthy, diverse, etc. lives. If Skinner had not been such a slave to his words, he could have conveyed this important nuance by simply using ordinary words. His utopia is really intended to be a utopia, explicitly different from the nasty controls that governments now use: surveillance and reporting to central authorities, beatings, war, etc.

And this is really the point. After a couple of careful readings, the one thing I can noticeably identify Skinner embracing and defending is perhaps the one essentially utopian notion: that things now are being done in very wrong and ineffective ways (which they are), and that some mixture of technical knowhow and good-heartedness might under some conditions correct the problems and make things better for everyone. There is something deeply naive in this, in the age and perpetual lack of delivery of such things, that always arouses my cynicism. But in some ways it does get delivered - without anyone to act on this impulse, you and I would be working the dirt in fear, unhealthy and about as far from free as possible.

Bottom line:

Skinner's defense of essential utopian ideas is refreshing, and he presents a slightly different angle that bears useful comparison with other political utopian and dystopian novels like 1984, Brave New World, etc. However, the execution is poor on several counts, so Walden Two is a pass for anyone who really wants to get to the point or who is essentially uninterested in the topics described above.

If you do read it, be patient and engage the topic on YOUR terms - not Chomsky's and not Skinner's, either!

I decided to reread this book not too long ago because I could remember little from my initial reading. I discovered many new nuances in the text that I picked up on immediately and had much fun with myself debating its many philosophical points. I would recommend this book to anyone, from the intellectual to the beginning reader, to the communist, to the libertarian.

For a book with no discernable plot, it comes across very well as a fun read. The book is merely the story of the narrator (Burris) writing a book about Walden Two. Unlike 1984 with its dramatic, albeit melodramatic, story line, Walden Two is simply a first-person narrative of a party's foray into Walden Two. However, Skinner rarely allows one to see this by assailing the reader with a barrage of his thoughts, opinions and findings.

There are, however, some shortcomings of this work, which warrant a one-star deduction. Skinner paints a wonderful Utopia and accounts for more of the minor details than most Utopia-oriented authors, but he makes a few glaring assumptions. Three come to mind as being the most detrimental to his argument. One) He assumes that Walden Two will magically produce enough goods to sustain itself with ample to spare for trade. Two) He assumes that a science of Behavioral Engineering is possible and implementable. And three) He assumes that this Behavioral Engineering will magically keep the Planners and Managers, the government of the community, from lusting after power, and that in this non-competitive-by-admission environment, people will still manage to excell past the norm. He attempts to support them, but he failed to convince me, no matter how I looked at the problem. Also, he is blatantly sympathetic to Russian Communism, although it was 1948 when he published the book, and Burris is so obviously a straw man concocted for Frazier to fight and convert that the last few chapters are almost laughable, if very poetic and well-written.

All in all, I give the book and Skinner's tactics of argument four stars, but Walden Two as a community, one. Although it seems tempting with four hour work days and no competition, Walden Two seems, at least on paper, as believable as Lilliput or Fantasia, or any other fanciful land.

Maybe Skinner should have made Walden Two a floating island and Frazier a green skinned dwarf, or something.......

"Walden Two" is a bizarre utopian novel by the notorious behaviourist B.F. Skinner. The novel (first published in 1948) is quite seriously intended, but nevertheless comes across as an unintentional parody of social engineering. Had it been a work of considerable antiquity, I'm sure Leo Strauss and Alan Bloom would have assumed that it *is* a parody!

As classical utopian novels, "Walden Two" has no real plot. Most of the "novel" is a description of an imaginary utopian community, named Walden Two after the forest where Thoreau wrote his famous work "Walden". The similarity between Thoreau and Skinner isn't very striking, however. Walden Two may be surrounded by farmland, but it's really a large public housing complex with about 1,000 inhabitants, and obviously based on high technology. It has plans to expand and eventually take over all of the United States. Thoreau, as far as I know, mostly wanted to be left alone!

The main character of the story is Frazier, the founder of Walden Two, who guides six visitors (and the reader) through the community and explains its ideology. Another character is named Burris. Apparently this is supposed to be B.F. Skinner himself, although Frazier is probably Skinner's real alter ego. Yet another character is an unsympathetic, useless and abstract philosophy professor named Castle, who is Frazier's main protagonist and constantly questions both him and the utopian society. The four remaining characters are named Roger, Barbara, Mary and Steve.

Walden Two turns out to be a benevolent dictatorship ruled by anonymous Planners and Managers. They are not elected but appoint their own successors. The law of the community is called the Code and can be changed only be the Planners and Managers. The members of the community are not allowed to discuss any changes of the Code amongst themselves. The meaning of the Code is explained at mass meetings. There are also a kind of Sunday sermons. Children are taken from their parents immediately at birth and given a collective upbringing and education, based on (bizarre) behavioural psychology and conditioning. There is no sense of history. In fact, study of history is discouraged. Not even Frazier, who founded the community, expects to be remembered. At death, people are cremated and quietly forgotten. The important thing is the collective and the plan. Everyone in Walden Two seems to live in an eternal now.

All problems are solved by behavioural engineering. If anyone has problems with the Code, he is considered to be sick and sent to a psychologist. A group of medical doctors have complete control of nutrition, physical training and sanitation. Even the tea service is managed according to scientific principles! Despite these authoritarian features, everyone in Walden Two is happy and contended. They only work four hours per day, and spend the rest of their time playing music, watching theatre or tending the gardens.

And that, of course, is the point.

