November 2, 2014

November 2, 2014

Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Verbal Behaviorist

Dear Reader, 

It is amazing to discover how memory works. From today on this author remembers the professor’s name he spoke with last week. Today he met him again. He mentioned something about his family tradition, which emphasizes hard work. He clarified things that were said last week and his questions signified that he had given a lot of thought to what this author had said. He described that when he and this writer were having their conversation last week, someone nearby had been overhearing what they were talking about. A recovering addict, who, after years of sobriety, was still involved in AA meetings, had said to him that this author wouldn't be “able to change anybody.” Intrigued by this author’s insistence on the fact that we don’t cause our own behavior, he had tried to explain to this AA groupie that AA participants surrender to a “higher power”, because they admit that they are powerless against their addiction. Not being a religious person himself, he understood this surrender, which, of course, is aimed at changing the behavior of the addict, is nothing but covert behaviorism. While acknowledging his failed attempt to reason with this religiously inclined recovered addict, he realized how difficult it is to address the actual issue of not being responsible for one’s own behavior. Due to his inability to talk with this zealous AA member, he became convinced of the validity of the behaviorological account, which was reiterated by this author.

 

Another thing happened when this author ran into a chaotic and attention-demanding female, who had been to a couple of his seminars. She was obviously troubled and spoke a hundred miles an hour about problems she was having with the people who live where she lives. This author only felt like agreeing with her, because there was no other way to talk with her. It took her a while to realize that this author was completely ignoring her hyper-verbal behavior, but when she began to notice, she was instantly calm and resolved about the matters she had been feeling so worked up about. It became clear that she kept saying to herself to do this and to do that, but that in reality she seldom acted on anything she said. This author had no doubt she could do what she said she had wanted to do. When she finally began to listen to him, she agreed and said she was going to do what she wanted to do. Her dilemma is everyone’s: in Noxious Verbal Behavior (NVB) we keep saying something different from what we do. Only once we come to know about Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB) do we do as we say.