The Edge.org is an online magazine of sorts which has 'conversations' instead of 'articles' that are written by some of the leading minds and academics of our time. To kick off the New Year they decided to gather a range of responses from scientists and science educators on the topic of: "What scientific idea is ready for retirement?". This is, in my opinion, quite an interesting topic to discuss and there were some thought-provoking answers. There were also some questionable ones, like Sam Harris' suggestion that we need to expand the definition of science which can be summed up by him saying he doesn't understand why his ideas on morality and free will are wrong - but that's an issue for another time.
The response that I'm interested in is the one written by Simon Baron-Cohen where he answers: Radical Behaviorism. I'll be honest, when I was first linked to this article I thought it was a very risky approach from him. His other parodies and caricatures relied on the audience having very little in the way of formal education and I thought Borat was a much funnier character than a mad scientist who attempts to criticise an idea he doesn't understand.
But then I realised I had confused Sacha with his cousin Simon. What I thought was an elaborate yet ultimately unconvincing portrayal of a bad scientist turned out to be an actual psychologist making silly claims. But why are the claims silly? Let's review:
