The Walls of Conditioned Thought

Posted on February 8, 2008
Filed Under Awareness, Fake Culture |

I was talking with a work colleague just a few days ago; he was mentioning what - as employees - we are allowed to do and not allowed to do. In all suddenness I was transported back to many a similar conversation from my school days. I have to readily admit that I am often awed by the shear amount of conditioning which sticks with us from that young age of ‘educated’ indoctrination.

As an employee there are things that we cannot do, not because they are impractical, dangerous or unethical - but because of that ever present unquestioned law; ‘We are not allowed’.

Naturally the relationship between manager and staff (especially in large organizations) mirrors the authoritative nature of the child / teacher relationship. And of course, mixed in with this are many repercussions from years of negative reinforcement from our parents; ‘Don’t do this, don’t do that’, ‘This is wrong’, ‘That is bad’, and so on.

This creates an automatic inclination for many of us to view things within the world in terms of what is ‘wrong’ with it, rather than what is ‘right’ with it. We can’t help it because it is so deeply ingrained into us. The difficulty comes when children of our own arrive…how do we avoid passing on such conditioning?

It seems to me that the more structure and rules we place around our children the more we hamper their development. Perhaps it seems an alien notion to simply provide for them a safe and happy environment, along with gentle guidance where they can then develop free from too many imposed negative self-images.

After all what is set in those early years stays with us. One of the most telling examples of our conditioning then, is our attitude towards those who - without causing harm to others - refuse to ‘obey the rules’. It is with such a simple attitude that we surround ourselves with invisible walls, which dictate to us what is and isn’t possible. Surely then, it is one of the clear tasks set before us to learn that these walls exist only within our minds.