Roadmap to Reality

1. We do not qualify as a self-aware species
2. Our perception of free will is largely an illusion
3. Our sense of self and mind are not hardwired but emerge from language
4. Our definition of reality, or worldview, changes in predictable ways as we mature
5. Entire cultures evolve through similar stages
6. Worldviews are dictated by technology
7. Worldviews determinate our morals and values, how we perceive cause and effect, how we solve ploblems, how we solve problems, how we raise and educate our children, and how we govern ourselves.

W ten sposób dzieci podświadomie przyswajają sobie maniery i przekonania członków rodziny. Nie pamiętamy jak nauczyliśmy się tego ale większość naszych dorosłych zachowań powodowana jest tymi mocno w nas osadzonymi programami. Uważamy się za myślących, jednak nasze zachowania dowodzą, że jesteśmy automatami wyzwalającymi w danych warunkach dane reakcje zgodnie z zapisanymi w nas instrukcjami.

Indigenous people looked up at the stars and created their own unique constellations. I am blind to their constellations and unable to see the sky without the constellations of our culture. When I look at the sky, my focus is drawn to the symbols I know. I have defined this aspect of reality and therefore changed my experience of it. Language has a similar effect on our perceptions of reality. When we acquire language, we cease to see reality as it really is, and we see our symbols of it instead. For example, when you use the word “tree,” do you recall a photographic image of a specific tree, of do you imagine a more generalized, symbolic tree? Many people are so disconnected from nature that all trees tend to look alike. Consequently, few people ever really see a tree.

The important part of communication isn`t what is said, but what the audience hear.

The result is an ethnocentric viewpoint. Lacking exposure to other cultures and viewpoints, they understand only the code of conduct of their own culture and see it as the only way to do things. They interpret reality in black-and-white terms, believing the answers must be either this or that, based on their cultural background.

With role-playing, a black-and-white view of issues, and lacking a mature sense of case and effect, the mythical worldview is typically associated with gods and strong opinions of right and wrong. While younger kids tend to perceive reality in very magical terms, kids of this age perceive reality in more mythical terms. For example, while a younger child might imagine he can make a picture of a candy bar magically turn into a real one, an older child might be motivated to pray for one instead, perhaps imagining that if he behaves well then he will be rewarded.

Kulturowo, Amerykanie pozostają pomiędzy mitycznym a sekwencyjnym rodzajerm myślenia…

As a culture, Americans remain on the cusp between mythical and sequential processing…

Another tragedy of conformity is that we adults chant the same mantra about the need to get good grades in school, to advance to college, to get a respectable and well-paying career. Well-intentioned parents can squash a child`s dream to become an actor or an inventor in favor or something more secure, but less satisfying. Children are wired to fallow this programming of should and should-nots, and only regret it later.

Given my background as a naturalist, evolution is not merely a theory or a belief, but something I can see in the world around me. I see flowers that have retained ancestral characteristics and those that have evolved new strategies. Sometimes I use clay to animate the stages of flower evolution in my botany classes. Without that kind of background and experience, a person has to swallow evolution on faith alone.

Creationists vocally challenge science in the schools, pushing the concept of intelligent design as an alternative to evolutionary theory. As “proof” against evolution, they might resort to metaphorical analogies such as evolution is as improbable as a monkey typing Shakespeare`s hamlet, or as likely as pile of parts self-assembling to become a car. Even if unsuccessful at introducing intelligent design into the schools, the challenge muddies the issue for a whole new generation of students. As a result, young people might believe whichever viewpoint seems to have the largest number of reasonable-sounding proponents. In other words, choosing one side or the other is not accomplished through critical reasoning, but through mimicry and role-playing.

Islamic scientists distort reality to match the Koran, they cite each other as sources to validate their research.

Much of what they learn about us [Americans – JF] comes from our movies, so it is no wonder that some Muslims believe we are all Satanic.