The brain is an amazing thing. Unfortunately, how well it functions and the behaviour it elicits is entirely dependent on what information is fed into it. Rubbish in – rubbish out!
Even in the womb, the growing but receptive brain is beginning to process information. Inside the skull of a new born, new sounds, physical sensations, visual stimuli, etc begin to flood into the brain like a tidal wave. Gradually it learns to make sense of these things, to relate them to each other, to categorize them.
At first the processing is fairly elementary. A wet nappy might occasion an unpleasant feeling and the brain may learn to send a message to the body to start crying so that the nappy will be changed. Later, the brain learns to deal with more complex issues like recognizing from facial expressions when it is doing something that a parent approves of and when it’s not.
The first ten years of information and experience that the brain is fed with will, in large part, determine the destiny of the child.
For example, if the unsuspecting child is indoctrinated from the very beginning with religious dogma then its brain will be conditioned to see things in a certain way, to think that there is a Creator of some sort, to think there is life after death, to think that it is special because it is a member of some religious group, to think if it prays it is talking to God. This indoctrination can come from both parents and from religious institutions ( Church, Mosque, Tabernacle, Sunday School, etc).
At an early age, a child has neither the maturity or the scientific knowledge to properly evaluate this kind of information. If a child is then sent to a religious school, it will get further heavy indoctrination. The result is that the child will see everything through a theological prism, one which distorts reality.
Of course the same thing applies to things like nationalism or any number of ‘isms’. A child can be indoctrinated with the idea that it belongs to a superior nation, that it deserves a greater share of the world’s resources than all others, that it is a member of a more intelligent race than all others. Males can be indoctrinated to think they are superior to females and visa versa. We can be indoctrinated to think that winning is all that counts, that satisfying self is the only game in town, that amassing a fortune is admirable, that any kind of sex is acceptable, that the ends always justify the means, that a particular political ideology or economic system is superior, that war is the only way to solve problems, etc.
Of course, the type of indoctrination we receive relates directly to the behaviour and attitudes of individuals, groups and nations. As I said: rubbish in – rubbish out.
The conflicted, dog-eat-dog state of our world suggests that our brains are being filled with massive amounts of rubbish by those who profit from manipulating us.
It’s time this criminality was stopped! It’s time we drastically changed the learning paradigm and allowed intelligence to prevail over indoctrination.
I totally agree with this article. I wish our educational system made it mandatory for critical thinking be taught in schools, from elementary all the way up. Just like english, math, etc.. Critical thinking must be a requirement in order to move up to the next grade level.
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In this world, Mike, the last thing that those who control us want is a population that thinks! Cheers.
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Critical thinking here in the US started to disappear in the 70s! ; (
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!!!Great article!!!
Compare the title of this article with
GIGO: “Garbage In Garbage Out”.
OR
Newton’s Law of Motion for the physical universe: “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”.
OR
Law of Cause and Effect.
OR
Law of Karma (on the fly): “if we give happiness, we will receive happiness in return & if we give sorrow, we will receive sorrow in return”.
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No matter, how you look at it, you believe it or not, human or inhuman, that’s the real truth.
Check more (for creation of earth from different points of beliefs) at http://www.creator-creation.com/
In short, We as a humankind, can not call ourselves HUMAN no more. Reason is we became more animal than human because of our greed, arrogance, abuse and self-centered way of living-thinking-praying.
Again, if we compare the humankind with animals, humankind is way more animal than the worst animals.
BUT, on the good side, we still have some real wonderful God-sent humans living with us. We all can learn and follow them to become human again.
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Ah, Sunil, where are these God-sent humans? Then where is this God you speak of? Where is the evidence that this being exists?
There are many questions but few evidence-based answers.
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The physical construction of memory in the brain contains too many seven syllable words for a post , but an understanding of the process is a wonderful insight into the human condition . Memory becomes hardwired and forms patterns of behaviour , the brain is unable to distinguish the present from memory , hence a memory of a bitter green drink will make all green drinks bitter , mindfulness , where we pause to consider rather than react , is the counter. Pause ,not to pre judge ,and it may not be bitter , but it will then take continual occurrences to change the memory association , to physically break the connections and create a new association.
Emotion is physical ,chemical sequences occur in an emotional reaction (simplified) which has a cellular consequence , frequency will force the cell to adapt to handle the level of chemicals , this adaptation is reinforced by cell division.(very simplified).
We need awareness of this hardwiring to break habits of mood and thought.
A concept is lurking at the edge of my awareness that logic and reason is the trap as they build memory holograms, and in the process deny experience.
Animals learn from experience and are determined to survive , with a much simpler establishment of behavior patterns , positive survival outcome behaviour O.K , negative outcome lets not do that again. Humans get lost in equivocation.
As for God how could a human with his limited sensory apparatus , in turn limited by retained pattern perception be aware of an entity capable of creating a universe. Two good examples , when Captain Cook sailed into view the natives would have been unable to see the ships until someone had noticed them in the abstract sat down and nutted out what the hell they were and told everyone else , to corroborate close to home look at early sketches of Australian native animals , shapes not quite right , crude representations , a kangaroo have a european analogue ?
Sunil I wouldn’t put animals down those are definitely very human only traits , and that is the challenge , greed , arrogance , abuse are only patterns of behaviour , nothing that can not change.
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