We all go through at least 12 years of schooling and this, for sure, heavily influences how we think. Also it is well known that we imbibe the local cultures, thoughts and beliefs so that by the time we are about twenty we are rigid in our ideas about say marriage, politics, religion, etc.Or worse many people get indoctrinated by belief systems being spread by vested interests. Terrorists are brainwashed into holding strong beliefs. Even politicians push their beliefs and common people get steeped into them. Whether it is slogans like "You are with us or against us" which Bush effectively used to quell opposition and drum up support for his Iraq plan or well thought out doctrines like terrorism, the idea is to get mass following without questioning the idea itself.
Most of us like to believe that we cannot be programmed. We like to believe that our thoughts are our own and that we have not been influenced by anyone into thinking them. But it is well known that people are vulnerable to being programmed. In Britain for instance the fight against terrorism involves protecting young muslims from predatory Al-Queda operatives who will catch the innocent youngsters and indoctrinate them with their bad ideas and program them into becoming terrorists.
But such programming is not limited to terrorist organizations. In everyday life most of us get programmed by media. Media is known to influence public thought. Evidence of this lies in people choosing highly advertised brands over less advertised ones. Simply put advertising programmes our likes and dislikes.
But being programmable has its advantages. A lot of todays advances can be attributed to the schooling structure that has been in place in the recent decades. This allows scientific temperament to be inculcated at a young age allowing kids to make contributions to science and technology later in life. In earlier centuries human thought was not focussed and perhaps that didnt allow technological advances to be made?
i think most of us are already programmed by our dna, and other things are programmed into us by our society and surrounding environmnet.
ReplyDeleteSuch a good though post. We are programmed to be social mammals and various rules since our birth. But re-programming would be interesting. :D)
ReplyDeleteMay be like Matrix movie series, we could be receiving certain program directly in our head when we require it. Like operating a plane, driving a car, playing music instruments or react like marshal art expert. :D)
Cool.
or maybe like robocop
ReplyDeletethis time only a chip with radio-signal to track someone
Interesting information. At last we're not in our real self :(
ReplyDeleteCool blog.
:-)
health tips
This is scary. Programming as oppossed to its slightly lesser form - brainwashing would be a success only if the person who is to be programmed has no access to anything else apart from the knowledge which is to be programmed in him/her. Else, I suppose this person who is exposed to diverse views would soon learn to express his/her own view. Thank God we are exposed to so many things.
ReplyDeleteOk, the para below is not my own "gyaan".
"In psychology, the study of brainwashing, often referred to as thought reform, falls into the sphere of "social influence." Social influence happens every minute of every day. It's the collection of ways in which people can change other people's attitudes, beliefs and behaviors. For instance, the compliance method aims to produce a change in a person's behavior and is not concerned with his attitudes or beliefs. It's the "Just do it" approach. Persuasion, on the other hand, aims for a change in attitude, or "Do it because it'll make you feel good/happy/healthy/successful." The education method (which is called the "propaganda method" when you don't believe in what's being taught) goes for the social-influence gold, trying to affect a change in the person's beliefs, along the lines of "Do it because you know it's the right thing to do." Brainwashing is a severe form of social influence that combines all of these approaches to cause changes in someone's way of thinking without that person's consent and often against his will."
If you want to read more, go to http://health.howstuffworks.com/brainwashing.htm
I think therefore I am: Rene Descartes
A well written article. Education is actually defined as a permanent change in behavior because of knowledge gained. thanks for the very informative post. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteThought-provoking post! Yes, I agree, we are programmed in various ways. Some programming is done for our benefit, like that by our parents or teachers.
ReplyDeleteA person resisting such programming would be viewed as a 'rebel', I suppose.
We are who we are today due to indirect programming. We are definitely influenced by others and their ideas, as well as their ideals. Most would like to credit themselves as to who they are but that is untrue. Since all of us have been programmed by our societies, we need to continually do a self evaluation as to whether we are a positive or negative influence to others. This is of the utmost importance in my life. I do appreciate this post because it makes us think about ourselves and what we are doing with our brief existence. Hopefully it is for the betterment of the world!
ReplyDeleteFriends 4 Life!
Progamming the human mind has more to do with influence and environment.. dont know how electronics could possible help..
ReplyDeleteHaiku Poems
But what about computer like programming of humans.... we all go through 12 years of schooling for this...
ReplyDeletelol.
So true, so true.
I question whether schools should dictate the importance of subject matter (such as your example science/technology) because it is always at the expense of other subjects. Being an Art Teacher reading this, of course I am biased. :-)
Indeed it is true that science and technology have benefited from great advancements because of the importance schools place on them... however in my opinion we are seeing what Albert Einstein said as:
"Man's technology far exceeds it's humanity."
This is where I get a little steamed. We need more advancements and funding for the Arts to provide the doses of humanity, spirituality and morality that mankind needs to use technology and science responsibly.
