: "The word "reinforcing," though technical, is useful as a rough synonym for "interesting," "attractive," "pleasing" and "satisfying." And all these terms are commonly applied to pictures.I fight like a daemon often to prevent reductivism by the over-use of the term 'identification' and here we have Skinner being just as reductive with the magic word re-inforcing. We have a wide vocabulary for such events to explain and differentiate those responses for a reason...
: There's reason and then there's reason. Antonio R. Damasio discusses reason as it pertains to decision making in "Descartes' Error":
Ideed, I've often argued that it was perfectly reasonable for a fourteenth century Italian Peasant to imagine a God who behaved very much like his fuedal masters, reason is not transcendant it is historical and is determinate by conditions of society...Hence Marx's comments on greek Art not being possible in the age of the Steam Train and guns...
: In short, somatic markers are a special instance of feelings generated from secondary emotions. Those emotions and feelings have been connected, by learning, to predicted future outcomes of certain scenarios. When a negative somatic marker is juxtaposed to a particular future outcome the combination functions as an alarm bell. When a positive somatic marker is juxtaposed instead, it becomes a beacon of incentive."
Jst been Reading E.P.Thompsons 'Poverty fo Theory' in which he makes such points about reason, preefering to point out the need for moral values etc. beyond reductive rationalistic enlightenment reason (Indeed Engels makes similar points (I feel) in Socialism Utopian and Scientific, when he talks about Scence being reduced to mathematic rationality). He, and raymond Williams, Propose the Model of 'Structures of feeling' ways of aesthetically and physically approaching the world, socially constructed and bound up within physical apprehension. It tends towards being a bit nebuluous, but its a start towards examining the emotional relations and society.
I think it was one of teh most damaging things to happen to use, (in agreement with Blake here) when the enlightenment split reason away from emotion to create enclosed abstracted systems of thought...
: Shut up bill, it Just Does!
I agree SHut Up Bill! ANd you too Bill!
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: Anyway, I'd like to thank you Barry, for you have prodded me into areas I would not have gone into had it not been for your posts. Maybe the result wasn't quite what you had wanted or anticipated, but that should not detract from value. Life is complicated.
: bill
Bill
None.
