I'm going to tell you some facts now, and you won't like them. You'll deny their truth and vilify me, hate me and say all the bad things that I represent, but that doesn't make what I'm going to tell you any less true. These are the facts, please take your opinions and emotions and ideological persuasions out of the thought process and look at what I have to say objectively and scientifically. I'm about to tell you that your world is not flat.
First, we are all monkeys. Anyone other then a creationist generally accepts that we, as a species, are evolved from monkies. I say we are still monkeys. Physically different, mentally superior, but still a genus of monkeys. Our DNA is 98% the exact same as a chimpanzee, our natural drives and instincts are still the exact same as almost every monkey that exists today. Yes we have building and cars and MTV, but we haven't changed that much. We must get rid of the idea that we are so radically evolved that we have nothing in common, what a monkey is we essentially are. Your subconscious brain is still that of a monkey, all your emotions and instincts. Many of the decisions you make everyday of influenced, without you consciously knowing, by your primate instincts and emotional processing of events. The process of evolution is still going on, though now days survival of the fittest must be having problems as the more intelligent, more evolved, more human, of us tend to have less offspring then those with less desirable traits. However assuming that our brains continue to evolve and we do reach a clear distinction from the primitive instincts of the primate brain then and only then can we call ourselves "Human".
The second point I want to make is the principal of Tabula Rasa holds true in every human being in this planet. Tabula Rasa is the psychological concept that every person born without favor, taste, opinion, persuasion, and personality. Every newborn is mentally a "Blank Slate" hence the Latin title translating as the same. A person acquires all persuasions, belief and knowledge through their life experiences. As an infant you are neither left or right handed. In playing and beginning basic motor function all infants form a stronger reliability on one of their arms. All this is by chance, when something is offered to a baby will he/she use her left or right hand to grip it is arbitrary. When you pick up an object with your right hand certain neurons in your brain fire off, different neurons fire if you pick up the same object with you left hand. Just by seeing another person pick up something with their right hand makes your right hand neurons also fire just as if you were doing the action yourself. These are called motor mirror neurons. Every action you make, infants are practicing mentally to copy and emulate later in life. The prevalence of right handed people is probably, in my opinion, due to more infants seeing people preform right handed tasks, scissors, feeding the baby etc etc.... with right hand more often then left.
It is not just this that is affected. It is all factors and components of what makes an individual that can be shaped by his/her interpretation of the world and experiences. Some would say "why don't children of X parents always grow up to be X as well" X in this case is any persuasion, belief, ideology. Well I mentioned earlier it is not the ideas that you are exposed to that directly effect how you will be but the ideas that you attach yourself to. The ideals that you accept as a way to happiness. For the extremes of this please look at "body integrity identity disorder". Where a person will amputate a healthy limb because they have the innermost belief that they would be happier as a amputee. At some point in their life they saw, heard of, or were told about an amputee that appeared happier then his/her peers. They mentally attached to this belief and assume it as the best course of action. It really depends on your first or early encounters with different concepts and ideas. It's never an obvious, conscious change of beliefs, most of the time you would be too young to really remember anyway, it's small indirect inconspicuous events but these small encounters build your mental landscape.
Now earlier I used the example of being left handed. To clarify you can substitute the word right or left handed for any of the following and it would still be true: Republican or Democrat, active or lazy, hetro or homosexual, pro or anti abortion, empathetic or intolerant, racist or humanitarian, strong willed or easily influenced, positive or depressive personality, irate or placid, clumsy or coordinated. There are many many more that I couldn't list, but know that almost all aspects of your mental state were built long before you consciously could contemplate their pros or cons.
More to come on this article.