What struck me when reading "Walden Two" was Skinner's unabashed elitism. He has a kind of benevolent contempt for the common man. Anti-democratic arguments abound. Society must be rationally planned by a scientific elite steeped in behaviourism. Elections are unnecessary and "freedom" is just an illusion. The important thing is to make the common people feel happy. Of course, people have no idea how to accomplish this, and the task should therefore be left to experts. But since people will be happy-happy-happy, what grounds are there for complaints? Two of the characters, Mary and Steve, join the community almost immediately. They are real simpletons and sign up because Walden Two has a high standard of living and provides them with simple pleasures. In other words, Mary and Steve (just listen to those common names!) are symbols of the plain folk Skinner both despised and wanted to "help" with his social engineering. By contrast, the intellectual Castle turns out to be quite impossible.

Frazier openly talks about how Walden Two will eventually take over the neighbouring towns, buy up the farmers' land and force the local dealers to join "the cooperative"...or else, apparently. Frazier also reveals that all of Walden Two's inhabitants vote for the same candidates in the local elections. Both methods (economic compulsion and bloc vote) were used by Mormons to wield political power in both Nauvoo and Utah during the 19th century. Indeed, Skinner might have gotten the idea from a study of Mormon history (he mentions Joseph Smith in passing). At an even more candid moment, Frazier climbs onto a spot known as the Throne, assumes a position similar to the crucifixion, and fancies himself an equal to God and Jesus Christ! As for the inevitable parallels with Soviet Russia, Skinner's alter ego brushes them aside by accusing the Russians of not being radical enough. After all, they never abolished the family or religion.

"Walden Two" is a fascinating, bizarre and interesting example of the darker sides of social engineering. As already mentioned, it could be read as an unintentional parody. One recurring scene in the novel is a flock of sheep seemingly conditioned to stay within a moving enclosure, but actually carefully watched by a large sheepdog. The symbolism is ambiguous. I suppose it's intended as a symbol of how people behave when *not* converted to Skinner's program. However, it may just as well be seen as a symbol of Walden Two. Indeed, Castle sees it that way.

Somehow, it feels as if he has the last word.

Walden Two is not a story so much as it is Skinner's idea that by using the psycological techniques of a behaviorist a utopian society can be built (it can even be considered propaganda promoting the school of behaviorism). The book lacks story, there is little charactor development or anything thing of the sort. It is essentially a grocery list of items that should be in a perfect society.

With that said I justify my rating.
Walden Two is a the model of a utopia, set in the United States just after World War Two. Skinner illustrates what needs to be done for the happiness of humans, but not the bliss the few ruling class or even the bliss of the majority(as presented loosely in democracy) but the bliss of everyone. The main idea behind behaviorism is that humans are born with nothing and we are the product of our histories, everything that ever happened to the indivisual will affect that person's choices in whatever endevour the indivisual is faced with. All the problems within people are learned, they can therefor be unlearned. Within Walden Two those who were born into the society never learn these bad behaviors and those who have come into the society, by following 'The Walden Code' simply unlearn them. None of the problems of modern society linger within Walden Two because of the technology of behavioral engineering. Negative emotions like jelousy or greed or hate are not present in Walden Two because the circumstances from which they arise are not preseant. There are no pressures from society itself to corrupt man, he has no reason to be corrupted if all his needs are accounted for.

While this exact model of a utopia may not apply to the modern world, it's basic ideas certanly do, all that would need to be updated is the technology. Humanity will not remain static, amoung its potential directions is one towards the utopian society another, the distopian society. I'd sooner be living the life of T.E. Frazier than that of Winston Smith.

"social engineering." it sounds preposterous. but it works. in a totalitarian society. history teaches such a society eventually fails. but if you'd look into it, at the root of its failure is just a managerial issue. a country is too big to be controllable. there exist subsocieties that try to overturn the government. but what if the size's small enough? meet skinner's walden two.

it's where flowers bloom, children play and learn things on their own, and people draw beau--tiful pictures everyday. but wait, beauty is subjective. who judged their beauty? that's our narrator, professor burris. what's wrong with hard rock, acid rock, and punk rock? let those be and let us choose what's to our taste. frasier might say that he gives enough exposure of those to their children. who knows what aesthetic preferences those little ones might have? but in the novel, children never leave walden two. :-P

something i noticed the other reviewers did not mention (perhaps did not know) is that this book originally inspired one of the longest standing intentional communities the u.s. ~ twin oaks. you can check out "a walden two experiment" documenting their first 5 years & "is it utopia yet" written after their 25th anniversary - both by kat kinkade, one of the founding memebers. they are much more personable than this; funny and refreshingly honest they give you a glimpse into what actually happened when people tried to materialize this vision. (note: they may have been inspired by this novel, but they are not necessarily bound to its principles now) also worth checking out is "the intentional communities directory" which highlights hundreds of such projects around the world & also provides insights into various issues encountered when trying to recreate your own world & other nifty tidbits.

"walden two" itself is a rather dry book; it was written by the father of behavioral science, after all. i also think it's interesting to note that this book came out the same year as "1984" ~ though it offers a vastly different vision. while the story may not be terribly engaging, it is truly sincere & rather thorough in its line of thought. i also really liked the format as i felt a part of the unfolding. i'd always been interested in community & was aware of the ic directory at the time i read this, yet found myself still shaken to the core contemplating some of his proposals.

this book also gave me, personally, an amazing sense of validation. it helped me understand that i was not running away from life by dedicating myself to being a part of figuring out a sane way to live, but i was indeed being a part of some of the most important work in "changing the world" that there is.

this book is worth your time, even if you don't envision yourself as a "crazy hippie radical" *grin*

I am amazed that people are criticizing this book because of behaviorism's obsolescence. Maybe Walden Two was presented differently to other people, but I initially read this book as class assignment for Psych 101 at Harvard. Professor Fernald described Skinner's WT as an interesting attempt to apply the principles of behaviorism to a society/community. I doubt even Skinner thought his novel accurately outlined the exact methods by which civilization should operate.

