Can we still call ourselves free?
Freedom is a mindset that needs to be free of fear. Fear is a concept we create in our minds. Nothing can scare us more than our imagination. A child will walk on the edge of a cliff without fear because its imagination hasn’t yet provided data about the possibilities. It had no time to learn about the danger. Most likely, they will pass it without falling because we have built-in mental tools that help us calculate our environment.
The more data we acquire, the more abstract concepts we can calculate.
What are Conditional and Unconditional Behaviors?
Dr. Ivan Pavlov, a Russian scientist, defined two types of human behavior.
Unconditional Behavior (Unconditioned Response – UR):
This is a natural, automatic response to a specific stimulus. It is an unlearned or innate behavior that occurs without prior conditioning. For example, in Pavlov’s famous dog experiment, the presentation of food (unconditioned stimulus) naturally led to the dogs salivating (unconditioned response) because they are biologically wired to do so when food is presented.
Conditional Behavior (Conditioned Response – CR):
On the other hand, conditional behavior is a learned response resulting from pairing a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus. Through repeated associations, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus and elicits the conditioned response. In Pavlov’s experiment, after pairing a bell ring (neutral stimulus) with the presentation of food (unconditioned stimulus) several times, the dogs eventually began to salivate at the sound of the bell alone. The salivation at the sound of the bell was the conditioned response.
What this means for us: is that either we shape ourselves from within or the environment shapes us. Growth is always painful because managing our feelings can be challenging.
What is perception?
Perception is how we interpret sensory information from our environment, using our senses like sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. It shapes our understanding of the world, involving the brain in processing and organizing this data to create a meaningful representation of reality. It’s influenced by individual experiences, culture, expectations, and cognitive processes, guiding our interactions with the world.
So what builds our perception? Is it our own observations, or do we let the environment shape us, preferring to absorb conclusions from others?
What is Cognition?
Cognition refers to mental processes and activities related to acquiring, processing, storing, and using knowledge. It encompasses a wide range of mental functions, including perception, thinking, reasoning, problem-solving, memory, language, and decision-making. Cognition is how our brains process and make sense of information from the world, allowing us to understand, learn, and interact with our environment effectively. It plays a central role in human intelligence and is essential for various aspects of daily life, from learning new skills to making complex decisions.
Now, do we perceive things, especially abstract concepts, through our own observations and conclusions, or are we trained to perceive them through “borrowed” conclusions from others?
Real free thinking requires all these elements together (and much more) and is a continuous process of self-teaching. I’m talking about Conditional and Unconditional Behavior, Perception, and Cognition. We cannot be free thinkers without self-criticism, self-correction, and distancing from the “self” without questioning everything we “know” and everything we see and observe. The process is “simple”: Observe – Conclude – Execute. Yet, it’s challenging when you consider the amount of data we need to filter, refuse, and deny to achieve clarity without the interference of emotions and by using the logical side of the mind. We’ll never completely eliminate feelings; they’re what make us sentient beings. But we can manage and understand our feelings. This requires the strength and discipline that most of us may never attain. The brain conserves energy, and we tend to be lazy. At least, I do.