Walden Two: A Utopian Written By B. F. Skinner

Walden Two is a book about a utopian society fueled by behavioral engineering written by B.F. Skinner. Is utopia possible? B.F. Skinner believes so. In Walden Two, Skinner shows us that if used correctly, behavioral engineering creates a peaceful utopian society.
The book opens up at the office of a professor named Burris. A former student of his, Rogers, and his friend, Steve, arrive at his office. They are disturbed by the current state of life in America and have come to Burris to ask him about the utopia that he had once discussed in class. Rodgers got his inspiration from an article written by a man named Frazier. It turns out Frazier, a friend of Burris’s from graduate school, is also where Burris got his ideas. Burris sends

Castle, a friend of Burris’s, Barbara, Rogers’s girlfriend, and Mary, Steve’s girlfriend also come. Frazier welcomes them once they arrive. Later that afternoon, Frazier takes them on a tour of the utopian community, Walden Two. He shows them some of the general aspects of Walden Two. Later in the evening, the group shares dinner together, and Frazier describes the economy of Walden Two. Every member is required to fulfill a certain number of labor credits every year. This is achieved by performing certain jobs that are assigned a certain amount of labor credits. Frazier also explains Walden Two’s governing structure. There are “Planners” and “Managers” who make all of the decisions. Frazier then tells his guests that they are required to fulfill a small amount of labor credits while they stay at Walden Two. After their discussion, they return to their rooms for

Frazier explains to his guests that the children are taken care of and monitored by the whole community. The community experiments to find the best methods of behavioral engineering and uses them on the children. From an early age the children are conditioned to practice self-control and disregard certain unwanted emotions such as envy. They accomplish this with several trials. After this tour, the group heads back for lunch. After lunch, they fulfill their daily labor credits. At dinner, Frazier declares that Walden Two should succeed because it is based on experimental behavioral engineering and not on the faulty bases of other unsuccessful utopias. After dinner, the group debates several potential issues of Walden Two. However, they find no real issues. Following the discussion Burris goes out to smoke. He realizes that his urge to smoke has decreased after staying at Walden Two. While he is smoking Steve and Mary tell him they are considering staying at Walden Two. Burris endorses this and begins to wonder if he could do the