It's not an instruction manual for humanity; it's an exploration of certain models present in most communities. Many of these models still exist in our 21st-century culture. For example, children are still raised to compete with everyone else, through sports and the ubiquitous honor societies. We laud the winners and humiliate the losers. This undoubtedly enhances the inherent duality of the human mind; it exacerbates the (harmful IMO) mode of looking at the world with the "us - them" or "me - everyone else" perspective.

In WT, Skinner presents another way of raising children to allay this competitive, often merciless instinct. Is Skinner's answer the correct solution? One can only assume it isn't, but his solution does make the reader think about these societal patterns that are so often just accepted with no forethought or even conscious choice.

I know people who have/make time in their lives to question the very foundations of our civilization. I let my own life be too hectic; I often just fall into patterns of behavior. However, I do often spend nights reading, and when I randomly pick up Walden Two once every few years, Skinner reminds me that all of the flaws in our society are not absolute rules of human behavior. There other ways to live, and Skinner presents some of his opinions on what those other ways might be.

My own opinion is the Frazier's community in WT is not scalable, not even slightly, but I still greatly enjoy Skinner's exploration of civilization.

I will not dupe you into thinking that B.F. Skinner is a master novelist, and that is the only reason I docked B.F. one star. However there are so many interesting ideas in here that you really need to read it if you would like a book that is enjoyable, but also leaves you with something to think about for months after you've read it. Whether you agree or not, you should read it!

Experiment. Vary conditions. Collect and share results. Raise concerns. Avoid arguments over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

These are the ways of a scientist and ways that Skinner suggested we all consider using.

Somehow this guy who worked with rats had other interests and other ways of sharing his concerns. "Walden Two" is one of them.

It's not "The Sheltering Sky" but, compared to what I could do, it's awfully well written. It's not the final answer on how folks should live together or even that much of a start - but it is a start and an invitation to all of us to consider how we can improve our conditions.

Even in "Beyond Freedomn And Dignity", Skinner didn't have many answers as to how culture could be designed for the better. But he did have the realization that we ought have to start somewhere. He also had worked on a technology that he expected others would improve on that might help us live more sensibly.

"Walden Two" provides an intimate glimpse into Skinner's world. I may not want to live there, at least for long, but I respect Skinner's efforts to make me think about what I can do to improve my living conditions.

Behaviorism may be limited but it can be effective, more than arguing over angels on pins. Small visible steps may be the best steps; small acquisitions of tested knowledge may lead farther than pompous rants or deep meditations.

Reading "Walden Two" is a good small step. A good step after that would be to learn about Los Horcones, a remarkable community in Mexico that, like Walden Two, applies behavioral science to design its culture. Los Horcones calls itself a Walden Two community, not because it imitates what's in the novel but because it also applies Radical Behaviorism. Skinner never intended that Walden Two remain just a book.

The concept of the book is interesting but it is too slow. About half way through I lost interest.
The transaction with the seller was fast and easy.

If you have half a clue this book should change your whole outlook on life. The concept is brilliant but the reality of it is far off. This is a book that should be required in school education.

Walden Two is now published by Hackett Publishing Company. The ISBN number for the paperback is 0-87220-778-1.

Rodger ("Rodge") and Steve Jamnik, two young men returning from service at the end of WWII, stop by the office of Professor Burris to ask if he knows anything about a man named Frazier, and the new society Frazier is trying to build. Burris remembers that Frazier was a classmate of his in graduate school, one with radical ideas. He sends a letter to Frazier and immediately gets a reply inviting him to visit the community. Burris agrees to take time off from his academic duties to accompany Rogers and Steve on a visit to "Walden Two," Frazier's community. Rodge's girlfriend Barbara, Steve's girlfriend Mary, and Burris' Colleague Castle, also come. The population of Walden Two is about one thousand people, all of whom seem to be healthy and happy. They live in dwellings, eat in common dining spaces, raise their children in a nursery, and grow and build much of what they need. The standard workday lasts only four hours, or less; no one is paid wages--but nothing at Walden Two costs money. Each of the visitors responds to the community differently. Castle finds it challenging he spends the duration of the visit arguing with Frazier about such a community like Walden Two. Burris, on the other hand, finds himself somewhere in the middle: he is skeptical that such a community could work, but he finds Frazier's arguments compelling and he cannot forget the evidence of success in front of him. Steve and Mary are both convinced that this is the life for them; they decide to stay at Walden Two. Rodge, too, is convinced, but Barbara is not; he leaves Walden Two with her at the end of their visit. Burris decides to return to his academic life. However, at the train station he suddenly realizes that he would rather try life at Walden Two, for whatever it's worth, than go back to the university. He walks back to Walden Two and begins his new life there along with the rest of the group.

