Ineffective Quotes

“Severe punishment unquestionably has an immediate effect in reducing a tendency to act in a given way. This result is no doubt responsible for its widespread use. We 'instinctively' attack anyone whose behavior displeases us - perhaps not in physical assault, but with criticism, disapproval, blame, or ridicule. Whether or not there is an inherited tendency to do this, the immediate effect of the practice is reinforcing enough to explain its currency. In the long run, however, punishment does not actually eliminate behavior from a repertoire, and its temporary achievement is obtained at tremendous cost in reducing the over-all efficiency and happiness of the group. (p. 190)”
― B.F. Skinner, Science and Human Behavior

“Prayer doesn’t work. Perhaps it makes the believer feel better (in the same way that meditation or deep thought would), but prayer doesn’t actually affect the external world. Not only is it ineffective, but it is also a very narcissistic practice… why would a 'God' change its 'Divine Plan' to accommodate any person’s wishes?”
― David G. McAfee

“Our analyses of the FDA data showed relatively little difference between the effects of antidepressants and the effects of placebos. Indeed, the effects were so small that they did not qualify as clinically significant. The drug companies knew how small the effect of their medications were compared to placebos, and so did the FDA and other regulatory agencies. The companies found various ways to make the data seem more favorable to their products, and the FDA helped them keep their negative data secret. In fact, in some instances, the FDA urged the companies to keep negative data hidden, even when the companies wanted to reveal them. My colleagues and I hadn't really discovered anything new. We had merely revealed their 'dirty little secret'.”
― Irving Kirsch, The Emperor's New Drugs: Exploding the Antidepressant Myth

“The situation was much as if some profit-making organizations had grafted themselves upon the public-school system.”
― George R. Stewart, U. S. 40: Cross Section of the United States of America

“Quite ironically, the answer to ineffective philanthropy is more of it: the failure of philanthropy is its own success. The perceived necessity — even the indispensability — of a donor like the Gates Foundation grows in proportion to its own inability to achieve the unachievable: mitigating the very inequalities that its own presence might be inadvertently compounding.”
― Linsey McGoey, No Such Thing as a Free Gift: The Gates Foundation and the Price of Philanthropy

“The contest of world's tallest skyscraper is a childish thing.
Whereas with similar budget, they could construct flying building.”
― Toba Beta, Master of Stupidity

“If you have to spend your time motivating people, you're not a leader, you're an ineffective manager.”
― Richie Norton

“The knowledge without vision is worthless; vision without knowledge is an ineffective concept that goes nowhere.”
― Ehsan Sehgal

“The solution to the problem probably has nothing to do with ninety percent of all the things that we’re doing to solve the problem.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“Complexity in martial arts is the key to ineffectiveness.”
― Tamerlan Kuzgov

“Complexity in martial arts: key to ineffectiveness.”
― Tamerlan Kuzgov