"I like kids. I also like porn."
What goes through your mind when you hear this line? If you're educated in philosophy you might think "non-sequitur" and you'd be right. But there's a lot of people in society today who don't have that level of education. So, what do you think goes through their mind when they hear that line? Let me guess: "Ew! I wouldn't trust you with my kids." or "Oh, so you watch kiddie porn, huh?"
The latter is obviously an assumption, and while it might be true that the person making that statement could be hinting that he/she watches kiddie porn, there's no evidence of such.
The former is also an assumption... but of what? Well, let's look at the quote again. The obvious keywords that trigger this assumption are "kids" and "porn". The assuming mind perceives the person-in-question to be a possible "child molester". Again, how do we arrive at this conclusion without any evidence? We're still just assuming.
Yes I know, it's an awkward statement to make, but the fact that a person likes kids isn't necessarily relevant with them also liking porn.
Here's another example:
"I like dogs. I also like fruits."
What're you thinking now? Is this one awkward too, like the first example? "What the hell do dogs even have to do with fruits?", you might ask. But if someone were to say this to you just out of random, you might also take it as a conversation starter. Some might respond with, "Oh, cool. I like dogs and fruits too. What kind of fruits do you like?" And then you'd move on to ask what their favorite type of dogs are.
Yet, saying in the same breath that you like kids and porn would invariably turn most people off. Notice what the brain does in the face of such statement. It's like a computer rapidly trying to figure something out as if it's thinking, "How do I respond to this information?"; until it can arrive at and produce the one thing it was programmed to do when it can find nothing else logical.
Perhaps that's it -- we're programmed... by what? Well, by culture, what else? After all, there's nothing inherently wrong in having a discussion about kids, is there? No shame in talking about dogs and fruits, right? What about porn - how is this topic treated in the culture? Hushed up? Taboo?
Yes, we are much like computers in the sense that we too can be programmed. As with the case above, when faced with such statement, it's not often that we respond with "Does Not Compute", or in human translation -- "I'm confused". No, the cultural response will either be, "gross", "weird", "child molestor" or "kiddie porn watcher", though gross and weird are highly subjective. Don't believe me? Try it out as an exercise. Copy and paste -- "I like kids. I also like porn." -- in the comment section of YouTube (under a popular video, no matter the topic), then see the flood of cultural replies you will get. Want to go further than that? Print it on a bumper sticker and stick on your vehicle. Then wait.
Just a simple PSA, reminding you to be (more) aware of your cultural conditioning and how it can ultimately infect your language comprehension and how this infection could influence your thinking, your actions and your emotions -- these last three being the foundation upon which our culture is built.
Thanks for reading my very first Steemit article. Take care!