{"id":77,"date":"2019-06-18T11:54:19","date_gmt":"2019-06-18T15:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=77"},"modified":"2019-07-03T20:33:54","modified_gmt":"2019-07-04T00:33:54","slug":"domestication-of-humans-the-four-agreements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/domestication-of-humans-the-four-agreements\/","title":{"rendered":"The Domestication of Humans, from The Four Agreements"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>So how did humans get in such a predicament? Toltec wisdom explains how we got stuck conforming to society\u2019s rules and stunting our true selves.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We all have individual, personal dreams. But those who came before us created a bigger dream \u2013 the \u201cdream of the planet.\u201d This dream created everything we see as normal in our existence: family, community, city, and the world. It encompasses laws, religion, cultures, and all of society\u2019s rules. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our parents are the first to teach us about this outside dream. As we grow, school, the media, churches, and other aspects of our environment hook our attention and tell us what proper behavior is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>We\u2019re told what is right and wrong. <\/li><li>We\u2019re told how to behave, what is acceptable, and what to believe. <\/li><li>We learn a specific language that wasn\u2019t our choice. <\/li><li>We didn\u2019t choose our own names, yet our name becomes a core part of our identity.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>All these rules and understandings of how the world works, everything we accept as true, is an <strong>agreement<\/strong>. We agree what\u2019s good and what\u2019s bad. We agree to a religion or a set of beliefs. We agree what constitutes proper behavior. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we accept an agreement, we believe it unconditionally. Our belief systems and our personalities are made up of thousands of these little agreements. We surrender to these beliefs.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are born into this system of beliefs \u2013 this societal dream \u2013 through no choice of our own. We\u2019ve been exposed to it for so long that we can\u2019t fathom living or thinking any different way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Domestication of Humans<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The process of surrendering to these outside beliefs is called \u201c<strong>the domestication of humans<\/strong>.\u201d <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As children, through this domestication process, we\u2019re trained just like dogs. We\u2019re rewarded for doing what Mom and Dad want us to do. We\u2019re punished when we go against the rules. We fear punishment, but moreso we fear being rejected and not being good enough. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this process we become someone different from our natural selves. We lose our normal, innate tendencies in this process of domestication. This is why adults behave differently than kids \u2013 adults are more efficient and productive perhaps, but also less joyful, inquisitive, and free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At a certain point we become our own domesticators. We don\u2019t even need an authority to threaten or punish us. Our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/your-belief-system\/\">belief system<\/a> \u2013 the <strong>Book of Law<\/strong> \u2013 rules our minds. The Book of Law consists of all the agreements we\u2019ve accepted as truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite its limitations, the Book of Law makes us feel safe. It\u2019s our understanding of how the world works, and it represents order in a world of chaos. We may not have chosen these agreements, but we <em>agreed<\/em> to them. And they don\u2019t change easily \u2013 challenging our own beliefs takes courage. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>The process of surrendering to these outside beliefs is called \u201c<strong>the domestication of humans<\/strong>.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>As children, through this domestication process, we\u2019re trained just like dogs. We\u2019re rewarded for doing what Mom and Dad want us to do. We\u2019re punished when we go against the rules. We fear punishment, but moreso we fear being rejected and not being good enough. <\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-77","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spiritual","tag-the-four-agreements","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Domestication of Humans, from The Four Agreements - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn about the domestication of humans from The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz. 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