Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious by Timothy D. Wilson, Belknap Press, $27.95/£18.50, ISBN 0674009363 Reviewed by Tor Nørretranders
IN THE JOKE about two behaviourists chatting after sexual intercourse, one says to the other: “That was fine for you, but how was it for me?” This captures the core idea of behaviourism – that human beings should be seen as black boxes whose input and output, stimulus and response, are the only worthy objects of study. All internal states, experiences and hairy stuff like consciousness are best ignored.
Behaviourism passed away half a century ago, but the joke…
