Thank you for your interest in this community.
Los Horcones is a Walden Two community. It was founded in 1973 with the objective of seeking an alternative lifestyle based on cooperation, sharing, non-violence, equality and ecological sustainability. Its defining characteristic is the application of the science of behavior in cultural design, analysis and change.
In order to really understand Los Horcones community (which
is a very small culture) the information in this web site is not enough.
one way to understand it better is by visiting or living here for a period
of time,. By participating in its everydaylife, will give you an idea of
its cultural practices (our form of government, family, education, economy,
etc).
"Horcones" is the spanish word for wood pillars made from bifurcated tree trunks. In the community we use "horcones" as pillars in our buildings' corridors. In the picture to the right you can see the "horcones" of the dinning room front corridor.
How did Los Horcones community started?
In October of 1973, a group of 7 people (some of us behavioral psychologists) interested in the prevention and solution of personal and social problems, founded the Los Horcones community in the suburbs of Hermosillo,Sonora in northwestern Mexico. See Location.See History of Los Horcones.
Our objective was and still is to design and develop here and now, an alternative society or culture based on the principles of cooperation,equality, pacifism (non-violence), sharing and ecological respect (ecological sustainability).
In short, Los Horcones' goal is to build a humanistic communitarian society*, where every one can develop our own potentialities as unique individuals and help others to do it.
* We define a communitarian humanistic society as one where members work in cooperation toward the same objectives or ideals (communal goals). One where members share property (reducing in this way economic differences between members). A society where members participate in decisions making and do not delegate their responsibilities to others. One where members care for each other and get along well with each other. Where members solve personal conflicts and community problems in pacifist (non-violent ways).
In order to achieve Los Horcones' objectives, we apply all the sciences in general and particularly the science of behavior also known as Behavior Analysis, behavioral psychology,behaviorism, behavioristic psychology, operant psychology or Behaviorology.
We consider that an appropriate* application of science can enormously contribute to the achievement of a humanistic communitarian society and that the most needed science in this endeavor is the science of behavior, this is, psychology as a natural science. If we do not change our behavior, personal and social problems will continue. Personal and social problems are mainly behavioral problems. This is why in Los Horcones we emphasize the use of a science of behavior to achieve our objectives.
A better society requires a change in the behavior of its members.
*Please note that we are saying: "appropriate application of science".According to our point of view, Western Culture is not applying sciences in general to the benefit of human beings. This is why we have such personal and social problems. We believe that only a better knowledge about our own behavior can help us use science to benefit of people and our environment.
It is important to point out that we are not applying the science of behavior ("behaviorism") as it is misunderstood by people in general, especially by non-behavioral psychologists. The science of behavior is not mechanistic (does not consider human beings as machines or computers),reductionistic (does not reduce the complexity of human behavior to reflexes,or to a stimulus-response psychology ), inhumane (does not consider human beings as objects to control or manipulation). See Misunderstandings about Behavior Analysis and Radical Behaviorism.
How is a society organized applying psychology as a natural science of behavior? What can psychology, specifically behavioral psychology, offers to the design of a better society? These are two of the main questions Los Horcones wants to answer.
Apply psychology to build a better society, not to adapt people to the existent society. Use a science of behavior to change the practices of the present society, not to maintain the practices of a society that produces the current social problems. |
Note. Please do not think that Los Horcones is a group of people who are interested only in psychology.
If you want to live in a different way (in a more cooperative way),
Los Horcones offers you an alternative.
At Los Horcones we live cooperatively, we are all learning to seek the common good, sharing goods, rights and responsibilities in a tranquil atmosphere instead of living competitively, seeking individualistic goals, appropriating objects and establishing differences that lead to aggressive behaviors.
We believe that we can contribute to the solution of social problems by offering a serious alternative lifestyle here and now. Also by obtaining scientific data (objective evidence) about how a communitarian society can be achieved.
You can come to visit us and if you identify with us, make the decision of collaborating with this project by joining.See Admission.
A behavioristic view of human behavior
Since we founded Los Horcones, we have had a behavioristic view of human behavior. This behavioristic view means that we consider as "human behavior" not only motor actions, but also feelings and thinking (affective and cognitive behaviors). Thus, for behaviorism everything we do, including thinking and feeling, are behaviors.
A behavioristic view of human behavior states that we learn to behave as we do by interacting with our environment (social and non-social).See: Radical Behaviorism. To behaviorism, human beings are not slaves of their circumstances; they can change them. In fact the history of human civilization is a sample of this. Unfortunately not always for their own good or for the good of the environment.
Note. Radical behaviorism does not see human beings as black boxes, without feelings and thoughts.
"How people feel is often as important as what they do."