Before we talk about the book, Walden 2, you need to know something about B.F. Skinner. He was a behavioral psychologist and behavior psychologists like to be able to predict and to control human activity. He believed in his theories so much that when he brought home his 2nd daughter from the hospital he placed her in an controlled environment much like the one in the book. His daughter lived there for 2 1/2 years. Skinner became famous for his work with rats using his "Skinner Box". The Skinner Box was an apparatus which allows an experimenter to observe, manipulate, measure and record animals behaviors. Skinner also insisted that their environments, the environments which humans themselves built, controlled humans. Skinner's main aim in analyzing behavior was to find out the relationship between behavior and the environment, the interactions between the two. Walden 2 is a book about how he imagined the application of is theories would work out in real life.
Walden 2 is a very good book but is arguably the worst story ever. Besides being amateurish, it's downright silly. But luckily the story is not a big part of the book. infact, Walden 2 transcends its mediocre story by being so provocative. Through the course of Walden 2, so many interesting ideas are brought up. It took me forever to finish the book because every couple of pages, I'd have to stop and think about whatever I was reading. This book brings up many extreme alternatives to modern life that are for the most part, surprisingly logical. Between child rearing and distribution of labor, you will have your jaw open. He talks about having the youth produce children and then putting the children through a system involving not moving out of the crib until a baby turns one and not putting on clothes till the age of three. This may seem like a very stupid idea and that's the reaction that you should have but there are many benefits to it. Clothes can be uncomfortable and temperature sun exposure isn't problem because they don't go outside. It also decides how much a job pays based on the demand for that job. A job like sniffing flowers would not be high paying because everyone wants that job. Some may say well isn't that how capitalism works but its not even close. We know this isn't true because actors are getting paid much more then farmers. Everyone wants to be an actor and yet it still has a large paycheck, I rest my case. This book is so progressive and so ahead of it's time. It brings up many ideas that no one else has and B. F. Skinner did it in 1948. On the contrary, the concepts B. F. Skinner presents are flawed. The whole book requires that our nature is very, very malleable. Whether or not that is true is debatable. One of the flaws of the book is that the reader isn't the one who gets to question Frazier (the guy running Walden 2). B. F. Skinner gets to question Frazier and that makes the whole book very biased. If the guy who feels a certain way writes a book proving his point and the book happens to be fiction, then there is a very high chance that the person is wrong and needs to make a fake bias story to prove his point. But like I said earlier, lots of good ideas too. Either way I enjoyed the book and I would advise any person interested in philosophy, different forms of society, or just progressive ideas, to read this book.
The book also comes with an interesting preface written by Skinner many years after he wrote Walden 2. He talks about how common society is horrible and how we should convert the world into a humongous Walden 2. Quite a stretch if I may say so myself. This is because he forgets to mention the thing that Karl Marx always talked about, the between stage. Marx talks about Socialism and the violent revolution and how to reach Communism, while Walden 2 is just supposed to happen. The book isn't intended to have the same purpose as the Communist Manifesto or anything of that sort. The book as a whole shouldn't be looked upon as a good idea for a society; it should be viewed as a group of different ideas about different things that can be placed relevantly into our modern society.

First off, I'm not a Skinner basher. I work with an intellectually disabled population and I will be the first person to tell you that his methods work - extremely well for some folks and I use them. That said, I was incredibly disappointed by this book, even though it had some extremely interesting flashes of insight.

Walden Two just isn't Skinner's best stuff. Skinner is a behavoral analyst, and a brilliant one, at that. He should have stuck with that. He's not very good at writing a novel - or reshaping society to his whims. The whole book comes across as a very forced attempt to shove an ideology into a novel, almost like Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Characters are wooden and only serve to ask questions that leads to the commune leader to describe how much better Walden 2 is than the rest of the world. The only character of any distinction is the commune leader, and he comes across as having a god complex, which I doubt was intended.

Skinner does have some really interesting philosophical points regarding the way we teach ethics to children (which is really fairly brilliant), social engineering, scheduling to maximize spatial resources, and spook notions, but I honestly would've preferred a different treatment. This thing is painful to read. Technically, the writing itself is fine, but Skinner just should never have written in the genre of the novel, he doesn't understand how to create conflict and action. As a novel, it's just atrocious.

Regarding the work's philosophy, this book is basically an apologia for determinism (which makes an interesting companion piece to Sartre if you use excerpts), bashing Freudian Psychology (e.g. an incubated nursery apart from mothers for no practical socioeconomic reasons), and trying to change the world one token at a time.

The economic system is insane, and is basically Fourier socialism, but with a managerial component. As previously mentioned, the concept of cultural engineering is extremely interesting (especially the dinner trays), but you have to wade through large portions of ridiculousness fairly typical of the utopian novel to get to it. Skinner wildly overextends himself.

Part and parcel of Skinner's Utopia is the usual desire to eliminate conflict (which as readers of the book will note leads to boredeom) and all the standard utopic nonsense, which invades every one of these books since Moore's Utopia. To that, Skinner adds contempt for crowds (which he treats the same as individuals on p.35) something that seems kind of silly in a commune and goes against recent work in emergentism, existent work like LeBon and plain old common sense - people act differently in groups. To eliminate conflict and jealousy and ego is to eliminate human striving itself. It's horrifying. Skinner starts to come off like a mad scientist from a comic book.

If you're interested in determinism or radical behaviorism applied broadly to society and have an open mind (and are able to stomach boredom) it's a fairly intriguing read to skim through with some truly awesome (and frightening) ideas, but I'd read something else by Skinner first.

This book may also be useful for research in terms of social philosophy (vs. existentialists) and utopic fiction (taken with Moore, Neville, Bacon) but it's less useful as Psychology.

If you're interested in using Radical Behaviorism in your classroom or residence setting, "Technology of Teaching" is, in my opinion, probably the greatest book ever written regarding managing a classroom and one of the all time greatest books in the history of Psychology. If you want to use Skinner's stuff in a classroom or a setting where you want to minimize negative behaviors, buy that. It's very practical. It's a much easier read than Walden Two, even though it's more technical because Skinner writes nonfiction well.

Like Copernicus, Galeleo and Darwin, Skinner was verbaly crucified for what he discovered. Those who dismiss this book are the flat earth theorists and religious dogmatic right.

