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Ask HN: Any books/talks on cultural conditioning?

by pendu on 5/16/18, 3:51 PM with 3 comments

I have been thinking about how culture and religion conditions us since childhood. Parents play a huge role in this. I being a young parent too want to pass on my religion to my kids - hence I read them stories , history etc - in an attempt that they can follow the same culture and religion as I do. But at the same time I do recognize that this is all conditioning and takes us away from the real essence of life - because we get so entrapped in dogma. I argue with myself that this conditioning is necessary and is similar to teaching a kid - abc alphabets. Eventually when they grow up they will understand the language and the use of learning alphabets. But cultural and religious conditioning becomes dogma and is harder to break from. Yuval Harari in his books Homo Sapiens touched a bit on this part. I am looking for more books/talks/articles on the same topic that can provide some more food for thought. Please share.

  • by ordu on 5/16/18, 4:59 PM

    I cannot help you with books, but at my understanding you need to think not on culture itself, but on why do you think that it is important to you to pass your culture to your children? Is this heredity is your terminal value, or there is some reasons behind heredity? If former, than you need not to think twice, just educate your children how your parents had educated you. In the latter case you need to think about reasons.

    Dogma is hard to break, but those who what to break dogma would break it. It is not a problem. I believe that religious people stop to be religious when their success becomes dependant on ability to think free. When they have no need to think free, they remains religious. Contrary, when people need to live in more consistent and more determined world, they might become religious. It is their choice dictated by environment they live within and their personal traits (for example, some people more resistant to anxiety and they may benefit less from being religious).

    So if your children will need a freedom of thought, they will get it, if they will need religion they will become religious, regardless of your efforts. Or, more probably, they will not find theirselves in an extreme situation where it is really matters to be religious or not to be, and it means that it all up to you: raise them in the religion or outside of it.

  • by PaulHoule on 5/16/18, 4:17 PM

    My viewpoint is to find the positive in the practices you do and accept that other people do other things.

    Issac Asimov wrote a great essay where he starts with a quote from the old testament about a temple which has a pit which is ten cubits across and thirty cubits around (pi=3) and says that the Ancient Hebrews were ahead of the curve on some things but not as good as the Greeks at math! (Asimov's writing showed a deep respect for his Jewish heritage but primarily a modern, secular, and humanist viewpoint.)

    Some people say it is a "cultural catastrophe" that there are so many superhero movies but this a kind of story that has produced enduring characters such as Giglamesh, Hercules, Samson, Thor, Osiris, Buddha, etc. When Stan Lee was told that the plot of one of his books was weak, he said he ripped it off from the best classic he could find.

    I like the book "Perennial Philosophy" by Aldous Huxley who finds a common "spiritual technology" used by religionists of all creeds. That is, prayer, meditation, good works and other kinds of "yoga" done by the individual as well as what happens when people go to a "service" at a church, synagogue, mosque, ashram, temple, etc.

  • by AnimalMuppet on 5/16/18, 5:21 PM

    I would recommend "The Abolition of Man" by C.S. Lewis. He argues that in all (classical) religions, there is a common core of morality, and that it is foundational. All our modern "ideologies" are an over-focus on one aspect or another of that common core.

    I wouldn't have your kids read The Abolition of Man, but you might find it useful in thinking about this question.

    Note well: I've had to re-read it several times over the course of several years. Lewis writes very simply, but there are some very deep ideas in there.