The institutions that make civilization possible, as well as the scientific method are further steps along the pathway that the infant sets out to explore. Those consequences shape all of the behavior that increases our control of the environment. Control is the behavioral obverse of the coin of reinforcement. By controlling nature, one maximizes reinforcement and minimizes pain. Whoever fails to achieve such control does not survive.
Life is like being carried down a swiftly flowing stream.
One either keeps one's head above the water or drowns. A natural response is to grab hold of anything that offers a chance to stay afloat. That response is the prototype of what we do in any similar situation. The greater the change or threat of change, the greater is the danger, and the greater the reinforcement for having controlled it. A steelworker standing on a tall building in a high wind exemplifies what happens under extreme stress.