It was not Skinner's first choice to be a social scientist. He openly admitted that his discoveries were just that - Discoveries. At first most scientists have little idea of what thier discoveries mean. The lazer was first described as 'a solution looking for a problem' - its first imagined use to cut James Bond in half. Who would have dreamt that lazers would be used for delicate eye surgery to give people clear sight. In Walden II Skinner set about thinking what his discoveries could mean for individuals and societies.

The two principle characters of Walden II are Frederick and Burrhus. These are Skinner's two christian names. Walden II is an arguement that Skinner had with himself. Both sides robustly stated, it reveals both the confidence and doubts that Skinner had about the meaning and value of his discoveries.

Individuals and society always benefit from advances in science. The scientists who split the atom did not intend its use to be destructive and many campaigned against the atomic bomb. Skinner realised that the lottery is very effective way for governments to extract excessive tax from the poor. It must have been one of his worst nightmares that governments would do so. He must be turning in his grave at present British government's use of the lottery to pay for education. Skinner was a teacher and devoted part of his life to improving teaching.

Walden II was never a 'blue-print for living'. Taken as such it is inevitable inadequate, as discovered by those who have tried to 'live the experiment'. Written in 1948, it is now dated. Regretably no-one has since updated it, maybe because the reality is that we all live in a token economy.

Skinner's first career choice was to be a writer. He wasn't a very good one, but in Walden II he is surprisingly good for an academic. A radical thinker, it should be no surprise that Skinner should borrow the title of one of his literary heroes - Thoreau. Only a few have lived that utopia of the original Walden.

The world is not flat, man evolved and real social science can help us improve life and society. Ignorance is a prison without bars. It was centuries before Galeleo showed that Copernicus was right. A century has passed since Darwin's death. Many still do not want to accept evoluiton and many of those who do simply do not understand it, despite calling themselves Darwinians. It will be some time before society understands behavioural science, its full benefits and just how great a scientist Skinner was.

If you are interested in how people can be happy, read Daniel Quinn's 'Ishmael' first, then come back to 'Walden Two.'


I am not a behaviorist. The term 'social engineering' makes me uncomfortable. I do not believe in the concept of Utopia. There is no One Right Way to live, no solution that will bring about the End of History. Humans are what they are, and the sooner we quit trying to mold people into what we think they should be and accept that fact, the happier we will all be.

So why do I rate Walden Two highly? Because of it's pragmatism.

The basic approach put forth in the book is simply to do what works. Experiment. Try something. If it works, keep it. If it doesn't, discard it and try something new. This approach seems obvious, but in fact it's pretty rare in our daily lives. Instead we are ruled by dogmatism: we do things because that is the 'right' way to do it, no matter how poor the outcome.

This pragmatic approach, and the examples used to illustrate it, hint at methodologies currently being used with much success. Two that interest me the most are NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) and Permaculture.

If you're interested in psychology and/or sociology at all, you'll enjoy this book. Skinner has some unique insights about communal living. This book will make you think about how society works. Pretty good read, too.

I'm not a big reader (of anything but textbooks!) but this has been a really entertaining book to read. Maybe that's because it is within my field of interest, but it makes some interesting points.

An experminetal community that is on the border of morality and immorality. It questions whether or not behavioral engineering limits or adds to the freedom of the inhabitants of Walden Two. The many theories and problems (and the solutions) of the nature and behavior of humans are used to shape the community.

An experminetal community that is on the border of morality and immorality. It questions whether or not behavioral engineering limits or adds to the freedom of the inhabitants of Walden Two. The many theories and problems (and the solutions) of the nature and behavior of humans are used to shape the community.

Skinner, the champion of radical behaviorism, offers the blueprints of his utopian society as driven by a technology of behavior. Instead of boring readers with an extensive review of the research by himself or others, Skinner returns to his literary roots and provides a novel. This book provides a working knowledge of Skinnerian psychology and should be on the book list in psychology classes that deal with Skinner's theories. Beyond academia, this book provides an interesting dialogue concerning science's role in society. The novel is fairly easy to read and moves along well. However, this is not a book to read solely for entertainment -- it does not move quite that quickly! As Skinner intended, this book is a conversation piece.

Walden Two has given me a significant hope that this world can actually be bettered in every way.

First, we'd work MUCH LESS. So many of us today don't work efficiently at all. Even for some of those that do, they might be working for nothing. For example, while brokers and technicians in Wall Street work their butt off almost every day, simply a sound monetary system, that restricts such fraudulent groups like Wall Street investment firms, can set millions of people free from wasting so much unnecessary energy.

A right money system under right people would disable wastful sectors and enable only the practical ones, that truely HELP people, instead of rubbing from them.

With more free time off from work, we could ENJOY our lives more. What's your favorite thing to do? We'll have more time to do it. And what's even more exciting is that we'll be BETTER at doing them, because the education system allows us to seek and focus on our own interests.

When I was 14, I desperately wanted to learn to play drums. But unfortunately my parents had prejudice against joining a band, assuming it would ruin my youth. Thinking back, not learning rather seems to have wasted my passionate youth. A sound educational system, that prevents prejudiced thinking and encourages listening to liberal ideas, would make so many of our lives affluent, affluent with expertise in personal interests, satisfaction, and joy.

Under this educational system, my parents wouldn't have had such bias against learning drums, and I would have been a fine drummer.. or maybe even a fine musician.

Alike, a right system under the right people will defeat the wrongs and frauds, and breed opportunities and fruits.

However, there's ONE thing that I disagree with Mr Skinner. I do not believe that a true utopia has a monetary system, since advanced technology would require no moeny or more than available resources to produce whatever that the whole mankind desires. So much inhumane issues like starvation, curable diseases, homelessness would no longer exist but only in history. No one will be left out, ignored off, from the society. And the society should be us, the whole hamanity, not just a group of people fenced in a castle.

