Unshackling from our programming
It’s likely that many of you are aware that we are programmed from birth, by CULTure, religion, parents, society and in modern times, by social media.
The difficult task we struggle with daily is to unlearn and disentangle from the many programming we encounter. From advertisements, to social pressure, etc..
90% of our thoughts are not ours. We are all products of programming that has been instilled from what we engage/consume on a daily basis and from the thing that takes most of our attention.
Even right NOW I’m "programming" you with information I researched, studied by prominent academics and presenting to you in this format.
Of course, I also get programmed when I am reading, conducting research, listening to podcasts or watching say for example, Jordan Peterson’s lectures.
Programming is a force we cannot resist or stop. But it is a force that we can control.
It depends on what and the kind of information we choose to be programmed with.
Our minds is our most precious asset and guarding the gates of our minds is something we should work on daily. Like a muscle we train at the gym.
How do we do this, some ask?
We are in control of the information we decide to consume, the people we decide to follow and the advice we decide to implement.
I am confident that you are controlling this force to the best of your ability.
Just the fact that you are reading this newsletter is a testament to that.
But honestly, there are levels to this.
The 5 minutes you spend reading this is greatly overshadowed by the countless hours your mind is exposed to society’s programming or doom scrolling on Instagram or having pointless conversations on WhatsApp.
We have to be really careful what we consume and curtail/reassess what we define as “entertainment.”
My kind of “entertainment”:
Listen to a former Facebook executive and renowned Silicon Valley VC, Chamath Palihapitiya explain what programming from the standpoint of social media.
Full talk from Stanford Business School here:
I would be willingly programmed many times over to listen to information coming from Chamath.
For a deep dive on his mindset, you can also listen to his ALL-IN podcast (also on YouTube) where he, Jason Calacanis, David Sacks and David Friedberg cover all things economic, tech, political, social & cultural issues.
Always insightful to learn from four Silicon Valley Billionaires.
You got this.
See you next week!
- Ope