Comment by travjones
10 years ago
>"It seems you think that people should only use behavior analysis when talking about the mind."
That's not what I think. See the difficulty in inferring someone else's thoughts? ;)
If we are just theorizing or talking about what the mind is and so on, then this belongs in the realm of philosophy.
Behavior analysis is alive and well on the psychological scene. APA's lifetime achievement award this year went to an applied behavior analyst. If behaving is doing and behavior is the subject matter of behavior analysis, that's pretty comprehensive.
It may not be what you think, but you continue to argue (condescendingly) that behavior analysis is the only valid approach to any topic concerning human behavior. Now you do so by an appeal to authority.
Have you considered the possibility that some philosophy might actually be useful in this domain?
[incidentally: I have nothing against behavioral analysis in itself - just the claim that thinking about what goes on in the mind should be excluded in its favor]
My bad for coming off as condescending. That wasn't my intention. Philosophy is useful when talking about or discussing things. The problem with philosophy though is it doesn't allow one to predict and control behavior. Thus, if practical behavior change is your goal then behavior analysis is appropriate.
Prediction and control is not the only paradigm for causing behavior change, indeed it may frequently be the least appropriate one.
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