And that is the true Utopia I believe in.

Despite so, Skinner gave me the inspiration, and it is fantastic.

Highly recommend for everyone.

The book "Walden Two" by B.F.Skinner is excellent. It is written in a story form so most of us will not get lost with the psychology jargon, and the story is very interesting and moves right along.For those of you not familiar with his work Skinner explains what behavioral engineering is and his main charcter uses this as his platfrom for a utopic society. I liked many things about Waldon Two how the residents created a more scientifically efficent community and I thought th behavioral engineering of the children in the community was billiant. I also really enjoyed the idea of the four hour work day and how it promotes a more creative group of people. Naturally this type of work week would enable its residents to become much more creative and spend more time with the arts. I didn't enjoy every part of Walden Two I felt the economic structure was very similar to communism. I understand how it relates to how the society is to succeed. Overall the book is very enjoyable and it was very helpful in learning more about behavioral engineering I would reccomend it and its not a very long read either its about 280 pages.

If you're a thinking person, read _Walden Two_. When I first picked it up, I expected a boring piece of behaviorist propaganda by a stuffy man in a lab coat. I was wrong. In the end, the book is about where humanity is vs. where we might like to be--and, most importantly, how to get there. Whatever you think of Skinner's answers, his book is worth reading for the questions alone. (Note--the criticism that _WT_ isn't much of a philosophic novel along the lines of _1984_ is correct; it much more reminds me of a Platonic dialogue. Not a bad thing, if you ask me.)

First of all, I agree with those readers who pointed out that this is not a great work of literature. There is no story and almost no character development, and it is much too long for its content. It is basically 300 pages of rambling monologues and debates about the virtues of behavioral engineering.

Second, it is also not satisfying as a work of science or philosophy. There are a number of interesting ideas and some thoughtful debate, but little in the way of convincing arguments. For example, everyone at Walden II seems to be constantly in a state of blissful content. Please!

Ultimately, creating a fictional utopia is not very impressive.

Walden Two is an excellent portrayal of a working utopian society contrasted with the relatively gloomy style of life as we know it. A Brave New World and 1984 portray attempted utopian societies which fail or appear to be failing, but Walden Two works, according to its author. All throughout this novel, readers wonder if they would really like to live in a society like this by weighing the costs and benefits. Written in more of a philosophical type of dialogue between the protaganists and the antagonists, the novel at first presents to be dull, but persistence proves to be worthwhile. This is a must read for any student or professor, as it is for anyone interested in the psychology or philosophy of the book. Try to make your decision to live in the society before the last few chapters and debate it with your friends! Good luck!

This is a masterpiece of writing fun. I read Walden Two every few years and always get some good laughs out of it because it is so up to date although it was written in 1948. Walden Two opened the door of behaviorism to me and began my journey studying behavioral science and becoming a master behavioral scientist and engineer.
Behaviorism is the "Holy Grail" of psychology. Control is inevitable and you are controlled. You can learn to be a controller rather than a controllee and begin to enjoy the benefits of behavioral science. I started my career as a controller in 1965 while in junior high. I put my teachers under my control. It was so much fun to control "educated" adults and get the grades and behavior that I wanted from my adult controllees. I went into "higher" education and I took more and more control over the teachers. They were like putty in my hands. Wherever I went I was a controller. No Vietnam War for me because I had controller status. Only the controllees fight in wars. In love or business I was always in control. My controllees loved me like a dog loves its master. By using control I easily became financially independent and enjoy the highest standard of living. It's all because of brilliant teaching of the master of behaviorism, B.F. Skinner. Thank you Master Skinner for a lifetime of control.

the book came in an acceptable condition, the description should have been a little more detailed as to how old this book really was but overall shipping was quick and the book was only 4$, so I cant complain

"Walden Two" serves, on its surface, as a work of escapist fiction. A party of B.F. Skinner's academic colleagues and their friends journey to a utopian community outside Canton, Ohio whose residents only work four hours per day and live in a resort community. Today's SF fans would quickly recognize the setting as a perpetual SF convention. They meet Skinner the Behaviorist, cleverly disguised as Frazier, and tour the community from tea service to Frazier's "throne". A Code created by experiment and the ministrations of psychologists from birth forward keep everybody happy and productive. For good measure, Skinner treats us to a superficial discussion of true liberty and freedom, which no work of speculative fiction aspiring above the pulps lacks.

The novel also serves as a view of the anxieties of America as it demobilized from WWII. Would swinging from wartime Keynesian spending to paying off the debts incurred defending the nation cripple the economy just as millions of young men demobilized? Three variations of fascism lay defeated by Communism and liberal democracy: which of the two systems left standing was best? It was too early to know that a combination of government policy, piles of war bonds in every patriotic American's mattress and a near-monopoly of industry would raise most Americans to heights of prosperity they could not imagine in 1946. It was certainly too early to get a complete picture of Soviet oppression and Mao Zedong was still fighting in the countryside.

Skinner ends with a surprise: his characters' trajectories are exactly what a model assuming pure materialism would predict. Steve and Mary, representatives of the prewar working class, choose life at Walden Two, which is arguably better in every material respect than what they expected given their lives before the war. Rodge and Barbara choose the upper middle-class life of a new lawyer. Rodge chooses the outside more relucantly than Barbara to be sure, but the end of the book does not find him in Walden Two looking for a new fiancee. Castle and Burris live in the Faculty Club, which means the decent bachelor housing of the era: one or two comfortable rooms, with all of the necessities and some of the luxuries met. Universities offer cultural amenities comparable to Walden Two as well. So, in material and cultural terms, Walden Two is equivalent to the Faculty Club, which lets each professor's disposition choose his destiny.

