Deprogramming Ourselves

In today's blog I want to ruminate further around discovering what we believe and why we believe all of it.  As I have written, all of us have been Programmed and Indoctrinated to believe what we believe.  Recently, the phrase, "Thinking outside the box" has been inserted into the social commons.  I have written that the reason this is so hard for people to do is that practically everyone, "thinks" with their Beliefs. 

According to Wikipedia, "deprogramming" is an attempt to force a person to abandon allegiance to a religious, political, economic, or social group.  This practice began back in the '70's with the advent of young people abandoning their family origins to join a group called the, "Moonies."  This group, going under the name of an organization called the "Unification Church" was founded by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, (for those who don't remember) and has been in existence since then, even though they have managed to, for the most part, stay out of the news.  (Reverend Moon left this plane this month, on September 3, 2012; no one is quite sure what his passing means for this organization.)

In actuality, what the Moonies organization was successfully doing was deprogram the recruited young people, at the same time reprogramming them with a new set of beliefs and values.

As I have stated before, each and every person, no matter where they originate is Programmed from their first aware moments into the beliefs of, "a religious, political, economic, or social group," usually all of them.  This is what being a member of a Culture is about.  One of the definitions of, "Culture," according to Dictionary.com, is: "the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group."

It is the rare individual who has given any thought to, let alone question, what they, (have been Programmed to) Believe.  The vast majority of individuals do not even think in terms of, "beliefs." because, for the most part, what they believe is for them, "Truth."  The power of such beliefs is now being demonstrated by individuals who were born in regions which embrace the Muslim Religion.

Few humans in the World understand that their beliefs have been programmed into them by their upbringing, by their families/culture/heritage, by their religions, by the region of the country they live in.  That Programming includes ones, "race" 

In, more, "advanced societies," this early Programming is augmented by the information most take in through TV, movies, magazines, video games, comics, newspapers, books, etc., etc.  Much of this Programming is subliminal, particularly when we are young; we absorb it by the actions of others, and by their reactions to something we might say or do, and the resultant consequences, in the form of punishment.  In actuality, we start taking it in with our Mother's milk, and the interactions of our family members.

The amount of Programmed Beliefs that we walk around with, unbeknownst, is astronomical!  We in this Country have no reason to feel superior to those of other Cultures such as those who are demonstrating against us, and trashing our Embassies.

As we grow older, especially when we begin to go to school, and if we are required to go to Sunday School, the Programming, becomes deliberate Indoctrination, with the best of intentions, of course.  Did you ever think, when you were going to regular school, or Sunday School, (if you went) that you had any option as to whether or not you were to believe what you were told?

The further we go in the educational process, the more Indoctrinated Beliefs we come to incorporate, as our Belief System is built.  Someone who holds a Doctorate in any field is totally convinced that what they have learned is the absolute Truth/Facts known about that specialty to date.  It is only later that some, as they gain real-world experiences, come to modify those Beliefs. Those who are generalists, or pursue a variety of sources of information, i.e., knowledge, are usually less bound to a particular set of Beliefs, and are more able to, "Think outside the box."

An example of how our personal experiences can modify our beliefs, the Psychologist/author Abrahm Maslow stated in one of his books that, when he had left school to practice, he was a Freudian.  Later, he became a Behaviorist.  He stated that, as time went by, he married and he and his wife had two children; as the children grew and developed, he became neither a Freudian nor a Behaviorist.  Consequently, he was left in a state of bewilderment as to what to believe.  He, of course, went on to develop his own theories as to human psychology.

When I was in College, Freudian theory was taught in the lectures, and Behaviorism was followed in the labs.  Those theories, for me also, stuck for a period of time, until I began to pursue other, alternative, theories/ideas and began to question what I was being taught as facts.

If you wish to investigate your own Belief System, you must examine each of the above indicated aspects of what you have been Programmed and Indoctrinated to Believe.  This is not easy to do, because, not only do those Beliefs make-up the foundation of what we use to, "think" with, most of us identify with them totally. 

Individuals who have been raised in a family which have roots in more than one cultural and/or religious system, by their parents having to chose which religion and other beliefs their children will be taught, and possible conflicts that may have resulted, been forced to understand that these cultural and religions absolutes can be choices.  In other words, they may have been given the gift of being able to keep from investing one's whole self in any one system of cultural and/or religions beliefs. 

How strong such Beliefs are can be observed, when confronted by what have been labeled as a, "Cult," which the parents of children who decided to join the Moonies were; some of whom resorted to kidnapping their children and subjecting them to forced deprogramming/reprogramming.  Prior to those, were the Middle Class Parents of those young people who ran off to become, "Hippies" in the Sixties, having rejected the Middle Class values/Beliefs they had been raised to identify with.

In these times, so much that was taken-for-granted in the past, is struggling to maintain a semblance of the taken-for-granted status they once had.  Despite the earth-shaking challenge much which has taken place recently has presented us with, we could look at it as a gift and an opportunity.  The gift and the opportunity to reevaluate what we have taken-for-granted for so long, everything we believe.

If you do choose to investigate your own Belief System--deprogram yourself--one way to do so is to start searching out other forms of belief about any of the areas.  One way you will know which parts of your Belief System you have identified with is by the degree of emotional response you have to the changes which have been occurring over the last quarter-century.

One's ability to adjust to change, is tied to how closely one identifies with what one believes. As we are now in a time of profound changes taking place in this world, as well as in our personal lives, it seems to me the better course of action is to do one's best to shift as much of what one believes into a category of, "as if true."  As I have indicated, we generally believe what we believe is True, if not TRUE.  By shifting a particular belief to a status of, "as if true," we are saying, in effect, "I will believe X, until a better idea/explanation comes along."  In this manner, it is possible to become less attached to what one believes, and more open to other possibilities.  And, as I indicated, our ability to, "think outside the box" is contingent on how attached we are to what we have been Programmed and Indoctrinated to believe.

It is my conviction, that no one can hope to think clearly/critically about anything unless they have stopped identifying with what they believe.

And, so, I end this blog.

Shirley Gallup