Language Enlightenment

Sunday, May 1, 2016

October 25, 2014

Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Verbal Behaviorist

Dear Reader,

Most of this writer’s responses to papers that were written by behaviorists were never even answered, probably because they think something is wrong with someone who insists on having a conversation about what they have written. Apparently, it is okay for them to continue to write as if they speak. This unnatural academic tradition, of defining terms of human speech by writing, has been going on for decennia.

B.F. Skinner, for instance, would write in one of his papers “I shall call such a unit operant and the behavior in general, operant behavior (1937).” He was writing in response to a paper on conditioned reflex by Konorski and Miller. Later, in his speeches, he would “call” the operant numerous times, but initially, he would only write about it. However, his distinction between respondent and operant responses was based on, and later gave rise to, many novel experiments.

This author’s writing is not academic, because his goal is to turn around the outdated academic tradition which prevented us from having more conversation. What good is the distinction between respondent and operant behavior, if we are still incapable of having the spoken communication, the actual experiment, in which we explore and verify this crucially important difference?

The so-called “debate” which is believed to be going on in papers and in which authors searched to extend the respondent-operant continuum, didn’t lead to any conversation. It has only led to more writing and less talking. This author firmly believes that talking about respondent and operant conditioning is an entirely different matter than writing and reading about it.

Another way of saying this is that the real challenge of Skinner’s distinction is and remains “a question of experiment.” That challenge starts, but is not met by the understanding of what Skinner meant. This author believes that the challenge of behaviorology, the natural science of human behavior, lies in applying it to how we interact, because that is where the language-rubber hits the relationship road. This author is not interested in written responses, because he wants behaviorists to talk. Talking is absolutely necessary to become scientific about relationship.

October 24, 2014

Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Verbal Behaviorist

Dear Reader,

A new experience has occurred. This writer, who often facilitates groups during which people talk loudly, finds it useful to write down his thoughts, while others are speaking. Before, when he didn’t write down what he thought and felt, he used to get distracted by the sound of the voices of others, but now, by writing, he finds his ability to focus has improved. Before, he wasn’t able to think while others were speaking, but now, by writing, he is able to think about what is being said. Now that he writes about it, he knows it was because people sounded threatening to him that he was so often unable to understand what they were talking about.

It came as a surprise this morning during group, when the parolees were talking in a frustrated manner and this writer was writing down what he was thinking about it, that he suddenly felt as if he got back his language. Due to a habit he had for a long time, this writer was used to losing his language whenever people sounded negative. By writing, he noticed that his thoughts became clear and he was able to think, but without this writing, he felt confused and drained again.

This writer could never have guessed that his lack of attention had to do with his inability to formulate language, but this morning, as he was writing what he was thinking, he noticed a couple of times that he felt again overwhelmed by the voices of others. Each time he began to write, however, his focus immediately returned and in such a way that he was completely focused again. This is a great discovery: language can be found back in spite of the common communication chaos.

Earlier in the day, before going to work, this writer had been unhappy about his conversation with his wife. However, he didn’t say anything, but later gave her a call. In the brief conversation that followed his surprised wife told him that she had felt impacted by the negative experiences of the clients she was dealing with in her work. She realized that the same was true for this writer. She acknowledged the importance of being mindful about these effects and also found back her language, due to which her negative emotions were replaced by positive ones.

October 23, 2014

Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Verbal Behaviorist

Dear Reader,

Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB) exists and can be easily arranged, but we are not doing that because we don’t know that we can. This author was often rejected by people who refused to talk with him. Only when he gets a chance to talk with people does SVB become possible. However, most people habitually engage in Noxious Verbal Behavior (NVB). They want and expect of what they are used to. Moreover, because they can stop SVB without any difficulty with their NVB, they feel that they have power. There is nothing a person who knows about SVB can do to change the person with NVB. The only people who are going to be open to SVB are those who already have a behaviorial history, which prepared them to understand it and to allow it to happen. Those who don’t have such a history can in principle also acquire this preparation, but it is not realistic to expect that they will, because there are no contingencies in place anywhere, where this could reliably occur.

