By adulthood, our worldview is so fixed that most people don’t even know that there is another way to be.
To further complicate matters, these unconscious tendencies to feel threatened leave many people open to manipulation by the demagogues of the day.
Ninety percent of human-brain growth occurs in the first five years of life. During this critical developmental period, life experiences determine how the millions of neurons in the human brain connect. These connections form the structure of our brains, which in turn create our minds. Hence, our early life experiences shape our minds and define our individual beliefs and values — who we are. While genetics plays a significant role, our experiences are responsible for how the genes are expressed, because our experiences actually shape our brain structure.
As we continue to grow, our tendency is to filter new information and experiences through our initial sets of beliefs and values. We develop patterns in our brains that determine how we perceive and respond to our world. These patterns are relatively fixed and will tend to stay that way unless and until repeated new experiences restructure the brain, and thereby change the mind. For example, if a child is raised by racist parents, his brain structure becomes wired to think and feel racism. The child’s view can change, however, if he is actively exposed to tolerance.
Our worldview is so fixed that most people don’t even know that ?!
“A new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move toward higher levels.” —Albert Einstein