In my studies I have found something which seems to be present in all "concious" (presently the only concious beings
that we're aware of are members of the human race of course) creatures. This is something
intuitive, and once
explained I'm sure you will completely recognize this aspect of the concious being in every social situation you
face in the future, or I should hope so.
Now, imagine a child, a newborn. Essentially, this child can be seen as a sort of blank slate. It is ready to absorb
all that it's culture has to offer. Firstly, I will admit that I am no expert on child development, although I think
that by having been one, perhaps that gives each individual a kind of logical insight into the process. In any case,
most information would initially be transferred to the child in the form of physical sensations, visual processes and
emotional attatchment to caregivers, along with other processes which I'm sure exist but I am not aware of. After this
foundation is created, a "net" of sorts is carefully placed on the next layer of development which I will call the
"binary" stage.
This is where the child begins to learn boundaries set in place by his/her culture and society
through its immediate contact with its caregivers. All these boundaries, as which most everything in nature, can be
boiled down to "yes" and "no", "on" and "off". (or 0 and 1 in the case of computer languages) These rules help
the developing child understand how it is supposed to react in any given situation by cross-refernencing them. Essentially,
by creating a very simple framework, a being can extrapolate all possible situations and retrieve the information required
almost instantly. (thanks to the wonders of our biological computer of course)
Now this "net" will continue to develop and change throughout the life cycle of the being. During teenage years,
generally seen as a very rebellious time, the individual attempts to remove these boundaries that have been put in
place. I assert that this is one of the most important developmental stages a child will go through. An individual
cannot claim to understand it's culture/society without having stretced the limits to test its boundaries. The old
adage of "no pain, no gain" comes into play here. Without failure, it is very difficult for us to learn.
Anyway, the point I'm trying to get to is that in every social interaction - sitting and talking with a friend, a
business meeting with a possible client, etc - you can almost always determine what this "net" is composed of by
simply paying attention to simple verbal/non-verbal clues. It amazes me that individuals don't understand interaction
at all. Most people are not concious of this layer, and it would take a lot for me to sit down and tell you what
mine is made up of, not that it is that complicated, its just a subconcious function that we have to put into words,
an abstract form.
Learn about each other, not necessarily from one another. The unseen, undetected human functionality
is what we should be focused on, and from there we can extrapolate the rest.
How much of "you" is made up of what society/culture has put there?
How much of "you" is made up of the books you've read or the movies you've watched?
You are not "you" at all - you are
a creation of your environment, nothing more. Conciousness is not freedom to think, to understand. Conciousness is
just another way nature goes about creating a sense of individual importance - EGO.