Walden Two

As a behavior analyst, it was criminal that I didn't own my own copy of Walden Two...this copy is as gorgeous as anything! In phenomenal shape for being 40ish years old with the prettiest cover I've ever seen.

I really was very happy with price/condition of the book. I always prefer to source books through Amazon since the price point seems to really be better than at my local bookstore giants.

Sold as very good condition. But received with only good condition.

This book is old, but very relevant to our present reality as well. A captivating read!

the book came in an acceptable condition, the description should have been a little more detailed as to how old this book really was but overall shipping was quick and the book was only 4$, so I cant complain

Read for a class. It’s offensive on every page, not well written, and is basically a narcissistic tangent by a dude with a pretty serious god complex.Had to read for class. Bought both the soft cover and kindle, as well as audiobook. Didn’t open the actual book once. Listened to the audio book twice. Found the kindle edition to be very helpful in quick searches for my class project.

Imagine a world where you got to choose what you did every day (as long as your four daily labor-credits are completed), where, as everyone is equal to everyone else, the words 'thank-you' are never used and where education, which is never forced, is something your kids just WANT to do. Is this better living through operant conditioning?This fictional community is the brain-child of the famous (and imfamous) behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner. Skinner believed that all behavior can be controlled by modification and 'positive reinforcement.' Well, here it is. A Skinnerian utopia.The book itself has no real plot to speak of. The central characters,a group of 2 university professors, 2 twenty-somethings fresh from army service, and their two girlfriends that have been invited to take a tour of the Walden Two community. The book (narrated by one of the professors) is the fictional account of the tour which gets extraordinarily specific. The communes education, commerce, child-rearing, and governing practices are well-examined and this book, whether you agree with good ol' B.F. or not, will have you constantly thinking from new angles. If you're anything like me (frightening thought!) you might find yourself actually talking back to the book. What a rare experience!The four stars are for both the writing- Skinner does much better than most psychologists crossing over to fiction- and for the wealth of ideas which are sharp, challenging and scary. Although in the end, I disagree with just about every idea Skinner remonstrates, this is a book that I'm sure I will reread and ponder over quite often.

something i noticed the other reviewers did not mention (perhaps did not know) is that this book originally inspired one of the longest standing intentional communities the u.s. ~ twin oaks. you can check out "a walden two experiment" documenting their first 5 years & "is it utopia yet" written after their 25th anniversary - both by kat kinkade, one of the founding memebers. they are much more personable than this; funny and refreshingly honest they give you a glimpse into what actually happened when people tried to materialize this vision. (note: they may have been inspired by this novel, but they are not necessarily bound to its principles now) also worth checking out is "the intentional communities directory" which highlights hundreds of such projects around the world & also provides insights into various issues encountered when trying to recreate your own world & other nifty tidbits."walden two" itself is a rather dry book; it was written by the father of behavioral science, after all. i also think it's interesting to note that this book came out the same year as "1984" ~ though it offers a vastly different vision. while the story may not be terribly engaging, it is truly sincere & rather thorough in its line of thought. i also really liked the format as i felt a part of the unfolding. i'd always been interested in community & was aware of the ic directory at the time i read this, yet found myself still shaken to the core contemplating some of his proposals.this book also gave me, personally, an amazing sense of validation. it helped me understand that i was not running away from life by dedicating myself to being a part of figuring out a sane way to live, but i was indeed being a part of some of the most important work in "changing the world" that there is.this book is worth your time, even if you don't envision yourself as a "crazy hippie radical" *grin*