This writer fully admits that for the most part, it has been a complete waste of time to try to change those who are not open to SVB. Those who were not immediately open to it, never became open to it later. Nobody, as far as this author knows, has come around saying “Maximus, this SVB you were talking about really works...I wasn’t believing it at first, but when tried it, I was amazed by how it impacted me and others.” This author doesn’t think it is impossible, but, based on his knowledge, he considers it highly unlikely. Most people are not open to SVB and will probably never know about it although it is totally possible and very beneficial.

SVB is all about staying with the facts. The facts are that we are not capable of creating the environments in which we reliably achieve SVB together. Only those who have struggled and have utterly failed are willing to admit that they can’t do it. Those who supposedly succeeded are bound to go on with their NVB unchecked. They can pretend to have SVB, but they cannot be stopped in what they are doing by what someone else is saying. However, those who are troubled, who have tried in vain to overcome their own problems, they have the most to gain. Their motivation derives from their need to somehow decrease their many negative experiences.

October 22, 2014

Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Verbal Behaviorist

Dear Reader,

The verbal behavior of most people is most of the time a function of the Noxious Verbal Behavior (NVB) contingency. Surely, the Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB) contingency can be created, but, since we don’t know how to maintain it, SVB always comes and goes. SVB is most of the time impossible because there is nothing to make it happen with. Not surprisingly, those who try to create an environment in which SVB is possible are usually the ones who are suffering multiple problems.

It is the lack of comfort, the inability to handle stress and the refusal to accept the so-called solutions that didn’t work, which sets the stage for SVB. Also, it is the impatience with and the counter-control towards those who are enforcing the falsehoods of NVB, which paves the way for SVB. Furthermore, it is the voice of the powerless, of those who are rejected, fired, locked up, the criminal, insane or addicted, who can’t stand the oppression and insults, which prepares the ground for SVB.

This writer knows who he has met, he knows why he has met them and he knows how he has met them. His ability to distinguish between SVB and NVB gets him accepted and praised by all the underdogs of this world. It turned out to be this way and he never decided this, but it makes total sense when one thinks of it. There may not seem much unity in the problems that so many people struggle with worldwide, but this writer knows that more togetherness is possible by embracing our problems than by pretending that these problems don’t exist. He is not attracted to problems as such, but to the challenge they present to communicate the real solution.

SVB is a way of communicating which makes all our problems meaningful. It has often been said that our problems are meaningless, but this is because we have given up on finding meaning during our interactions. Only when we have faced the meaninglessness of our lives do we find out about what is meaningful. This real meaning isn’t about a book, ritual, partner, group, possession, identity, country, family, job, adventure, affair or recovery from addiction. Real meaning is about how we communicate together. During SVB we are communicating meaningfully.

October 21, 2014

Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Verbal Behaviorist

Dear Reader,

This writer has just read a couple of papers that were written by students from his psychology class. Each paper depicts the individual unique behavioral history of its writer, but what all these papers have in common are the positive experiences these students describe. This inspires this writer to write, but also to teach the way that he is teaching. His teaching emphasizes the importance of spoken communication. He raises the question: what makes Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB) possible? When is it there? What happens when teaching and learning grinds to a halt, when Noxious Verbal Behavior (NVB) overtakes us? Yes, teacher and student are in this together.

Last night, when this writer came home from his daytime job, he felt so tired that he went to sleep at 6:30pm. In the morning, on his way to Red Bluff, he had been thinking about his family with whom he is no longer in contact and a he was suddenly engulfed by waves of sadness. Although he felt sad, it didn’t feel like a burden, but like a release. When he reached his destination, he felt cleansed by the emotions that troubled him for such a long time. The day went well and when he arrived home, he decided to take it easy. He slept from 6:30 till 1:30 am, which is 7 hours. Then he woke up, read some of the above-mentioned papers and went back to sleep again from 3am till 5:30am, another 2.5 hours. Altogether he slept a total of 9.5 hours. He felt fantastic that he was able to get so much sleep.

Also, yesterday it was suddenly raining, a weather type which had reminded him of his country of origin, Holland. In addition, the night before yesterday night, he had been listening to songs by a Dutch artist he used to listen to back in the days. When he woke up from his deep sleep, something of the dream he had was still with him. In it, one of his students had said “it is not so much the information which you teach, but how this information is touching my life and the lives of many other students, which makes you an exceptional teacher.” When this writer read another paper after he had woken up, the student had written something which almost sounded exactly identical to what he had dreamed in his dream at night.