Re: Not always joking, it seems

<Willie.Mookie@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> I was in Australia recently.  They have poker machines at every bar
> it seems. Pokies they're called affectionately.  They are Skinner
> machines designed to just give enough reward during play to bleed
> you dry.  You win on occasion.  But only so much, and in the end you
> lose.  Its called a reinforcement schedule to maximize revenue..

What pro****tion of people play those poker machines?  And what
pro****tion of their salaries do they lose?  If Skinner were correct,
everyone would play, and would continue playing until they were broke.

> I was reflecting on what Skinner said about society being like a big
> Skinner machine you cannot escape.  The whole of society becomes a
> large reinforcement schedule that promises rich rewards throughout
> but in reality, takes everything from you that you've got and play
> ends when you are broke.

Society, unlike poker, is not a zero-sum game.  Everyone can get
wealthier.

> The more efficient we become along this path, the bleaker things
> will be - and in the end, large populations of lucky and unlucky
> folk alike will have become desensitized to the messages used to
> fleece them -

That's always been the case.  Most people ignore most ads, and
always have.

> by and large those messages are the fabric that holds society
> together.  At that point all hell will break loose.

Why?

> The guy and his kid who outfitted his car with a sniper's nest and
> drove around the country killing people stopped the nation.

No, they didn't even stop Silver Spring, Maryland, the town in
which they did most of their killing.  Capclave (WSFA's annual SF
convention) was held there at the peak of the killing spree.  As I
helped dealers unload their cars, I made a perfect target.  But I
wasn't afraid, nor was anyone else I met.  The convention was a
great success.

> A handful of people like that would be the end of freedom and
> free movement.

It's possible that government would use them as an excuse to get
rid of freedom, it's true.

> The standing armeis of police would themselves become a threat.

They've always been a bigger threat than criminals.  You're not
talking about anything new.
-- 
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html
before emailing me.