What about free will?

We do not react directly to the world, but rather, the world as it is filtered by our nervous system's habits and perceptions, That is, how you view things and your conditioning. We break down the world according to what we expect to find. What we do, what we think and feel is what is important to pay attention to.  Our language or word systems is selective and indicates what we focus on or hide. This is very similar to what Robert Anton Wilson meant when he discussed Reality Tunnels in his work Quantum Psychology and Bander and Grindler indicated with the models of language in Neuro Linguistic Programming.

The practical person would then say, so what does this mean in practical terms? How does this affect me?   Basically, I would say that we see, think and behave according to our conditioning.  That is very basic and to the point.  Most people would not agree with this and probably feel that they are consciously in control of their perceptions, thoughts, and behavior.  Yet we all would agree that there are times when we see not, thoughts intrude on us, and we behave in ways we would not have anticipated.  The question is, what if, this is happening most or all of the time?

Most people would say that we consciously decide based on what we need to do at a particular instance. Question this, as it may be flawed.  We are mostly not aware of the instruction we have received from may influences, conversations and perceptions. Researchers have proven that action occurs prior to thought, that we, at times, carry out rote responses a full half-second prior to our minds making a decision in the form of measurable thought energy in the brain. 

This was written to open the conversation and to explore the concept of memes not only as they apply to the transmission of information and culture but how memes can influence our behaviors. 

In a future post I will write more about the concept of memes or the body of knowledge known as memetics.

Isidro "Sid" Martinez