{"id":3226,"date":"2008-07-23T06:34:11","date_gmt":"2008-07-23T06:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.soulhuntre.com\/?p=3226"},"modified":"2008-07-23T06:34:11","modified_gmt":"2008-07-23T06:34:11","slug":"the-shaping-of-human-tools-part-4-punishment-and-reward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/legacyiamsenseiken.local\/2008\/07\/23\/the-shaping-of-human-tools-part-4-punishment-and-reward\/","title":{"rendered":"The Shaping of Human Tools: Part 4: Punishment and Reward"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to part 4 of this series. If you are looking for a way back to the beginning you can go to the <\/em>Introduction<\/a> which has a table of contents or just to the the <\/em>previous section<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Punishment is simply the negative consequence of a response. In that sense it does not necessarily have a purpose or goal; however the most common use of punishment in BDSM is as a component of the training or disciplining of the submissive.<\/p>\n

The purpose training is to alter the responses of the submissive so that they more closely match the desires of the dominant. The range of areas where such responses might be controlled is limited only by the scope of the relationship itself. It can include everything from the smallest physical act to the overall philosophical view the submissive applies to moral decisions.<\/p>\n

The applicability of punishment in training, and the type of punishment you use will depend largely on whether the change falls into the broad categories of conditioning or discipline.<\/p>\n

It is my experience that in cases non-physical responses it is useful for the punishment to emphasize the mental\/emotional\/moral aspects of the transgression. In this circumstance the punishment should also be accompanied by an expression of disapproval or reprimand. A physical component to this punishment may well be useful to bring home the reprimand or to focus the submissive on the issue at hand but the physical alone will rarely bring about the change you desire.<\/p>\n

The flip side of the coin would be a failure on the part of the submissive to exhibit the desired conditioned response. As conditioned responses generally bypass the conscious mind and are rarely affected by things like motivation, dedication or discipline it is not often useful to emphasize reprimand or judgment in association with this type of failure.<\/p>\n

In short, when you need to talk to the mind you need more than the physical. When you need to talk to the body the physical is often the most direct method.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reward is the opposite of punishment and may be used in conjunction with it. A reward is a positive consequence that is earned by the submissive when the proper response is manifested. Reward is often particularly effective at the bonding of responses to stimulus when there was no previous connection at all to that stimulus.<\/p>\n

We see the use of reward most clearly in the training of animals. Since it is impossible to explain the responses you want, punishment doesn\u2019t always make sense \u2013 especially since most dog training is in the realm of discipline, not conditioning. The mechanism then is to invoke a series of responses and reward the one we desire when it happens.<\/p>\n

If you want to teach a dog to give you it\u2019s paw on command how do you do it? You say \u201cpaw\u201d and then reward when (and if) the dog hands the paw to you. It would be impossible to train them by saying \u201cpaw\u201d and then punishing them when they do anything other than hand you their paw. All that would happen is the association of the word \u201cpaw\u201d with punishment. Bad idea. The thing is, it isn\u2019t possible to explain what you want to a dog. Thus, the odds of incorrect responses is very high. With humans it is different. You can explain, so it does become practical to punish a human for non compliance with an order.<\/p>\n

Combinations of reward and punishment are even better.<\/p>\n

An example of punishment:<\/em> As a martial arts instructor one of the things I must teach is the proper method of positioning ones body to be able to defend against an incoming blow. Of this, one of the hardest things to instill in adults and children alike is that they must keep their hands up to be effective with our style. If they drop their hands then they will be vulnerable and they will be hit in the face.<\/p>\n