Each of us has been a newcomer into this world, starting our lives without knowledge and experience – a baby who has had parents, a mother and a father. The environment and surrounding people have been engaged with you, this baby, and have taught you. What have they taught? What they themselves have known. And where have they gotten their knowledge? Most likely from their parents.
Here the historical aspect becomes relevant. In addition to genes, knowledge is also inevitably transmitted through history, from previous generations to the next. When you look at the development of this baby, then most likely s/he will grow up to be a working individual with a family. This is how you and all people around you have developed. In addition, people learn in schools, universities, and trainings, receive information from various sources and learn through activities.
What does all of it mean in the light of this teaching? It means that everything you today consider to be “me” has actually been taught to you by others. Plus personal experience, of course. What you refer to as “me” is actually a set of values, characteristics and behaviors that you have acquired. Is this a fact?
Everything you today consider to be “me” has actually been taught to you by others.
INGVAR VILLIDO
What has been taught to you? Primarily three things have been taught:
Firstly – different emotional reactions. A child is not born emotional. S/he acquires the emotional reactions subconsciously. Initially the surrounding people are the main source. Later on reactions are also received from media, books – other role models etc. Consequently a set of automatic roles develop, overshadowing the initial, primordial individual for your entire lifetime.
Feelings and emotions are typically understood as synonyms. As phenomena they are the same – invisible inner automatic movements with different, very direct impact. Emotions make people carry out specific actions and usually determine behavior.
The second thing that the child acquires is speech. Speech is based on sounds and words. Each word has a meaning, it signifies something. Thus, through words, the acoustic description of the world is learned. Initially, the child speaks out loud. Later vocal expression becomes diminished and is ultimately internalized, turning into externally soundless inner speech – this is the “birth” of your thinking process. So, thinking has also been taught to you by others. The challenging process of learning how to speak is always related to objects.
