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?
