There was an enlightening study of perception done in which kittens were divided into two experimental groups. One group was raised in a room with horizontal stripes painted on the walls; the other group was raised in a room with vertical stripes painted on the walls.
When the “horizontally-reared” group was placed in a room with vertical structures, such as furniture legs, all of the kittens bumped into them as if the obstructions were not there. The same thing occurred with the other kittens when placed in a room with horizontal structures.
Because of previous conditioning, the kittens simply did not see what was literally right in front of their eyes. In a sense, their brains were on automatic pilot and their perceptual systems behaved as programmed even if the outcome was not in the kittens’ best interest.
What this study suggests is that the preconceptions that filter how we view the world that we assume we have come up with independently are perhaps less independent than we think.
Information is planted verbally and nonverbally early-on and is continually reinforced over many years by the families, societies and cultures with which we identify and on which we are emotionally dependent. This information provides us with the answer to the question, “Who am I?”
There is a saying that goes, “He was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple.” This can apply to many of the positions, values and principles we hold that we think we arrived at on our own. This is especially likely with those that result in a “knee-jerk” or “gut-wrenching” reaction, or that we feel defensive about and are ready to instantly defend.
We are up against a lot when trying to uncover who we really are. Patience and persistence are the keys.
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