Stupidity, Stupid People and Conditioning

How many times have you come across a stupid dumb person that pissed you off ? How many times have you wondered about the logic of some persons or wondered how they can be that dumb, close-minded, idiotic or just plain bigots ?
The Seven Habits book describes an interesting experiment conducted in Harvard. During this experiment, half of the students were handed out cards with Picture A, the other half were handed cards with Picture B.

Picture A - Old Woman

Picture B - Young Woman

He asked them to look at the pictures for about 10 seconds, then asked them to pass them back. He then projected the following picture onto the screen:

Is this an old or young woman ?

Almost every student who had seen the earlier picture of the young woman thought the last picture was of a young woman. And almost every other student thought it was a picture of an old woman.

They argued among each other. Each person saw the specific feature they'd seen in the cards that were handed out. After both cards were handed out to them. Then, and only then, they could see each other's points of view and started to agree on something.

Only after 10 seconds of conditioning, the class was split into two teams, each team aggressively defending its point of view and stating it as a fact. If this happens after 10 seconds, can you imagine how your thoughts, ideas, and "facts" you hold to be true will change after 10 years of conditioning ? What about 30 years ?

Victor Frankl at the Concentration Camp

Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom --- Victor Frankl


    Victor Frankl along with his wife and parents was deported to a concentration camp. He worked there as a doctor, and as a psychologist. During the midst of all the suffering, endured by him and other prisoners. He realized that the only way to endure suffering and hardships is by realizing one's own consciousness. Human beings are different than animals in that they are the only creature that can think about their own existence and suffering objectively.
     Whenever we come across a stimulus (bad traffic, tragic events, or simply negative thoughts), we need to realize our mood and well-being is the result of our own reaction towards them. A stimulus cannot affect us unless we allow them to. Between that stimulus and our response (in actions and/or thoughts), we have a space. In that space we can decide how to react. We can decide to think about the problem in a positive way by setting a plan to change our condition. If we can't change those conditions (if you're stuck in a concentration camp for instance) then there is no point on dwelling on those negative thoughts.
Victor Frankl survived the concentration camp and died at age 92. He wrote many books about what was called "existentialist psychology"
More Quotes:
"Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.


When we are no longer able to change a situation - we are challenged to change ourselves"