Walden Two thoughts
... I also find it interesting that Skinner chose the call the novel "Walden Two. ... In "Walden" Thoreau retreats to the countryside to follow a simpler lifestyle, understand more about his fellow man and himself. ... At the end of "Walden" Thoreau sees the benefits of technology, social structures and communication. ... Chapter 2 Skinner introduces us to the secondary characters as well as a cursory glance at Walden 2. ... I wouldn’t be surprised if Castle is the more rational in the group, and offers more insight into the workings of Walden 2. ... Again little is paid on the physical characteristics of each of the women, so I think that most of this book will focus on the thoughts and feelings of these Two about Walden Two other than their relationship with their boyfriends. ... His bias is evident again when he calls Walden 2 a "cult" (8). He arrives at Walden 2 with many biases and tries to reinforce them while he describes the area, but is surprised when he finds that he has fallen asleep: being taken over by the atmosphere of Walden 2. ... This negative conditioning to alter their behavior seems to be a obvious foreshadow of what may happen within Walden Two with its members. ... As we are introduced to the layout of Walden Two, it seems apparent that Frazier has though about how everything is laid out. ... At the end of the chapter it is surmised they are off building another Walden. ... He doesn’t like to be reminded that his ideas are not necessarily original or perfect, as he begrudgingly tells them at the end of the tour that Walden has had to go through many changes to get to where they are now. ... This domineering personality will probably be expanded on later in the novel, giving further insight on the real reason Walden Two was created. ... I guess this helps with one of the themes of Walden Two: providing multiple uses for one thing or space, but it seems that there’s something more. ... Does this mean that Burris is warming up to the idea of Walden Two or has he let his guard down? ... He panics when he knows he will be found out as someone who is just interested in the science behind Walden Two, not the people themselves. ... Meyerson to discuss clothing, child care and other "feminine" aspects of Walden Two, while the men have tea. ... Even pointing out the Russian way of serving tea: similar to Walden Two’s service. ... He wants to point out all the benefits of Walden Two; bragging and revealing his arrogance. ... For the first time, explicit reference is made to Thoreau’s original Walden. In Walden, Thoreau discusses at length the usefulness of clothing. ... In his Walden, fashion is not ignored, but merely de-emphasized. ... Walden Two is meant to be Two things that the original Walden was not: first, a community; and second, a community that could be practically implemented in the real world. To force everyone to wear the same, simple clothing would be impracticable; furthermore, it would interfere with the ability of Walden Two members to do business in the outside world. ... It only seems like a vague sign of problems that may lie beneath the surface of Walden Two. When they have all settled down for tea, Burris notes that the women of Walden Two seem uniformly attractive. ... Style changes slowly at Walden Two and clothing is conserved as much as possible. On the other hand, style isn’t entirely ignored; it is important that the members of Walden Two remain comfortable in the outside world. Because the members of Walden Two have ample leisure time, dressing well is not a burden. Chapter 6 Another lecture on the greatness of Walden Two. ... We begin to see a dynamic that will be maintained throughout the novel: Frazier expounds on some aspect of Walden Two, and Castle plays the skeptic. ... The dynamic between Castle and Frazier motivates almost all of the discussion of the principles behind Walden Two, but it is clear from the beginning that Castle will never be a member of the community. ... Frazier replies that large crowds demand large and inefficient facilities, but at Walden Two smaller, cheaper, and more efficient facilities can be used because members’ eating and working schedules are staggered. ... I don’t think that Frazier is revealing all about Walden Two as he should. ... Chapter 7 In Chapter 7, Frazier emphasizes the practical side of Walden Two. ... " It serves only as a tantalizing glimpse into the machinery behind Walden Two’s apparent success. ... The reason that Walden Two’s innovations would not succeed in the outside world is that the people of the outside world would never be willing to make the changes required. At Walden Two, however, people are "culturally engineered" to accept them. ... I know that most of the food gets sprayed off and fed to the pigs, but with hundreds of people living at Walden Two there would seem to be a large amount of food accumulating, waiting for the pigs to eat it. ... Chapter 8 Chapter 8 introduces the economics of Walden Two. ... In Walden Two, neither is a possibility. ... Along with other social changes, this communal economy is fundamental to the workings of Walden Two. ... Castle and Burris seem at bit put out at first about having to do menial labour during their stay at Walden Two. ... I guess the people who didn’t want to participate in Walden Two were weeded out during the early stages. ... Mary hints that Barbara and Rodge have not been getting along well recently, and Burris guesses that it has something to do with Walden Two. ... As in other sections of the novel, the division of labor in this chapter undercuts the supposed equality of the sexes in Walden Two. ... The institutions of Walden Two are not biased with respect to gender; anyone can perform any job as long as they have the required expertise. But the people of Walden Two continue to segregate themselves on the basis of traditional gender roles. ... Chapter 10 We finally see that Walden Two isn’t entirely self sufficient. ... This reveals his attitude that Walden Two is a parasite, feeding off the other farmers. And Walden Two sells some of the goods they make to other communities. ... Not praising people for their talents