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che ching he underscands che leasc."
This does noc mean he unders rood
himself ro any degree rwo or rhrec
millennia ago. His limiced under–
sranding of himself was accually com–
parable co his abysmallack of knowl–
edge in physics and biology.
Physics and biology have come a
long way since chen, buc, as Skinner
poincs out, "There has been no com–
parable developmenc of anything like
a scicnce of human behavior. " And he
is righc!
"Greek physics and biology are
now of hiscorical interese only (no
modern physicisc or biologisc would
rurn co Ariscorle for help), bur che
dialogues of Plato are still assigned ro
srudenrs and ciced as if they rhrew
lighc on human behavior."
They don'r, of course. Yer, Soc–
rares and company would fir rig hr
inco mosr current discussions on be–
havior and human atfairs. Somewherc,
their way of rhinking abouc man -
whar he is and why he is - has ac–
quired a terminal Achilles' heel.
Skinner argues, "Greek theories of
human behavior Ied nowhere. If rhey
are wirh us roday, ir is nor because
rhey possesscd sorne kind of eterna!
veriry, bur because they did nor con–
rain che sccds of anything bccrcr."
And man has added noching essential
since.
The missing dimension in che
srudy of human behavior is scill miss–
ing from chis world's educarion
to·
day. Orherwise, we would have che
New Man and peace. Ir's jusr that
simple.
Today, mankind
must
have rhar
"somerh ing better." Our abil ity ro
cap che physical resources of our earch
is increasing dramatically. W e muse
havc a commensurare abiliry for deal–
ing wich human behavior, because ic
is human behavior which can misuse
rhac physical power and erase man–
kind from chis planee.
We muse undersrand whar man is.
PLAIN TRUTH July 1972
W e muse undersrand how man can
learn ro exhibir behavior conducive
ro che well-being of bimself and his
neighbor. W e muse come co learn
whac motivares him ro cerrain kinds
of acrion.
Modero Attempts ro
Chaoge che Miad
In modero times, che phi losophy
of communism has accempced ro
change che human mind by manipu–
lating che environment and insci rut–
ing a syscem of law co define chis en–
vironment. Mao's lirde red book is a
sorc of pbilosophical Bible, and China
is che experimenc in uropianism.
Before rhe Communisc cake-over in
China, Shanghai was che sin capital of
che Orienc. The phrase "ro be shang–
haied" speaks for itself. T oday,
Shanghai is a model of puritan clean–
liness and moraliry, when compaced
ro orher major ciries of che world.
However, che excesses of che Cultural
Revolurion reveal rhac che Chinese
mind is srill subjecr ro violence and
barred. T he Communisrs have insci–
rured a new syscem, bur subliminally,
che Chinese mind has not beco al–
tcred.
Now look ar che experiment in che
Soviet Union.
Under Communism, says a Soviet
parcy book encided
Mans
Dreams
Are
Comi1zg True,
"men will work co che
bese of rheir abiliries simply because
meo will delighc in crearive en–
deavor." Soviet and Chinese auchor–
ities have scressed che need for hard
work, chrift and moralicy, all in che
hope of changing both che environ–
mencal climare and thc human mínd
itself. To che degree che human mind
in íts presenr scare is susceptible ro
man-made manipulation, sorne head–
way has beco made.
In che Soviet Union, laziness,
drunkenness and managerial compeci–
tíon have nor bcen done away.
In
sorne ways, che problems have been
aggravared by lack of incentives.
One, of course, muse insciruce a
sysrem of law, a sysrem of doing
chíngs, co bring about rhe kind of en–
vironmcnc conducíve co growrh. Yec,
th<tt is noc enough.
H uman behavior is a problem boch
of che mind icself and of che environ–
mcnc.
A Unique Utopiao Experiment
To date, onJy o ne experimcnr in all
hiscory has ever beco devised ro deal
wirh borh o f these elemenrs. This
experimenc has been widely pub–
lished, buc little underscood. You
probably have che book describing
chis experimenr in your own home
an'd have never read ic. Ir is, in facc,
che hiscorical record of rhar leasc un–
derscood of all books - che Bible.
This experiment has demonsrrared
the imporcance of both environmenr
and mind. Ir has also demonstrated
thac of che cwo, it is che mind which
is che mosc problemacic.
This unique experimenr ís cripar–
cite - in rhrec phases. In Phase One,
a large group of people were caken
out of che wretched environmenc in
which chey lived. They were rhrusc
inco whac could have beco a perfecc
environmenral system with a legal
syscem rhat, if followed, would have
guaranteed its preservarion. There was
a program co changc che condirions
to which people were responding -
with a corresponding change in basic
actitude. Phase One of che experi–
menc ulcimarely failed. T he ucopian
srare disinregrared. The people didn'r
wanc che legal sysrem thar wou Id
have guaranceed che preservacion of
che uropian scare. They revolted and
endcd up in nacional captivicy. This
is, in esscnce, che historical record of
rhe Old Tcsrament.
Phase Two was handled from che
orher poinc of view. The problem of
che human mind was che primary
focus of acrack. A change was effecced
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