I image-in that Paul Simon's lyric, "Still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest," which I think
could well be rephrased as "Still a man thinks and feels what he wants to think and feel and ignores the rest," which in turn could also be rephrased as "Still a man thinks what his conditioning inclines him to think and ignores the rest," applies to
all of us to
some degree or other.
Which raises the question of whether or not one can
change one's conditioning or inclinations in said regard, that is, assuming one 'wanted' :smile" to.
My 'sense' is that AI (Artificial Intelligence) programs which are
programmed ('conditioned') lo
learn -- that is to
change (add to?) their own programming in ways which
improve the effectiveness of their performance in relation to their 'prime' ('original programmer 'given') objective(s) --
can and so
do do so.
In my view, there is
no 'reason' which HI (Human Intelligence :smile) can't
also function likewise.
To that 'end' - assuming any reader of this wishes (wants?
) to
proceed in pursuit of said kind(s) of objective(s), I recommend self-programming affirmations (or mantras) like:
"
Wherever I am,
whatever comes my way, the very
best is what I'll know, think, feel, do and say."
and
"I 'pray' (i.e. wish/want/believe) that my mind and heart will be(come)
open to whatever it is that I am (presently)
not appropriately seeing, feeling, appreciating, understanding, etc. which has the potential to
lead me to
bettering of the quality of my and others' Life experience and expression."
... or thoughts and wishes/beliefs to that effect.
Of course,
if one thinks and feels that what one
already (i.e.
presently) thinks and feels (wants, etc.)
is the very
best one could,
then the ideas/prayers/seekings/choices for
improvement (i.e.
change) would make
no 'sense'. In that case
completely affirming the thoughts and wishes that one
presently has
will make the
most 'sense' and so
be 'the way' one
smugly continues to go - albeit '
outsiders' may see one as
just going around in the
same ol', same ol' 'fool'ish circle in
that case.