B. F. Skinner, 1989, p.3
When we know how our environment influence us,we are more capable of modifying our environment so it affects us the way we want. A scientific knowledge about human behavior allows us to have a better world.
"...a world in which people live together without quarreling, maintain themselves by producing the food, shelter,and clothing they need, enjoy themselves and contribute to the enjoyment of others in art, music, literature, and games, consume only a reasonable part of the resources of the world and contribute as little as possible to its pollution, bear no more children than can be raised decently, continues to explore the world around them and discover better ways of dealing with it, and come to know themselves accurately and, therefore, manage themselves effectively."
B. F. Skinner, 1971, p 214.
Solving and Preventing Social Problems
Los Horcones was founded mainly to study how to prevent and solve social problems.
If we want to solve and prevent social problems, we need to change our behavior because social problems are human behavior (actions)and products of human behavior.
If we want to change our behavior, we need to change our social (cultural) environment. This implies changing cultural practices(the way we organize society and its institutions, e.g. family, education,government, etc.). For example, if we want to reduce social problems related to aggression, we need to change competitive and aggressive social practices by cooperative and non-violent practices.
Unfortunately, aggressive behavior is continuously promoted and reinforced in modern society.
People believe that aggression initates inside (in the mind) but aggressive behavior is learned when interacting with our environment.
We behave as we do because the culture where we are born and raised teach us to behave as we do. We have learned certain behaviors(values) and not others.
We are convinced that there is a definite relationship between cultural practices (supramacrocontingencies) and social problems. See Glossary. For example, competitive practices produce problems such as: poverty, war, crime, environmental pollution,work dissatisfaction, discrimination, alcoholism, drug abuse, neglect and abuse of people and animals, etc.
It is clear that a competitive lifestyle makes violence,appropriation and discrimination more likely. Imagine, if you will, a society where everyone cooperates for the common good, for sure aggressiveness,appropriation and inequality will be infrequent. So human beings are not aggressive from birth. We learn it in our interaction with the culture in which we live.
What do you think, are we born being competitive and aggressive or do we learn it?
An Experimental Culture
More than fifty years of research in human behavior by hundreds of behavior analysts and twenty five years of studying human behavior in Los Horcones (a cultural setting) has proved our assumption that in order to solve social problems, it is necessary to change our lifestyle, our way of living (cultural practices).
In Los Horcones as an experimental culture we can clearly observe the relationship between our behavior and the cultural practices.Our social problems are solved by changing cultural practices, not by asking and hoping people will change. For example: If we want better families,we need to create the social conditions so better families can exist. Some of these conditions could imply changes in our labor practices which allow parents to spend more time with their children, create many educational opportunities for them so they can learn parenting skills -give them the time to attend to these courses-, creating media which promote family activities and design recreational activities thinking of families, etc. The point here is to change the environment in order to make good parenting possible.
Social and Personal Change
A social change towards a communitarian society implies a personal change in each and every one of us. We need to replace our competitive and individualistic (egotistic) behaviors by cooperative, altruistic, sharing,egalitarian and peaceful behaviors.
To achieve a genuine personal change, we must modify the socio-cultural environment in which we live (cultural contingencies). We need a society that provides the necessary conditions that will support us when we cooperate with others or treat them altruistically. During its 25 years of existence, the Los Horcones community has tried to provide a model of society where cooperation has been consistently reinforced and competition extinguished. See the definition of extinction and reinforcement in Glossary.
In Los Horcones we have designed and lived in a society where people can cooperate in the production of goods and services instead of competing. One where people seek a common good instead of an individual-egotistic good.
Los Horcones is not a ideal society.
Please do not conclude we are saying that Los Horcones is an ideal society; that all the members have all learned to become communitarian.What we are saying is that we want to become a better society for all people.Please help us.
Obviously, in order to build a better society, not only the science of behavior is important. It is not possible to have a good garden, raise animals,build houses and cure illness only with a science of behavior. We emphasize the use of a science of behavior because we truly believe that other problems are easier to solve compared to human behavior problems. Human behavior is the most important aspect of a community.
We invite those who want to make a communitarian and ecological society a reality,to come and live with us. We want to grow here and in other parts of the world as well.
We invite you not only to read and write about an ideal society but to make it here and now.
Let us dare to go from words to actions, let us participate personally in the construction of a communitarian and ecological culture.
| If you mention what you read on this page, please cite Los Horcones. In this way you help us to disseminate information about this Walden Two community. |
| If you want to have up-to-date information about Walden Two you can become a member of the Walden Two International Association.You will receive the electronic newsletter "Walhdos". See Walden Two International Association. |
Donations are welcome
Last up-date: February 2003
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