The De-Conditioning of a Conditioned Mind
De-condition your conditioning and you will instantly emerge
as a new person – better than what you were in the past.
American psychologist, Broadus John Watson (1878–1958), after lengthy experimentation, discovered that conditioning is an integral part of life. Every human being is born in an environment, so everyone is subject to environmental conditioning. There is no exception whatsoever. So everyone is either Mr. Conditioned or Ms. Conditioned.
Professor Watson’s finding was quite correct. It is a fact that everyone is a case of conditioning. But Professor Watson’s finding related only half of the truth. He discovered the law of conditioning, but he failed to discover the law of de-conditioning. According to his research, everyone is bound to live in a conditioned state. It is everyone’s fate and no one can escape from it. But it was certainly an unnatural statement. It is a fact that everyone is subject to conditioning but it is also a fact that every form of conditioning can be reversed. Conditioning is a phenomenon of thinking and it can be changed by counter-thinking. Thinking and counter-thinking are both well within the capacity of the mind.
The modern computer is a small mechanical model of man’s mind. Everyone knows that a computer can delete anything that you want it to delete. If you feed some item into the computer, and then you want to delete it; this can be done, simply by touching a small key. Man’s mind is an inconceivably large model of the computer. If a small mind can delete an item without failure, how can a big model not do the same job? The de-conditioning of a mind also has a small touch-button. This touch-button is a simple phrase of just three words: ‘I was wrong.’ Say with complete sincerity: ‘I was wrong’ and you can delete any type of conditioning within a second.
Watson himself is a proof that environmental conditioning can be reversed in the later period of one’s life. As a matter of fact, Watson first de-conditioned himself, consciously or unconsciously, and only then was he able to discover the phenomenon of conditioning. So, if this de-conditioning was possible for him, why should it not be possible for others?
What is the importance of de-conditioning? It is the only way to intellectual development. It is a generally accepted fact that education is an important tool for personality development. But at the same time, one must try to de-condition one’s mind; otherwise one cannot receive the fruits of education in their totality.
I know a person belonging to a minority community who was obsessed with the concept of discrimination. He said that, without there being positions reserved for members of minority groups, he could not find a good job in this country. I said: “No, at present you are thinking in terms of discrimination, but please revise your thinking and try to understand the matter in terms of excellence.” I reminded him of a well-known saying: ‘There is always room at the top.’ I said that if you were an average student, then you might face some kind of discrimination, not only in this country but elsewhere in the world, but if you enhanced your efforts, if you became a topper in your institution, then you would certainly achieve the job you desired. I said that discrimination had a limit and you could cross that limit only by dedication and hard work.
The said student accepted my advice and started re-thinking. He increased his efforts and the result was miraculous. He got first class marks and, of course, he was offered a good job in some institution. Those who look only at external factors invariably underestimate their own capacity. But those who discover themselves become free of this obsession and can meet all challenges. De-condition your conditioning and you will instantly emerge as a new person – better than what you were in the past.
