Is conditioning stupid?

Question

I mean eg the 'Pavlovian' type.

(A dog is conditioned to salivate on hearing a bell, for example).

Does it make us kind of 'robotic'?

I know I used the word 'stupid', but please don't lay into me for it; was using it to make a point. :-)

What are your views?

Answer 1

not stupid, just naieve'...

the conditioned are in isolation.. and if the lie is repeated often enough, without contradiction, or contrary evidence, the lie become truth... and all other truths are a lie...

perception is a matter of proximity... the closer you are, the less you see.

they, the washed, dont know any different... and were all conditioned, from day one... we try to conform to the norm.. its not "our" norm, but someone elses perception of it...

we all toe the line, we learn what is and what isnt acceptable behaviour, and that is a conditioned response, almost autonomic... we need guidance and support..is a surgeon brainwashed into gashing open human bodies? no its a choice... and to one degree or another, we all make choices based on what we know, or what we think we know, and what we believe to be the correct response to a given set of parameters....

we train soldiers the same way as we train surgeons and lorry drivers... we teach, they learn, and put it into practice...

Answer 2

Ivan Pavlov's works - which demonstrated how animals (and humans) can be trained to respond in a certain way to particular stimuli was certainly not stupid.

It has allowed us to examine our own being and consciousness in ways previously not understood.

I find conditioning to be an extremely interesting subject which explains much with respect to our survival and evolution as a species.

We are in a way rather 'robotic' in nature...essentially because our bodies utilise and depend upon reactions to stimuli.

As Fivetoze has correctly addressed, conditioning can be used in negative and manipulative ways....which is of course typical of human nature.

Those who don't understand the question should visit either of the following links ;

http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/pavlov/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov

Answer 3

"Conditioning" is what we are conditioned to do and so it goes...

We are born as a natural miracle, of sorts...innocent, untouched by the impending programing!

Our parents (who are already conditioned) set about the task of seeing that we 'fit' in with the society/culture that they have grown up in. We are punished, admonished, encouraged to adapt to "the way things are".

A thorough job is done and 'drone like' we are set off in life to 'make it'.

After being battered about and finding that the life that we call "I" "Me" is not all that great...we start asking the 'big questions" like the one you have asked.

Something has been piqued in such an individual and will keep nagging until he/she finds a way back to 'being natural' and letting the forced programming fade into a distant memory.

Life does not change that much, we still go to work, we still have anger, frustrations, lots of laughs, pain...all the things life is made up of, but there is a difference. We are in the audience now, watching the 'play', instead of being embroiled as a scripted character, lost in the drama.

Answer 4

Conditioning can be a positive or negative factor in our life. For example when a traffic light turns red and we automatically stop without thinking, it is positive. If we get angry every time someone blows their car horn at us regardless of the reason in can be negative.
The key is to be aware of our conditioning. Unlike animals, human beings have the ability to be aware of our actions and thoughts. To blame outside forces and conditioning for our failures and disappontments in life is to lower ourselves to the level of an animal. The challenge as a human is to bring all unconscious thought and action into the conscious realm where we have the ability to control them.

Answer 5

When I was in basic training in the army, we were conditioned to obey orders without question and to obey immediately. The same can be applied to religion, most if not all versions of religion, expect followers to blindly accept what the representatives of that religion say, sadly, as is obvious on this site, it works quite well.

Answer 6

Have you read Eric Blair's "1984"? Surely by definition conditioning is not a choice. Those who rail against conditioning become the outcasts.

Answer 7

It doesn't make us robotic; it makes us adaptive and capable of integrating complex behaviors into our repertoire of actions, freeing our brain up to direct its creative energies elsewhere. It also sets our body into a cycle of realistic expectations...such as waking up at a certain time in the morning, expecting food when its convenient for you to eat, etc.

Answer 8

Yes, everyone has been conditioned to a certain extent, those chains must be broken if one is to know themselves and be free. Most all people are living in the world dream and "think" there living in reality. They are asleep to what is. ~ : )

Answer 9

Actually, it reveals another kind of intelligence. Some call it: training your second nature. Some call it: neurolinguistic programming. Personally, I think there's great potential in developing it.


-----I'm not about exploitation of anybody or overriding anybody's free will, I feel that there are many ways of accelerating the process(for ones self) without shortcutting the process.

Answer 10

I would say that conditioning of the kind you described above would be immoral, taking away someone's ability to make rational judgements.

Added: I have no experience with it, however, so its just IMO in relation to your description.