Columnist Dan Abernathy.

Courtesy photo

As I said, I keep a tight grasp on my sanity with a delusional succession of thoughts and emotions passing through my mind. A hallucination of a world where truth shapes people’s bureaucracy, concerns and beliefs rather than bureaucracy, concerns and beliefs shaping what people think is truth.”

Dan Abernathy

As the world is being sucked into the derangement of the mind, I keep a tight grasp on my sanity, or at least the way I perceive my mind’s soundness, with freethinking thought. I have to believe that somewhere, in a place caught in a violent spinning vortex of when, then and now, there is an emotional outburst of spoken thought. This is a product of mental activity that is causing people to question the rules and procedures that are being fed to the confused minds of those that fear complete freedom as a choice.

I also believe that being considered mentally deranged by those who are victims of cultural conditioning is a compliment. I don’t think it is crazy; it’s being an anti-conformist and awake in an insane society. For this exact reason though, most people will call you an uncontrollable lunatic.

Cultural conditioning now is a process through which we absorb and interpret the influences and messaging from our environment and translating them as the trickery of forced compliance is injected into what we believe to be acceptable behavior and belief. 

Every single one of us has experienced cultural conditioning. It doesn’t matter where you’re from and it starts the moment you’re born. As we begin our paths in life, we are influenced and conditioned by regional cultures, organizational cultures, peer groups, spiritual and religious institutions, and the ultimate cultural conditioner, the media. The media defines our culture condition and acts as an amplifier.

Cultural conditioning can show up at any time and affect all areas of our life. It is arguably a necessary human adaptation that helps us become functioning members of society. In today’s world however, people need to build awareness and avoid it as if it were another pandemic.

We’re all socially disconnected as we become connected and are constantly bombarded with cues from online sources that can conflict with the signals that we receive in real life. We must learn to challenge our cultural beliefs before the free mind is at risk of extinction.

In the first stage of the cultural conditioning, individuals observe and receive instructions from their environment. During this stage individuals learn through observation and imitation, absorbing the beliefs, values and behaviors of their cultural surroundings.

In the second stage, individuals imitate the behaviors and attitudes of those around them. Through imitation, individuals internalize the cultural norms and expectations, adopting them as their own.

The third stage involves the reinforcement of cultural conditioning through rewards and punishments. Individuals receive positive reinforcement when they conform and comply with cultural norms and expectations. When deviating from what has been deemed normal, the rebellious action will result in negative consequences, punishment and exile.

In the fourth stage, cultural conditioning becomes internalized and deeply ingrained in an individual’s beliefs and values. The external cultural influences are integrated into their identity. At this stage, individuals stop questioning or critically examining, as the conditioning has become an integral part of their sense of self.

In the final stage, cultural conditioning manifests spontaneously in an individual’s thoughts, emotions and actions. It becomes an unconscious process, shaping their everyday experiences and interactions. At this stage, cultural conditioning operates on a subconscious level without the individual’s awareness.

Cultural conditioning seemingly runs parallel to a military strategy. Making a group of people disagree and fight with one another so they will not join together against one. Divide and conquer. It’s believed that the Babylonians, an ancient civilization with far-reaching influence, were the early pioneers of this concept. It was Julius Caesar, however, that was given the credit for successfully applying it during the Gallic Wars of 58 BC, 20 plus centuries ago. Now in the 21^st Century, the Divide and Conquer concept has once again been applied to turn us against each other and distract us from turning against them.

We think that cultural conditioning and society is something totally separate from us, but one of the fundamental truths is that you are responsible for society. Society is shaping you, and you are shaping the society in which you live.

Can we, as human beings, radically transform our psychological state? Which means to be aware, to observe, to listen and to learn, not from another, but observing your own relationship with another. This is the mirror in which we can see ourselves if we are willing to look. By looking at this, objectively, carefully and without any distortion, we see that we have an insight into the whole movement and content of the mind.

To observe is to observe without direction, without projecting your reactions and prejudices. To truly observe demands that you are free from all the trivialities, so you can look clearly. When you look so carefully that the very insight dissolves all insignificances. In freedom, which is being so misused now, is to observe, to understand the whole nature and structure of the human mind.

Think about the strangeness of today’s situation. Nobody truly debates these issues that are controlling the people that we are. We all are silently accepting cultural conditioning, which includes global capitalism that is here to stay.

We have been diverted and have become obsessed with catastrophes and the whole life on earth disintegrating because of some virus. The paradox is that it’s much easier to imagine the end of all life on earth, than a much more modest radical change in individuals, corporations and state owned means of wealth.

As I said, I keep a tight grasp on my sanity with a delusional succession of thoughts and emotions passing through my mind. A hallucination of a world where truth shapes people’s bureaucracy, concerns and beliefs rather than bureaucracy, concerns and beliefs shaping what people think is truth.

I will continue to assume that in the fullness of time, at least once, one of the many mouse-like rodents having a short tail, has used a leaf for an umbrella. This is enough obscure mental activity to reestablish my wonder and concern. - dbA

You can find more of the unfiltered insight and the Art of Dan Abernathy at www.contributechaos.com.