As individuals, we would like to believe that we can determine our own choices and thus the course of our lives.

The reality, however, looks much bleaker. Being born into social norms, religion and cultures that dictate the way we live life, what we think, what we choose and what we do has been more or less the result of social conditioning.

By holding on and not questioning what and how we were molded, we are prone to not see further beyond the worldview we are conditioned to see. We become ignorant to anything that is outside of our grasp.

Our conditioning, and the pressure from family, peers, community and society is such, that it doesn’t occur to us that our perception might not be genuinely ours but the result of the very same conditioning. We are like robots who have no idea that they were programmed.
We are trapped into perceiving the world in an indoctrinated way. Whether we like it or not.

Challenge yourself: Is the drive for success inherent or conditional? Is a life fulfilled without children? Is capitalism the best economic system?

Most of the time choice is just an illusion. Our need for acceptance and understanding underlie most of our actions and reactions. In this way, our behavior is nothing more than conditional. And while there are only a limited number of choices, the choices that we do make are in the end tied to the patterns of our conditioning.