Hello L. Venkata,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the visit. Will subscribe to your feed and will visit often. I will also include you to my blog roll of favorite writing sites. Since education is also one of my interests. Keep writing.
thanks for the visit to my blog,
ReplyDeleteregards.
i think no matter your dna is the surrounded environment can reprogramming you to a completely another person
ReplyDeletealso shocks which happened to us can change your life course to another direction
what i know is life so hard some people can fight and hold up their personality and some just swim with the waves
Tips Tricks
We are programmed socialy from birth - electronic reprogramming - hang on to your seats if the government gets involved in programming society to do what it wants.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with you if you said Jihad is the same as terrorism. Because in Islam, Jihad is relates to the use of physical force in defense of Muslims against oppression and transgression by the enemies of Allah, Islam and Muslims. Allah commands that Muslims lead peaceful lives and not transgress against anyone. If they are persecuted and oppressed, the Qur'an recommends that they migrate to a more peaceful and tolerant land. If relocation is not possible, then Allah also requires Muslims to defend themselves against oppression by "fighting against those who fight against us." The Qur'an states: "To those against whom war is made, permission is given [to defend themselves], because they are wronged - and verily, Allah is Most Powerful to give them victory." (22:39)
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Tripzibit
@tripzibit
ReplyDeleteI have removed the reference to Jihad. Sometimes we just use a term based on its popular meaning rather than the actual meaning. Thanks for letting me know.
Really interesting blog post. Thanks. Keep up the great work.
ReplyDeleteVery good topic.
ReplyDeleteEverytime I watch sci-fi movies about artificial intelligence, I always feel nervous.
I always wonder if we can control it well, Only for good things.
Hello L.V.
ReplyDeleteThe book I'm going to publish soon needs 4 more entries, and I would be honored to have you as contributor. Contributors come from US, Ireland ,UK and Philippines, but none still from India. I give 5,000 EC credits to contributors and one free copy of the book upon publication (August).
I hope you'll accept mo offer. Feel free to browse in my blog for the criteria. Thanks.
Hello, LV/VL, lol..i sometimes interchange them. Here is the link.
ReplyDeletehttp://jenaisle-candidthoughts.blogspot.com/2008/07/by-freewine-books-are-treasure-troves.html
I can't find your EC widget. Kindly sen me a message thru my Gewgaw Writings Dashboard at AC, so I can send you my email where you can send your article, thanks.
ReplyDeleteThought-provoking post. We are not immune to programming, are we? Often it is subliminal but it also comes from all the influences you mentioned. Maybe we need to be aware of that and stay grounded in the beliefs we know are solid.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely something to think about! Everyone is influenced by programming, but it's not necessarily a negative thing.
ReplyDeleteYour brain can rewire itself by doing something different for a few weeks. Psych drugs help rewire your brain as well. So yes, I think people can be programmable. Maybe not by a computer programmer (yet!)
ReplyDeleteBeing programmable has only the advantage on the side of the programmer. In the very fisrt place, programming a mind would have its motives and what are those? A human programmed is at the disadvantage. What choices is left more to him or her?
ReplyDeleteYou remind me of the series ALIAS. She was kind of programmed.
As you have said, we are already programmed. But are we programmed correctly? Who knows? There is really no correct or wrong act...the correctness or wrongness only matters to those who want to judge.. we have all our respective opinions and we think we are correct and that is why we always disagree because we always have different programmes, we grew and raise differently.
ReplyDeletehuman beings cannot be programmable "in stone". we are constantly changing -- the society is a testimony to it - though these might not be visible right away, it does at least that is what one infers from history , don't you think ?
ReplyDeletehey Venkie... where is the nuuu one?
ReplyDeleteOh can you please program out IT people at work? They seem to know less than me and I am not that techie! LOL
ReplyDeleteBtw, thanks for the ec ad. I have accepted it now and it should be running in a few days.
I see what you are saying about us being 'programmable'. However, I tend to think of us as less programmable and more just influential. A program carries out specific instructions exactly. We cannot be made to do that. However, we can be influenced to do something (heavily influenced in some cases) which would be CLOSE to programming.
ReplyDeleteinteresting blog btw.
if people can be programmed, I can't imagine what will be the word look like..may be we would be like robots waiting for instructions from those influential person..
ReplyDeleteThings like these are not hard to believe anymore... It can happen anytime from now, or worse we do not know if it is already happening... Nice posts!!!
ReplyDeleteThere is already technology where they hook your brain to a computer. They have used it on a man that can not use his arms and hands. It allows him to control his computer by his thoughts. Their is also technology where they hook into animals and insects brains. They are testing it for going into dangerous situations. They can stimulate the side of the brain that they want the animal or insect to go.
ReplyDeleteI stumbled onto your blog and read a few post. I like your method of writing.
ReplyDelete