Behaviorism is the idea that internal thoughts and feelings of cannot be known, but behaviour itself can be measured and controlled.

The implication of this (which we are all living today through our phones) is that behaviour can be controlled by administering and withholding reward and punishment at the right moments.

This is a barren view of life, and yet it holds true: behaviour can change based on principles of behaviourism.

The llama trick:

How do you reward a llama that doesn’t want to be your friend? You walk away from it.

If you walk away, then approach, then walk away… Eventually, the llama experiences a reward, and the behaviour of remaining on the spot is “reinforced”, and you can approach them.

I had a client with a barking dog. Anyone that walked by their would get barked at, and anyone that came inside would get bitten. But I got inside. Using the llama trick.

Every time the dog would bark, I would do nothing. When the dog stopped barking, I would move away. We did this dance for half an hour, and eventually the barking stopped.

I came inside, to sounds of silence. This impressed them to no end. I thought I was doing a good job. In reality, I wasn’t even scratching the surface of doing a good job.

Despite my solid grasp of behaviourist principles, I didn’t have the perspective to see the whole picture: Food quality. Sense of safety. Opportunities for play and exercise. Clarity of communication.

Dogs have needs like us. By investigating the situation at this level, I believe I could have done a much better job - but instead, all I could offer was lessons on loose lead walking and other “behavioural” bits.

The problem is not always solved at the layer at which it appears. This is a property of complex systems that I now understand in my blood, but then I did not.