inverted subjectivity conditionness
social conditioning is the process of training an individual to behave according to the norms of their social groups.
there are two main ways to do social conditioning.
i
reinforcement
increases the frequency of a behavior.
i
positive reinforcement
an object that a subject desires is hidden.
when the subject performs a desired behavior, the object is unhidden.
for example, a parent hides a toy in a closet, and after their child cleans their room, they give the toy.
ii
negative reinforcement
an object that a subject does not desire is unhidden.
when the subject performs a desired behavior, the object is hidden.
for example, an alarm goes off, and after one wakes up, they stop it and put it aside.
ii
punishment
decreases the frequency of a behavior.
i
positive punishment
an object that a subject does not desire is hidden.
when the subject performs an undesired behavior, the object is unhidden.
for example, a guard dog is hidden behind a fence, and after a trespasser steps onto the property, one opens the gate, unhiding the dog.
ii
negative punishment
an object that a subject desires is unhidden.
when the subject performs an undesired behavior, the object is hidden.
for example, a child is playing with a phone, and after they misbehave, their parent takes the phone and hides it inside a locked drawer so they can no longer see or use it.
⠀
social conditioning makes one internalise conditioned behaviors.
internalisation is the process by which an individual accepts a norm as their own viewpoint.
as a result, social conditioning makes one believe that the conditioned behaviors are their own choices.
internalisation is maintained by one doing the acts of hiding and unhiding themselves.
for example, a child hides a toy in a closet, and after they clean their room, they take the toy.
the three pieces describe different forms of social conditioning.
the first describes social conditioning through the destruction of one’s will.
the second describes social conditioning through the destruction of one’s childlike behavior.
the third describes social conditioning through the establishment of boundaries without the destruction of one’s will.
i
the harvest of will
this poem describes a system that conditions individuals to surrender their choices until the surrender becomes indistinguishable from their own will.
the pyramid represents a hierarchy that gains power by taking choices from those below it.
the “throat that ne’er says no” continually takes from others while presenting the taking as “grace.”
this is social conditioning because the system makes the individual participate in the process by which their behavior is controlled.
the repeated refrain,
“down, and down, the will descends,”
describes the gradual reduction of autonomy.
each surrender becomes another “rung” in the tower, and each choice is converted into a “coin.”
the person’s capacity to choose therefore becomes something that the hierarchy can extract and use for itself.
the conditioning is maintained through punishment.
when the individual attempts to resist, something undesirable is unhidden.
the speaker attempts to scream, but an “older, colder” force tells them that they have only been dreaming.
as a result, the system makes resistance produce doubt, fear, and confusion.
i
positive punishment
an unwanted psychological state is hidden.
when the individual resists the system, the unwanted state is unhidden.
for example, the speaker remembers that they once had the ability to choose, but when they attempt to recover that freedom, fear awakens and the memory is treated as a dream.
the punishment teaches the individual that resistance is dangerous.
ii
negative punishment
a desired state is unhidden.
when the individual conforms, the memory of freedom is hidden.
for example, the speaker experiences the unbearable recognition that “that was not my joy,” and then “the knowing fades.”
the system therefore removes the individual’s awareness of their own loss.
the most important part of the poem is that the conditioning eventually becomes internalised.
the speaker no longer needs the system to physically restrain them.
the person who “would have run” has been “filed away.”
the individual’s former will becomes an object stored inside the system itself.
the system has therefore transformed external control into internal control.
for example, the individual forgets their former freedom, reinterprets their resistance as a dream, and continues moving even though they no longer know why.
the final stanza describes the mechanism of this internalisation.
“small surrenders” are repeated until they become a norm.
as a result, the individual eventually helps construct the tower that imprisons them.
ii
why we often lose track of our inner child
in this essay, instead of conditioning someone to obey a political or institutional hierarchy, society conditions an individual to stop behaving like a child.
the child initially possesses behaviors that are not necessarily socially approved.
curiosity, excitement, playfulness, emotional openness, trust, and wonder are natural behaviors.
as the child grows older, these behaviors become associated with negative social judgments.
phrases such as “grow up,” “don’t be a child,” and “life is not la la land” communicate that certain behaviors should no longer be performed.
the social group therefore applies punishment to childlike behavior.
i
positive punishment
an unwanted social object is unhidden.
when an individual behaves childishly, the group produces ridicule, criticism, or shame.
for example, when an adult becomes excessively excited about something, another person calls them “immature.”
ii
negative punishment
a desired social object is hidden.
when an individual behaves in a childlike manner, acceptance or social approval is withdrawn.
for example, a person becomes playful in a serious setting, and the people around them stop treating them seriously.
the person learns that being playful can cause them to lose their social standing.
the important distinction is that the social group does not need to punish the individual every time.
after repeated punishment, the individual begins to punish themselves.
as in, the individual learns to look at their own childlike behavior through the viewpoint of the group.
hence, they no longer need another person to say “don’t be a child.”
as a result, the person therefore begins hiding their own childlike behavior from themselves.
for example, they suppress their excitement, curiosity, playfulness and wonder.
however, the inner child therefore has not necessarily disappeared.
instead, the conditioned behavior has become dominant, and the essay describes this when it says that traces of the inner child still remain.
an adult can still become excited by food, travel, friendship, rain, or other ordinary experiences.
the conditioned adult behavior therefore exists alongside the unconditioned childlike behavior.
the problem is that the individual has learned to give more attention to one and less attention to the other.
the essay therefore proposes reversing the conditioning by giving attention to the suppressed behavior.
for example, instead of punishing childlike excitement, one can reinforce it.
when an individual notices their own curiosity or excitement and allows themselves to experience it, the behavior receives reinforcement.
hence, the inner child becomes stronger because it is no longer being socially punished.
iii
the gentle giant
this story shows that conditioning does not require the destruction of autonomy.
harvey is a puppy who does not yet know the boundaries of acceptable behavior.
sterling helps harvey in learning these boundaries.
for example, when harvey is afraid, sterling gives him space.
when harvey approaches, sterling allows him to approach.
and when harvey retreats, sterling allows him to retreat.
i
reinforcement
harvey approaches, but sterling remains calm.
harvey therefore learns that approaching sterling does not produce an unwanted consequence.
and then harvey approaches again.
the absence of an unwanted consequence increases his willingness to approach.
harvey consequently moves from fear toward confidence.
ii
punishment
eventually harvey begins biting Sterling’s ear and crosses a boundary.
sterling then corrects him.
this correction decreases the frequency of the behavior.
i
positive punishment
an object that the subject does not desire is unhidden.
when harvey performs an undesired behavior, syerling produces an unpleasant correction.
the correction communicates that biting his ear is not acceptable.
the important part is that the correction is limited.
sterling does not continue punishing harvey after the boundary has been understood.
ii
negative punishment
the interaction itself is temporarily withdrawn.
after correcting harvey, sterling walks away.
the desired object for harvey is therefore temporarily hidden.
harvey loses access to the interaction because he crossed the boundary.
the punishment ends when the behavior has been corrected.
sterling then returns to playing with harvey.
this prevents the punishment from becoming a general judgment of harvey.
meaning, harvey is not taught that he is bad, but that a particular behavior is unacceptable.
this distinction is what separates conditioning from domination.
the purpose of the correction is to establish a boundary rather than to replace harvey’s will with sterling’s will.
for example, sterling does not force harvey to approach, play or become confident.
instead, he creates the conditions in which harvey can develop those behaviors himself.
this ties into the final statement of the story: the best thing one can give someone they are developing is not the answer. it is the patience to let them find it themselves.
thank you for your feedback and the shout out :)