An advertisement for a group excursion to Cancun, Mexico, describes the location this way: “The hotel is within walking distance to shopping malls, restaurants, fast-food locations and a golf course. The hotel itself has four restaurants, all-purpose and adults-only pools,…
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For many decades, Western civilization has been mesmerized by the myth that science and technology will be human salvation, that one day we will be able to create on Earth the “good life” for everyone. So we have gone forth…
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Anthropologists have long known that the only thing undeveloped in “primitive” peoples is their technology. Their human interactions are as sophisticated as those of “civilized” societies. They make the same value distinctions that have been important to human communities of…
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Nations large and small say high-sounding words about themselves, and then find reasons for not putting the words into practice. Our former enemy, the Soviet Union, spoke of liberty and justice for all, just as we do. Even in South…
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In spite of a couple hard storms, we had many warm days during the winter. In February, for three successive Sundays, I drove to Seneca Rocks to enjoy some unseasonably good weather. The first time, when I arrived at the…
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One of the most exciting classes I took in college was Psych 101, in which I was introduced to the ideas of B.F. Skinner. In a nutshell, Skinner believed that individuals do not create their own lives through free choices, but are created by their culture and its system of punishments and rewards.
For the first time in my life, I saw the obvious truth that had I been reared by different parents or in a different culture, I would have become a different person. Even something I thought of as precious as my religion was more or less trained into me. I wasn’t as free as I imagined.