Some thoughts (leaving aside the linguistic quibble about whether "literally" is to be taken literally):

• the child is a clean slate, a "tabula rasa" until exposed to rewiring by its culture
• an authentic culture which encourages development beyond the level at which it is functioning can lead to a more favourable rewiring than a problematic culture which blocks development above its own level, or which is indifferent to the whole question of development
• if the mainstream culture doesn't provide the hard-wiring it will come from somewhere else (pop, peer group, commercial TV)
• recognizing the fact that another's brain may be hard-wired in a different way is a help to profitable communication and avoidance of a lot of futile arguments that are not going to lead anywhere
• recognizing the hard-wiring in one's own brain is a help to personal development which consists to a large extent in deprogramming that part of the hard-wiring that has a limiting effect on that development
• of course personal trauma can also be an important source of hard-wiring which also needs deprogramming
• pathological hard-wiring can include anything from minor obsessions, guru worship, addictions, eating disorders to criminal behaviour
• deprogramming can take hours, weeks or even the best part of a lifetime but remains worthwhile

The Boddhisatva vow becomes:

As long as there are sentient beings
I vow to save them from exposure to problematic hard-wiring
And from the limiting effects of hard-wiring already carried out

7 February 2002

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Last updated 25.4.2003