And Just When You Thought.....

 ...You Always Think Things Through...

Today is not just the day that Elizabeth Taylor clawed her way into the world 79 years ago, it is also the date that - 75 years ago - the influential Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov passed away. Does that name ring any bells...?

Born in September of 1849, Ivan Petrovich Pavlov's name is often heard in the idiom "Pavlov's dog," with regards to any situation where your reaction to stimuli is due to some sort of conditioning. Held in high regard by none other than Vladimir Lenin, Pavlov proved the existence of the "conditioned reflex." 

He behaviorally trained dogs by combining the ringing of a bell with the act of being fed, and eventually the dogs would salivate in reaction to the sound of the bell. Well, perhaps a bell - according to Wikipedia "his writings record the use of a wide variety of stimuli, including electric shocks, whistles, metronomes, tuning forks, and a range of visual stimuli, in addition to ringing a bell."

In essence this means that he proved that the dog's mind no longer thought about food, but the dog's body (salivary glands specifically) reacted to the sound involuntarily and its body associated the sound with food.

Surprisingly, Wikipedia also cryptically points out, "It is less widely known that Pavlov's experiments on the conditional reflex extended to children, some of whom apparently underwent surgical procedures, similar to the dogs, for the collection of saliva." I guess they didn't want to elaborate too much on that. 

Probably because all one has to do is extend the connection between Pavlov's dog(s) and your average fast food and television addicted or shopaholic human in the 21st century - and it may become all too apparent that there is not much difference between the "conditioned reflex" and well, simply put, "brainwashing." 

Plus, admit it, the idea of this guy being around kids and experimenting on them is downright creepy - there's an involuntary response for ya.

Pavlov laid the groundwork for the in depth study of behavioral modification, and behavioral conditioning, and many psychologists and even sociologists built upon his experiments. He had shown that eventually people can also be controlled (just like dogs) to do things at the behest of an entrained stimuli. 

Long after his theories have been perfected and ramped up with new technologies, we can look around today and see that his concept has taken on a new life. Like Edward Bernays, Pavlov also believed in the Hive Mind, or Herd Mentality. The amount of stimuli to which we are exposed that implicitly instructs us to react without critical thinking is enormous - and usually done without the best of intentions (for you and me anyway). Pavlovian responses are teased out of us on a daily basis. Think about it. No, I mean really think about it.