At the point I wrote this passage, I was convinced that the subject of propaganda was one which I might be unable to introduce to my academic general public.  While I believe that academia is better suited to accept the word on its own terms, I still observe more than subtle indications that the word is looked upon as a negative, at least in the United States.  I will continue to use it in my studies but I will remain very aware of this general bias in the term that overtly and covertly influence. (Note 1 January 2013).

Look around you.  Everything you see and hear, feel and maybe fear is cultural conditioning.  But it is relative like everything else, and we all don’t see it the same way. Cultural conditioning has a different meaning for each of us.  To properly explain our direction, a few common definitions are necessary.

Cultural Conditioning, also known as enculturation, is “the process by which a person learns the requirements of the culture by which he or she is surrounded, and acquires values and behaviours that are appropriate or necessary in that culture. As part of this process, the influences, which limit, direct, or shape the individual (whether deliberately or not), include parents, other adults, and peers. If successful, enculturation results in competence in the language, values and rituals of the culture.”1

It is the values and behaviours that we are primarily concerned with here.  However, I would add “and other influencers,” because these other influencers influence us more than the above personal and localized influences.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the verb, condition, is defined as, “to teach or accustom (a person or animal) to adopt certain habits, attitudes, standards, etc.; to establish a conditioned reflex or response in.”2

Cultural conditioning and conditioning in general are so commonplace and common, yet so misunderstood, that they are unseen or unnoticed by the general public bombarded by conditioning stimuli on a daily basis.  Our analysis will include the following subject matter:

  • A brief discussion of cultural conditioning versus truth.
  • The conditioning formula and how it is applied generally.
  • The general principles of conditioning.
  • Those principles as they relate to public opinion.
  • Those principles as they relate to Symbols, Colours, and Music.
  • Propaganda as it relates to all of the above

I encourage you to freely and constructively question and reply to any statements or questions raised herein because cultural conditioning will not be exhausted with any “complete” tome I ever attempt to write. Your observations and questions will contribute to the overall refining of the subject into an analysis of one specific aspect.

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1. (Anonymous (nd). Encluturation. Wikipedia.  Retrieved 30 May 2012 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enculturation).

2. (Condition. 1997.  The Oxford English Dictionary 2nd ed. [CD-ROM].  Oxford: Oxford University Press.)