is an interesting concept in Walden Two. ... Chapter 11 In Chapter 11, Frazier, Castle, and Burris discuss two important issues: the use of leisure time and the role of environment and biology in the development of "genius. ... Fraziers depiction of a new "Golden Age" of artistic genius at Walden Two may be a grand exaggeration, but it is nonetheless crucial to his arguments. He must show that the kind of life that is being built at Walden Two, with its communal ownership and four-hour work days, is a productive and happy one, and one that even rivals the artistic and technical accomplishments of advanced capitalist society. ... Chapter 12 In Chapter 12, we are introduced to childcare at Walden Two. The way children are raised in Walden Two is a radical departure from traditional societal practice. ... Frazier says that jealousy is largely unknown at Walden Two; in a planned community, competitive emotions are useless. ... Nash as a perfect example of the Walden two product. Again showing his Godlike affect on the people of Walden Two. ... Chapter 14 Frazier describes in detail the practices that are used to eliminate jealousy, frustration, and other negative emotions, and to create tolerance, in the children of Walden Two. ... At Walden Two, this kind of shaping has been put to experimental test. ... This is the controversial chapter for which Walden Two is best known; the image of children with lollipops hung around their necks captures both the goal of Walden Two--self-control--and its practice of shaping a child from the moment it is born. ... In Walden Two, every step is carefully monitored and designed to help the child to develop. ... Regardless of the positive consequences, the things that Walden Two’s children suffer to gain tolerance and freedom from envy, etc. ... Although similar annoyances and frustrations might accidentally happen to a child raised outside of Walden Two, something seems wrong about intentionally inflicting them without the consent of the children, even with the best of interests. ... Although it does this, I think because Frazier has affected their early childhood so much, it guarantees that they will be an effective contribution to Walden Two. ... Frazier argues that academia in the outside world is a self-perpetuating system based on many of the competitive emotions that Walden Two tries to eliminate. ... At Walden Two, children are motivated to study what is truly important to them. ... He argues that freedom cannot exist unless the children see themselves as free agents and that can’t happen because he controls their environments Chapter 16 At Walden Two, men and women are encouraged to have children early. ... But at Walden Two, the usual teenage love is encouraged and supported. ... Overall, it doesn’t paint a good picture for the women at Walden Two. ... Chapter 16 brings up the issues of teenage sex and childbirth, but its most interesting segment is Frazier’s casual mention of genetic experimentation at Walden Two. ... At the end of the chapter, Frazier mentions the possibility of genetic experiments and the current Walden Two practice of discouraging childbearing by the "unfit. ... I know that Walden Two wouldn’t be around because of him, but there seems to be a blind faith in Frazier no one has bothered to challenge. ... Chapter 17 In Chapter 17, we get our first concrete example of what the Walden Two community has done to change social relations. ... Of course, the results of the Walden Two study are, by their nature, not applicable to the outside world; couples outside of Walden Two may, because of differences in their environment, actually be happier living in the same room. ... Their goal is to build a better Walden Two. ... The flaw is this: Walden Two is a self-selected community. The people who have chosen to live at Walden Two may be--in fact, are highly likely to be--particularly well-suited to it. ... Just as private schools can dump their failed students on public schools, Walden Two can dump its failed humans on the outside world. ... This shows that Walden Two is never a two experiment. ... It is easy for Rodge to agree with Frazier’s vision of Walden Two because he has been searching for the same thing. His connection with the army and it’s way of shaping behaviors and social engineering is exactly the same as it is in Walden Two. ... His clear commitment to Barbara despite her distaste for Walden Two is a sign of his loyalty to her, but also of his unwillingness to abandon the outside world. Barbara, unlike Castle, is not against Walden Two because of its theoretical principles; she simply prefers the advantages of the outside world and is willing to overlook its costs. ... He sees the benefits of Walden Two, but they outweigh the long term goal of his happiness. ... Frazier replies that history is no guide, we know almost nothing about the day-to-day working of such communities, and in any case, most or all previous communities ran on some sort of revelatory truth, not the constant experimentation that lies at the foundation of Walden Two. Frazier’s reply to Burriss question about past communities in Chapter 19 gives us a sense of how important the idea of experimentation is to Walden Two. ... He is deeply committed to the success of Walden Two, so much so that he sometimes has difficulty restraining himself when it is criticized or compared to past communities that failed. ... This gives him the advantage for Walden Two. Chapter 20 In Chapter 20 Frazier and Castle battle over the basic tenets of Walden Two. ... These are the foundational goals that Walden Two takes for granted. Concretely, they are implemented by the Walden Code, which specifies how people are to interact with each other. ... Unlike Castle, he focuses on Frazier’s claim that the design of Walden Two is scientific. ... Frazier argues that although yes, it is impossible to effectively control for many of the variables of interest at Walden Two, it is unnecessary to do so. ... Walden Two is in principle based on a science of behavior, but here, as anywhere, the practical and ethical problems of performing well-controlled studies on humans are nearly insurmountable.