How Politicians Can Turn Coincidence into Control
B. F. Skinner's famous pigeon experiment teaches us a simple but powerful lesson: people can repeat a behavior when they mistakenly believe that the behavior caused a reward. Skinner gave pigeons food at intervals, regardless of what they were doing. Yet the pigeons began repeating whatever action happened to occur around the time food appeared. One pigeon might turn around; another might move its head. The birds behaved as if their actions were producing the food. This idea can help us understand something important about human politics. 1. The basic trick: “I did this, and something good happened” Imagine a politician says: “Vote for me, and your life will improve.” Suppose something good happens after the election—a road is built, a subsidy arrives, or prices temporarily fall. People may connect the improvement with the politician: Politician → vote → reward But the real situation may be much more complicated. The improvement could have happened because of an existing government...
