Old Habits Die Hard—Lily Caswell

Skinner in his essay writes about how structuralism can help explain behaviorism. He says that a “kind of prediction is possible on the principle that what people have often done they are likely to do again; they follow customs because it is customary to follow them…” (p 214). Skinner makes a very good point because we do tend to follow things that we’ve already done because they are often a tried and true method. And I think that if there is a certain tradition, whether it’s familial or religious, we’re more likely to continue said tradition because it’s the way we’ve always done things and/or it’s comfortable for us. Speaking from experience, old habits die hard and people don’t often like (or want) to step out of their comfort zone. This is especially hard for Christians because we are often called to do things that are out of our comfort zone.


I commented on Isabelle’s and Abigale’s posts.

Comments

  1. Emma Kate PattersonMarch 22, 2022 at 3:06 AM

    I think Skinner is absolutely correct in that structure is an important aspect of behavior. Often times if someone is given little structure there could be behavior problems within that persons life.

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