CDLXXXIV - Skinner's Pigeon

There are people out there who constantly check their mobile phone

for messages from that someone special.  Not you?  Nah, me neither.

Be that as it may...

B.F. Skinner, patron saint of poker machine addiction,

studied it all many years ago, using pigeons.

The form is a villanelle; it’s repetitive structure ideal for the topic.

Skinner’s Pigeon

We are conditioned to persist,

For reasons Skinner could explain,

To check for text we may have missed.

Like pigeons fed a random grist

To push a lever for some grain,

We are conditioned to persist,

Freewill is there, some will insist,

But we’re driven by an inner vein 

To check for text we may have missed.

It doesn’t matter how we twist,

The facts are clear and still remain:

We are conditioned to persist,

Always chasing what may not exist,

The need is there within our brain

To check for text we may have missed.

Enamoured, like a lover kissed,

Checking the screen again and again:

We are conditioned to persist,

To check for text we may have missed.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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