CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

 

Classical conditioning (also known as Pavlovian or respondent conditioning) is a learning process in which an innate response to a potent stimulus comes to be elicited in response to a previously neutral stimulus; this is achieved by repeated pairings of the neutral stimulus with the potent stimulus. (definition from Wikipedia)

 

In 1901 Nobel Prize winner Ivan Pavlov conditioned his dogs to salivate at the sound of a metronome. This is called classical conditioning or respondent conditioning.  We as consumers have been conditioned by corporations our whole lives. We believe their advertising to be true, even when it isn’t. We believe the government would remove ads that aren’t true to protect us. 

Can we reverse conditioning? Yes, we can. If we repeatedly sounded the metronome and did not feed the dogs, gradually they would stop salivating at the sound. Likewise, as consumers, if we are aware of what advertisers are doing and seek out the truth, we can reverse our conditioning.

Advertisers like to use an advertising technique sometimes called “the warm fuzzies”, especially at the holidays. This technique is used to target your heart, and make you buy a product because it reminds you of your mother, or your dog, or your childhood, etc., Once you are aware of this, the “warm fuzzy” commercials actually start to seem nauseating.

Likewise, with the meat, dairy, and egg industry. Once you see the truth behind them, once you see what they don’t want you to see, once you learn what they don’t want you to know, it’s easy to overcome their conditioning.

Take the dairy industry as an example.

In 1974 the dairy industry promoted milk as being healthy and needed to build strong bones. The FTC told them to stop as the ads were false, but they still imply that today, even though almost 80% of the population has milk allergies or are lactose intolerant. Studies have shown people who consume dairy are at a higher risk for bone fractures. Yet they continue to imply that milk is needed by the human body to build strong bones. They try to show people that dairy cows are happy cows. They even try to fool people into thinking that a cow will give milk without having calves.

Dairy cows are one of the most abused animals in the industry. The dairy industry will show you cows in a field eating grass on a small family farm, but that is far from the truth. Most of our dairy comes from huge factory farms. The industry will call a factory farm a “family farm” if most of the stock is owned by a family.  Organic milk isn’t any nicer to cows.

The industry would like you to believe dairy cows live a stress free life. Nothing is further from the truth.

Dairy cows are repeatedly raped because the only way they can give milk is to have calves.  The industry will call this “artificial insemination”, but they have to use equipment to hold the cow still. This equipment is referred to as a “rape rack.”

Shortly after giving birth, the calf will be taken from its mother. After all, the milk is for consumers not for calves. There isn’t any profit in giving milk to calves. These calves are either killed for their skins, used in rodeos, used to make cheese (cheese is made with rennet, which is a calf stomach) or used for veal. Veal calves are chained in small crates so they can hardly move. They are fed a very unhealthy diet. This makes their flesh pale in color and brings a higher price for the corporation. They are killed in just 6 short months.

Cows naturally live for up to 20 years, but in the dairy they average 5-7 years. That’s 5-7 years of repeatedly being raped, having their babies stolen and killed, being fed massive amounts of hormones and chemicals, and having the life milked out of them.

Once you learn the truth about dairy, you will never look at a glass of milk, or a piece of cheese the same. You will be repulsed by the very presence of dairy. Dairy ads will make you angry as you become aware of how they are trying to fool the public.

I encourage you to research your food. You only have one body for your life. Know what you put into your body, where it comes from, how it’s made, and what it contains. I encourage you to be AWARE. Make educated choices for how you spend your money.

Once you learn the truth about dairy, meat and egg industries you will become outraged at how they are trying to brainwash us. Once you see how they are not only destroying people’s health and torturing animals, but also causing planet destruction and world starvation, you will become more outraged.  Once you see how they are keeping these secrets from the public you will become outraged enough to stop buying their products. Then and only then will you know that your choices are your own and not the product of conditioning. Then and only then will you know true freedom. Veganism isn’t extreme, it’s informed and being aware.