The Baby Elephant Syndrome / Die Baba Olifant Sindroom

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“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds!”

Marcus Garvey

Are you familiar with the "Baby Elephant Syndrome”? Let me tell you the story. When you chain a baby elephant every night to a tree, whether it be by chain or rope, the baby elephant will initially try with all its might to break the rope/chain, but it isn’t strong enough to do so. It will try and try and it will keep on failing until it realizes that its efforts are futile. It will then finally abandon its attempts for the rest of its life. Later, when the elephant is fully grown, it can be tied to a small tree with a thin rope, and even though it could easily free itself by breaking the rope or uprooting the small tree, it won’t, because its mind has been conditioned by its past experiences. It won’t even make the slightest attempt to break free. What this huge and majestic animal has done, is to confine its present abilities by the limitations of its past experiences. The relevance of this story? Human beings are similar to that of the elephant by committing this error; the difference is that we can choose not to accept the false boundaries created by others or by ourselves during the past. Wittgenstein tells of a man, imprisoned in a room with an unlocked door that opens outwards. That man will stay imprisoned in that room as long as it doesn’t occur to him to push rather than pull. The mind can enslave you or set you free, so always tuck at those ropes and chains of mental enslavement and emancipate yourself from any slavery.

None can destroy iron but its own rust,
So Ratan Tata said.

Emancipate yourself, that’s a must,

simply change your mindset.

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“Bevry jouself van verstandelike slawerny, niemand anders as onsself kan ons bevry van die bande wat ons denkkonstrukte inkerker nie!”

Marcus Garvey

Is jy vertroud met die "Baba Olifant Sindroom”? Kom ek vertel jou vlugtig die storie. Wanneer jy elke aand ‘n baba olifant vasmaak aan ‘n boom, hetsy dit nou met ‘n tou of ‘n ketting is, gaan die olifantjie aanvanklik met al sy/haar mag ruk en pluk aan die ketting/tou ten einde los te kom. Die ketting/tou gaan egter te sterk wees vir die olifantjie, en met tyd gaan die olifantjie die poging vaarwel roep. Veel later, wanneer die olifant mooi groot en uitgegroei is, kan jy hom/haar met ‘n dun stuk tou aan ‘n tengerige boompie vasmaak. Hoewel die olifant in staat is om met gemak los te breek van die voorwerp waaraan hy/sy vasgemaak is, sal hy/sy nie want in sy/haar verstand is dit onmoontlik om dit te doen – dit as gevolg van ‘n gekondisioneerdheid van verlede gebeure. Die olifant weet mos dit sal nutteloos wees om eers te probeer… Wat hierdie kollosale dier gedoen het, is om sy/haar huidige vermoë in te perk deur die begrensing van sy/haar ervaringe in die verlede.

Wat is die relevansie van hierdie storie? Mense is soos hierdie baba olifant. Ons word so gekondisioneer deur dogma dat ons dink dat om daarteen te skop, niks gaan help nie. Ons verskil egter van die olifant daarin dat ons kan besluit om die valse grense wat deur ander daar gestel is, te bevraagteken en te verbreek. Ludwig Wittgenstein vertel van ‘n man wie in ‘n kamer gevangene geneem is. Die deur van die kamer maak na buite oop, en nie na binne nie. Daardie man het in daardie vertrek gevangene gebly want hy het nooit daaraan gedink om eerder aan die deur te stoot, as om soos gewoonlik daaraan te trek nie. Jou denkkonstrukte kan jou ‘n slaaf maak of dit kan jou bevry, so ruk en pluk altyd aan die kettings en toue van slawerny en onderwerping en bevry jouself van enige vorm van inperking.

Yster kan homself vernietig alleenlik deur sy roes,
wel, dit is wat Ratan Tata meen.

Skop vas teen valse dogma, of jy gaan lang trane ween.

Onthou, wat jy saai sal jy oes.