As a fanfic, I've wanted to offer yearly installments of Steve, Mary and Burris' life in Walden Two. Would Walden Two's studio apartments pale next to a Levittown's luxurious 700 square-foot houses, or would it take the split-level ranch that a factory worker of the 1960s could afford? Would the advent of television kill the community's endless round of live performances and barn dances? Would the cultural contributions of Steve Jamnik's Eastern European heritage be encouraged or discouraged, and would his (likely) Catholic faith survive? How would the first black couple entering Walden Two experience it, and some of their fellow communards emigrating from a fundamentally racist society? America's thermidor of the early 1950s awaited; would Walden Two survive Joe McCarthy?

The product was not what I expected, the cover wasn't even the cover that was shown in the picture. The book is in perfect condition but it wasn't the cover that I wanted.

An interesting combination of new and old ideas on the possibility of an existing Utopia. Yet the beauty of this book lies within the fact that biased as the ideas are, the reader is given the freedom to make an objective decision on all of the issues. Plotless, another reader said because the book lacks any events, but boring because of this ? Far from the truth. That the book is not pretending to be "entertainment" but just fuelforthebrain is one of its many attractions.

The problem with most novels is that they are devoid of intellectual content. The problem with most books on utopia is that they are boring. Walden Two, a novel about utopia, avoids both these traps. This book is probably the most exciting and captivating book ever written about utopia and communal living. If you want to read a compelling adventure story that really makes you think at the same time - for the love of Mike, buy this book.

If you're into Utopias, Philosophy, psychology, or any hybrid of the two, Walden II is for you. As a teenager it enlightened me on the pinpoints of teenage behavioralism. A must read for the intelligant human being. The productive member or society. But beware you may come back a changed man

With the failure of cognitive-style psychology in rehabilitating criminals AFTER the fact, more and more psychologists are reexamining behavioral science, and its constant premise that to solve the problems of crime and general deviancy, you have to focus not on changing the criminal or the deviant after the fact, but must focus on what causes that criminal or deviancy to occur in the first place -- the environmental causes -- and change them to effect any sort of long-term change in negative behavior.

With behaviorism in hand, Dr. Skinner tackles society's problems all around. And even though Walden Two is a fictional work, the scientific intrigue will leave you wondering why our society hasn't tried to apply any of the techniques or ideas written about in this book.

The title of this novel is an insult to the original "Walden", turning Thoreau's great work on it's head. Thoreau wrote about individualism and self reliance in "Walden" (which I recently reviewed). "Walden Two" is a novel about a socially engineered utopia, far from anything Thoreau would have ever advocated. I read both Walden Two and the now out of print "Beyond Freedom and Dignity" many years ago after Skinner spoke at the college I attended. I found "Walden Two" captivating (I wasn't bored as were some reviewers) but I was captivated by what, quite frankly, is nonsense. Such a Utopian community would curb ambition; after all, who would aspire to break from the pack and achieve great things such as advances in medical research, if we were made contented in such a "utopian" society? Skinner could induce certain behavior by behaviorist techniques. If you were talking to him, for example, and you were scratching your head from time to time, he could get you to scratch your head more by giving you verbal positive feedback every time you did it. Sort of like Pavlov's dog. However, just because behaviorists can successfully control behavior does not mean they should. After all, who is to decide the behavior society wants that behaviorists should then induce? I'm sorry, we cannot go beyond freedom and dignity because these are ever enduring values, not the values that a controlled society may decide is best for us.

What could have been an extroardinarly clever, engaging text is an inch-thick preaching of the merits of behavioralism, bashing Freudian theory as worthless. As a student of psychology, I have studied many many different fields and theories and though I would not consider myself an exclusive behavioralist, it is apparent that many of the tactics of behavioralism are valid, effective conditioning techniques. This book presents such techniques with repetition and monotony, pointless characters, and no plot. It is an inane textbook, conditioning the reader to unconditionally accept behavioralism as an authority, treating the reader as if he were a child.

Everything B.F. Skinner did was to give us an understanding of how to improve the human condition. The science of human behavior has eliminated criiminal behavior, improved education and self confidence, has perpetuated moral behavior, has perpetuated personal responsibility, eliminated obsessive behavior, cured autism, etc... and has given us understanding to solve every human problem. He was named humanist of the year in 1972. Walden Two isn't scary. Walden Two is thrilling. It shows that scientific advancement is not only preferrable to the lottery system we have in place now, it is necessary. Read this book as an anti-dote to the hateful ignorant propaganda spewed endlessly by Brave New World, Ayn Rand, Noam Chomsky, etc... Hopefully you will enjoy learning real possiblities that would allow for a better life.

Skinner describes an interesting scientific approach toward an utopian society. The only problem is that he barely brushes over the issue of external interdiction by the powers-that-be (the federal government) into the utopia's affairs. History has shown us that the forces of state capitalism don't like the examples places like "Walden Two" set, for they point out the serious shortcomings of "normal" society. But quite pragmatical in most all other respects.

I read Walden Two as part of a class assignment, studying the effects of secular humanism and other worldviews on this world. The book itself is full of extremely challenging in its ideas. It raises many points that can have a person strong in their faith even take these ideas and ponder them. What if it really could work? Skinner does a good job presenting his ideas, but he has no basis or foundation for which to rest them on. The inconsistancies of his thoughts stand out more than the characters themselves. If Skinner is hailed as an exceptional psychologist, why then can ten high school juniors take every one of his ideas and prove why they can't work? Also, these juniors can take his ideas, match them up with the worldview that applies (Naturalism), and predict where, why, and how his plans will fail.

