It's All Part Of The Programming

Food for thought: You ever wondered why after you've said a certain thing or engaged in a certain action/behavior you thought to yourself "why did I just do or say that?" At least those of us that aren't too far gone have asked that question at one point or another in our lives.

There's this fascinating video I once viewed of a mother cat with her kitten litter following her in tow. The kittens seemed to be no older than a few weeks and there were about six of them. The mother appeared to have been injured in one of her hind legs, so she was limping as she was walking. Here's where the fascinating part comes in: as I watched the video a little more closely, I noticed that every single kitten was also walking with a slight limp behind their mother and a light bulb fired off immediately in my head.

There is a famous and erroneously attributed quote that I admire that says "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit." Whose standard of excellence are we referring to here? If I ring people up every day at a cash register, is that an indication that I am now a cashier, or do I just simply function as one?

You see, no one truly stops to contemplate where exactly we garner our very thoughts which subsequently become actions. We just wake up every day, and just say or do. Much like a computer can do no more than it has been intricately and calculably programmed how to both interpret and respond to external input and stimuli, how far distinguished are we or really any other living entity on this planet from this concept?

This I think is what gave rise to the "Nature Vs Nurture" argument (which there really is no argument to be made for either as both are required for the complete development and establishment of any living entity), but it's also the one warring factor of the notion of an "original programmer" and what programmed it. Now before we go down any rabbit hole, I want to name that this is by no means a blog about theology, philosophy, or any kind of social construct. This is merely an attempt at recognizing the "why" behind this so called human condition.

Although I don't rely on it solely, there are a number of scientific research that points to a few of the sources of those programming: the food we eat, (epigenetics), the content we watch or listen to, heck, even the air we breathe plays a significant role in our programming.

Well then, where does this all lead to? How do we begin to address and tackle the issues and problems we face as an entity on this planet? I'd like to go out on a limb here for a moment to point out that I'd be willing to bet my very life that the planet was absolutely fine and in perfect harmonious balance with the universe before we (humans) ever arrived on the scene. Hmm....I wonder what that implies.

I say all of that to say this: the next time someone cuts you off in traffic, uses derogatory words towards you when addressing you, lies to you/about you, yells at you, or says and does anything to you that falls into the category of pain, injury, and hurt, ask yourself this one simple question: is this coming from a well thought out, critically and rationally thinking, forethought derived balanced individual, or is this all part of their programming? Once you've determined the answer to that question, you'll be surprised and almost shocked at how you respond to them in return.