Skinner believed that behavior is shaped merely by controlling one’s environment. He believed that scheduled reinforcement was the ultimate motivator and reward, as evidenced in his experiment with the pigeon that “could read”. By discovering the causes of behavior, Skinner believed that there is no such thing as internal causes (i.e. free will). However, I believe otherwise. Free will is what makes us human. Free will is that which allows us to make choices regardless of the consequences. ree will asserts that a person is able to choose his or her own courses of action without restriction. If there was no free will, why then are there criminals that perform atrocities despite knowing what the consequences are, what the environment in prison would be like or how communities would respond to their crimes?

We cannot completely dismiss the notion of free will, as it is possible to consider how behavior is indeed affected by one’s environment, and how humans act given choices. We are not merely determined by behavior alone, but also by our individual choices, interests, and motivations (e.g. a child from a poor family that insists on working to earn money and rise up in society may choose to attend formal schooling to learn and find himself in higher ranks due to learned and improved capabilities).

In a behaviorist scheme, a teacher’s role is reduced to an act of nature - the act of learning to survive. One cannot simply deduce that there is no room for nurture or free will, because each individual has their unique motivations. If given the right opportunity and proper nurturing, there is a chance to do more than what is expected of us by society - including thriving (and not just surviving). Inasmuch as this is why atrocities happen, this is also why there are extraordinary people (i.e. Hellen Keller, Jesus Christ, Bill Gates, Sebastian Vettel, etc.).

Ultimately, behavior is not a passive reaction, but neither is it the sole result of one's environment / nature. The truth is that human individuals actively respond to internal and external forces. This means that people have a choice--to kill, despite knowing the consequences of the law, to provide aid during a calamity knowing it will help others, which ultimately will have some impact on the community, country, and the self in one way or another (eocnomic, socio-emotional, etc.)--but behavior is also subject to biological or environmental forces.