How Conditioned Are We?

What are the factors that cause conditioning?

To what extent can we free ourselves from this conditioning?

Creativity- as the erasure of conditioning.

How do we overcome conditioned thinking?

Lets start with human babies. Apart from genetic make up, the needs of it condition its behaviour. As it grows up its environment and society causes the second level of conditioning to occur. So now- apart from the natural or human traits(not anything new ofcourse) there is further conditioning caused by the surroundings. Interestingly, the human traits ( 1 st level of conditioning) are erased by the conditioning by culture apparently to make women " lady-like" and men "gentlemanly". Where these two terms are relative as their meaning, symbolism and implications are different in different cultures.

Come to think of it , almost everything we do is conditioned. We wake up , brush our teeth, shower, eat, read the paper, work , eat and sleep(superficially speaking) . it would be interesting to know who set this pattern. Why this order? How much of what we do is natural or genetic conditioning and how much of it is cultural conditioning?

Then comes the third stage of personal conditioning caused by past experiences, phobias and individual thought processes.

Conditioning is an inevitable phenomenon. As long as we live there will be constant conditioning and reconditioning like the ongoing process of technological growth.

How far can we free ourselves from this conditioning? Its hardly even possible to become aware of all the conditioning in the first place.I believe it cannot be undone completely but can be redone partially.

Mere awareness of this state is probably the first step to creativity( in the pure sense of the word). Creativity is the suspension of the conditioned state through an unconditioned(pure) state. I believe we often get into this state but it doesnt last very long becuase of the predominance of our conditioned patterns .

Overcoming conditioning is merely doing the unobvious. A drastic change in the way we think.Thinking beyond what we see, hear and read. A fresh look. A new view- the birth of creativity.