The consequences of an act affect the probability of its occurring again. - B. F. Skinner

If freedom is a requisite for human happiness, then all that’s necessary is to provide the illusion of freedom.

We can achieve a sort of control under which the controlled, though they are following a code much more scrupulously than was ever the case under the old system, nevertheless feel free. They are doing what they want to do, not what they are forced to do. That's the source of the tremendous power of positive reinforcement — there's no restraint and no revolt. By careful cultural design, we control not the final behavior, but the inclination to behave — the motives, desires, the wishes.

A person who has been punished is not thereby simply less inclined to behave in a given way; at best, he learns how to avoid punishment.