Way Of Thinking, Way Of Life

In an ever changing world, people often choose the path of least resistance to get through every day life. By nature, most people are conditioned to look at things not for the best interest of society but for the best interest of themselves. While these conditioned thoughts are controlling factors in our lives, they can put us at an extreme disadvantage. These thoughts make us see things not as they really are but as we want them to be. Our thought process can be controlled only when we continuously attempt to control them. The problem is that most people are so caught up in their conditioned thoughts that they are unaware that there is a problem with their mode of thinking. It is only when the problem is brought to the forefront that most educated people recognize the need for change.
I have spoke with several people in my quest to expose the issue of conditioned thoughts. I have found that these thoughts are divided not only by individuals, but by race and gender as well. I will begin by addressing the issue of how conditioned thoughts affect equality between the genders. In a brief interview with a lady named Rebecca, I discovered that some women feel that men see themselves as superior over women. Rebecca says “Men think women are incapable of doing things as well as a man.” This way of thinking is one that can be directed back to society in the past. In previous generations, women in the U.S. were oppressed by men. Because this was a male dominated society, young boys were taught that girls were second class citizens. By planting these thoughts in the minds of our youth, we created a society of men that see themselves as better than women and often women that see themselves as inferior. Although these women are not inferior and in many cases are superior, many are conditioned from childhood to believe that they are less than a man. It is only those strong minded women that are able to recognize that these self images are false and recondition their thought process to view themselves in a positive way that is equal to a man. The most intelligent women understand that some men are dominated by their ego. These women allow their men to believe that they are superior while knowing that this is not the case. Men often go above and beyond their means to impress their women. In this case, the women often get not only the spoils of extra attention by the self-centered male, but that satisfaction of knowing that they are the ones that are really in control of the situation.
In my study of conditioned thoughts as it relates to race, I interviewed a young African American man named John. John says, “As long as a person is black, he or she can only go so far in the United States.” This is another example of conditioned thoughts by society. Like women, African Americans were oppressed as well. Though slavery was abolished many years ago, it still exists in the conditioned thoughts of many African Americans. Many have been treated as inferior in our society for so long that they actually believe that they are. Because of this, many African Americans lose their motivation to move forward because in their minds, there is a limit as to how far they can go. In my eyes, this is slavery in its present form. While shackles and chains are non-existent, shackles of the mind are alive and well. Many of us use our race as an excuse to not move forward. It is often effortless to remain idle and simply remain satisfied with our present state. In order to move forward, we must recondition our thoughts which require a significant amount of effort.
In my opinion, the first step that must be taken is to understand that the problem lies with in. If people view themselves in a negative way then it is evident that the world will see them this way as well. If a change is to occur, it must start with ones self.
Modern technology can also play a large role in the conditioned thoughts of individuals. I had a brief interview with an elderly lady name Kate and I asked her if she felt that the world was deteriorating and she quickly answered yes and responded with, “Things are getting worse and worse each day.” This could be an example of the conditioned thoughts of many elderly people in today’s society. In my opinion, things in the world were as bad in the past as they are today, but with the help today’s technology these issues are brought to the forefront of today’s

society. The majority of society in the past were unaware of many tragic events that occurred, so things appeared better than they were.
Finally the way we act is controlled by the way we think. The key to controlling our thoughts is education. With education comes the ability to see things from both sides of the spectrum and make decisions based on your own thoughts.


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