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  • Essay / The Truman Show and behavioral psychology: why a...

    For centuries, man has dreamed of constructing pristine simulated worlds, existing in a sphere distinct from our imperfect reality. From Pullman, an industrial city south of Chicago, to Disney World, attempts to force utopia have failed, falling prey to complications related to people's personal desires. The Truman Show, directed by Peter Weir, tells us the story of The Truman Show, an elaborate reality television show built around controlling one man's life. Christof, the director, has created an entire living city for Truman, the star of his series, and the only one not involved in all this elaborate falsification. Essentially, Truman lives his life in a simulation of a perfect, archetypal American city, for the entertainment of millions of viewers around the world. Christof, along with countless others obsessed with controlling part of the world to fit their visions of an ideal reality, were mistaken in thinking that fictional utopias can exist independent of the undeniable constraints of reality . Their fundamental flaw is that they rely on the assumptions of psychological behaviorism and the belief that they could perfectly condition the behavior of residents according to the goals of the community. For Christof's plan to work, Truman must ignore that he is living in a simulation, and be content with the simulated life presented to him. As much as possible, Christof and his team attempt to control every element of Truman's life. A massive dome sits above Truman's hometown of Seahaven, complete with weather monitoring devices, an artificial sun, moon and sky, and cameras capturing nearly every angle of the city above. Everyone from his friends to his wife has been carefully selected and put in the middle of paper......there is no reason to continue to conform to the artificial motivations of the Truman Show, and the town loses its utopian status. Works Cited Graham, G., "Behaviorism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Edward N. Zalta (ed.), “http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/behaviorism/”. Watson, J., 1913. “Psychology as the Behaviorist Sees It,” Psychological Review, 20: 158-77.1930. Behaviorism, Norton: New York. Tolman, EC and Honzik, CH "Insight" in Rats, University of California Publications in Psychology, 1930. The Truman Show. Real. Peter Weir. Perf. Jim Carrey. Paramount Pictures/Scott Rudin Productions, 1998. DVD. “A Scientific Odyssey: People and Discoveries: Ivan Pavlov. » PBS: Public broadcasting service. PBS. Internet. November 28, 2011. .Skinner, BF Walden Two. New York: Macmillan, 1976. Print.