A noted behavioral psychologist, B. F. Skinner has written many texts. In "Walden Two" (a fictional work) B. F. Skinner describes his utopian community vision. "Walden Two" concentrates on behavioral psychology but neglects questions concerning family values and community finances.

Walden Two's lifestyle maximizes leisure time, but it does not build strong families. Family members live separately: spouses in adjoining rooms; older children in dormitories; and babies in shared infant-care facilities. Members eat in shared dining rooms with young children in different dining rooms. Teenagers are encouraged to marry in their late teens -- these young marrieds are encouraged to move to Walden Two's sister communities. Walden Two has a stated policy of supporting its senior citizens, but few members have reached senior citizen age.

Walden Two is governed by its religion: "The Code". The Code is a set of behavioral rules that encourages pleasantry. When members have difficulty following The Code they are encouraged to consult Walden Two's "psychologist-priests". Other members (including members' own spouses and children) pressure uncooperative Walden Two members to conform. A member facing an unresolved dilemma has potential family problems and has little external recourse. Senior citizens face their special problems with few family members to assist them.

B. F. Skinner's discussion of Walden Two's finances is weak. The author does not discuss who supplies the large amounts of money required to purchase the land, the capital equipment, and to feed and house people during the construction of Walden Two and its sister communities. The author also does not dwell on the *impact* of leaving Walden Two. Members leave Walden Two with the possessions they brought to Walden Two -- little to show for their many years' work. Children leave Walden Two with the clothing on their backs -- their families have few resources to help them. And Walden Two has not yet faced the financial and labor cost of supporting a significant number of senior citizen members.

I believe that "Walden Two" is *not* a humanistic utopian community design. The forced comformance with The Code, the disassociation of family members from birth through middle age, the financial penalties for leaving, and senior citizens' potential separation from family makes "Walden Two" resemble a pleasant version of George Orwell's "1984". I would *not* want to live in Walden Two.

Finally, I found the author's writing style pedantic. I do *not* recommend this book.

Walden Two is a book that could have been great but suffers from one flaw: it's boring!! The book reads like a lecture with occasional debate. Skinner definately intrigues me with his thoughts on behavioral engineering, and the concept of a utopian society in the midst of present day society is very intriguing. However, there is basically no plot and very little character development in this book and thus it suffers. 1984 doesn't read like a blue print discussing the society instead it's a story about Winston and Julia through which we learn about the society. I wish Walden Two was less of lecture and more of a story.

This book was assigned for my intro psych class. Well written, but it definitely turned me away from the idea of a utopian community.

Besides for Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the worst book I've ever read. Illogical, arrogant, proselytizing ramblings! I want my time and my money back.

Rarely has a book evoked such rage in me as this one did. It's not that I completely disagreed with everything that Skinner said about a Utopian society. While there are a lot of things--mainly to do with raising children and marriage--that I don't agree with, some of it could probably be beneficial. But the way that Skinner set up the book was not the best way to prove his point.

While Skinner is a notable psychologist, I can't say much about him as a writer. The characters were all annoying (the only one I didn't loathe was Castle, who was incredibly anti-Walden Two). Frazier, the founder of the community, seemed so manipulative and power-hungry that I was put off to the idea of anyone living there. I couldn't help but feel that if the people in the community had known how much Frazier was manipulating them, they would've wanted to leave. The ending, where Frazier blatantly stated that he was like God and that his community was acutally better than what God had created just put the icing on the cake--I would not want to live in a community created by this man.

The book is poorly written and any statements that Skinner might have made about Utopian societies were eclipsed by my anger towards the characters and their offensive behavior.

Having no great fondness for B. F. to begin with, from the little I know of him and his work, I thought I'd give this a try just to see what the Grand Old Man of conditioned rats and pigeons had to say about Utopias. What kind of Utopia would be imagined by some guy who saw no essential behavioral difference (and presumably no other important difference) between rats and humans? As I had expected, I had a distinctly uneasy feeling about it well before finishing it-by about p. 60, in fact-but I couldn't clearly define or articulate it. So, like anyone looking for easy answers, I Googled the book, and the first citation on the page was "A critical review of B.F. Skinner's philosophy, with focus on _Walden Two_", by Edward Rozycki (1999, based on a 1995 article for the journal _Educational Studies_). And Rozycki made amply clear a few points which seem to have escaped all the raving enthusiasts of the book, such as:

(1) Skinner was a lousy scientist, who explicitly rejected some of the fundamental tenets of the scientific method, such as considering all the observed data. In the book, Frazier says, "To go to all the trouble of running controls would be to make a fetish of scientific method." Although Skinner kept telling everyone he was an empiricist and not a theorist, most of his work is basically theory based on what he chose to consider the world to be.

(2) His "vision" is fundamentally totalitarian (Roz tactfully avoids the term "fascist," but I would not be that polite). As Frazier says, "Each of us has interests which conflict with the interests of everybody else. ... Now, `everybody else' we call `society.' It's a powerful opponent and it always wins." Substitute "State" for "society" and that's pretty clear totalitarianism.

(3) The reason everybody in the community is so blissfully happy is that anyone who is not blissfully happy is made to feel unwelcome by the community and subtly cold-shouldered out. About anyone who is "incorrigible," Frazier says that "it's more likely that he would long since have gone of his own accord." As Rosycki dryly notes, "The point is not elaborated on." I don't think it needs to be.

So, given my impression that Skinner's starry-eyed Utopian vision of a "culturally engineered" bliss of humanoid pigeons is one of the most terrifying things I've read since the daily news, I fail to see why everyone seems to think it's so wonderful. I think it's a dreadful vision, just as dystopic, in its sinister way, as _Brave New World_. And it's a boring read to boot.