--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Cultural conditioning is like bad…" description: "\"Cultural conditioning is like bad software. Over and over it's diddled with and re-written so that it can just run on the next attempt. But there is cu..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/terence-mckenna-287_authenticity_cultural-conditioning-is-like-bad-softwa_2401664.png" --- # Cultural conditioning is like bad software. Over and over… ![“Cultural conditioning is like bad software. Over and over it's diddled with and re-written so that it can just run on the next attempt. But there is cultural hardware, and it's that cultural hardware, otherwise known as authentic being, that we are propelled toward by the example of the shaman and…” quote by Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/terence-mckenna-287_authenticity_cultural-conditioning-is-like-bad-softwa_2401664.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/terence-mckenna-287_authenticity_cultural-conditioning-is-like-bad-softwa_2401664.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/terence-mckenna-287_authenticity_cultural-conditioning-is-like-bad-softwa_2401664.png) > “Cultural conditioning is like bad software. Over and over it's diddled with and re-written so that it can just run on the next attempt. But there is cultural hardware, and it's that cultural hardware, otherwise known as authentic being, that we are propelled toward by the example of the shaman and the techniques of the shaman. ... Shamanism therefore is a call to authenticity.” [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Cultural conditioning is likened to faulty software, while authentic being is the underlying hardware that shamanic practices aim to reveal. **In simple terms:** Culture is like buggy software; true self is the hardware shamanism uncovers. Key Takeaway Explore authentic self beyond cultural scripts. Themes authenticity culture shamanism self identity Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - personal growth - cultural critique - spiritual awakening Key Concepts software metaphor hardware analogy spiritual practice Questions to Reflect On - How can one balance cultural influence with personal authenticity? - What role do community norms play in shaping self? A Different Perspective The metaphor may ignore structural societal constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Authenticity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authenticity/) [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Conditioning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conditioning/) [Cultural Conditioning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cultural-conditioning-392649/) [Example](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/example/) [Hardware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardware/) [Healing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/healing/) [Known](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/known/) [Next](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/next/) [Over it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/over-it/) [Programming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/programming/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Shaman Shamanism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shaman-shamanism-6017143/) [Shamanism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shamanism/) [Shamanism Authenticity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shamanism-authenticity-6017142/) [Software](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/software/) [Technique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technique/) [Techniques Shaman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/techniques-shaman-6017144/) [Written](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/written/) ## Related quotes > [It doesn't matter what your cultural conditioning is, it falls into question under the influence of the psychedelic. And for most people that's frightening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/it-doesn-t-matter-what-your-cultural-conditioning-is-it-falls-into/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The spirit of the West, of America, is different than the East. The cultural conditioning is very different. It seems to be harder for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-spirit-of-the-west-of-america-is-different-than-the-east-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“Being considered "crazy" by those who are still victims of cultural conditioning is a compliment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-hairston/being-considered-crazy-by-those-who-are-still-victims-of-cultural/) [Jason Hairston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-hairston/) > [I find that my cultural conditioning leads me to focus attention on places where I am unlikely to get what I want. I developed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-b-rosenberg/i-find-that-my-cultural-conditioning-leads-me-to-focus-attention-on/) [Marshall B. Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-b-rosenberg/) > [To the non-initiate, whose experience of sexuality and bodily pleasure may be distorted by negative cultural conditioning, the introduction of sexuality into a sacred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeena-schreck/to-the-non-initiate-whose-experience-of-sexuality-and-bodily-pleasure/) [Zeena Schreck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeena-schreck/) > [The reason for the emphasis on shamanism and on other techniques is, you will need techniques if you go into the deep water. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-reason-for-the-emphasis-on-shamanism-and-on-other-techniques-is/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Shamanism is essentially a living tradition of alchemy that is not seeking the stone but has found the stone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/shamanism-is-essentially-a-living-tradition-of-alchemy-that-is-not/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Shamanism is not some obscure concern of cultural anthropologists. Shamanism is how religion was practiced for its first million years. Up until about 12,000…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/shamanism-is-not-some-obscure-concern-of-cultural-anthropologists/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Life lived in the absence of the psychedelic experience that primordial shamanism is based on is life trivialized, life denied, life enslaved to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/life-lived-in-the-absence-of-the-psychedelic-experience-that/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Skywalker is a direct translation of the word shaman out of the Tungusic, which is where Siberian shamanism comes from. So these heroes that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/skywalker-is-a-direct-translation-of-the-word-shaman-out-of-the/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Shamanism is just show business and philosophy is just a branch of that vaudevillian impulse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/shamanism-is-just-show-business-and-philosophy-is-just-a-branch-of/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The entire drug phenomenon of the 1960s happened without the concept of shamanism to help it along.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-entire-drug-phenomenon-of-the-1960s-happened-without-the-concept/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [In a way, this is a definition of shamanism. A shaman is a person who by some means has gotten out of their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/in-a-way-this-is-a-definition-of-shamanism-a-shaman-is-a-person-who/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [“The Archaic Revival is a clarion call to recover our birthright, however uncomfortable that may make us. It is a call to realize that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-archaic-revival-is-a-clarion-call-to-recover-our-birthright/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [One of the things that's so striking about shamanism in the native context is the absence of mental illness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/one-of-the-things-that-s-so-striking-about-shamanism-in-the-native/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) ## More by Terence McKenna > [History was an incredibly damaging experience, and now it's over . . . in a sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/history-was-an-incredibly-damaging-experience-and-now-it-s-over-in-a/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The history of man that you don't know is what your unconscious is made out of. Just as the history of yourself that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-history-of-man-that-you-don-t-know-is-what-your-unconscious-is/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [We are consciousness. We may not always be monkeys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-consciousness-we-may-not-always-be-monkeys/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [What is happening here is we are living past the age, by the millions, living past the age where cultural values make any sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/what-is-happening-here-is-we-are-living-past-the-age-by-the-millions/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [What history is, essentially, is a careening, out-of-control effort to find our way back to this state of primordial balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/what-history-is-essentially-is-a-careening-out-of-control-effort-to/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [And what is the primary datum? It's the felt presence of immediate experience. In other words, being here now is the primary datum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/and-what-is-the-primary-datum-it-s-the-felt-presence-of-immediate/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our culture difinitely takes an egocentric dominator view. The fear of the psychedelic experience is quite literally the fear of losing control. Dominator types…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/our-culture-difinitely-takes-an-egocentric-dominator-view-the-fear-of/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Every step into freedom contains within it the potential for greater bondage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/every-step-into-freedom-contains-within-it-the-potential-for-greater/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [This is the message of your life and my life - it’s that nothing lasts. Heraclitus said it: Panta Rhei. All flows, nothing lasts.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/this-is-the-message-of-your-life-and-my-life-it-s-that-nothing-lasts/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I often like to think that our map of the world is wrong, that where we have centered physics, we should actually place literature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/i-often-like-to-think-that-our-map-of-the-world-is-wrong-that-where/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Knowledge, or verbal facility, is no proof that you know what you're talking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/knowledge-or-verbal-facility-is-no-proof-that-you-know-what-you-re/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [No culture on earth is as heavily narcotized as the industrial West in terms of being inured to the consequences of maladaptive behavior. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/no-culture-on-earth-is-as-heavily-narcotized-as-the-industrial-west/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Man was not put on this planet to toil in the mud. Or the god who put us on this planet to toil in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/man-was-not-put-on-this-planet-to-toil-in-the-mud-or-the-god-who-put/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [If you take psychedelics and the Internet and music and put all of that together you have the basis for a new community that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/if-you-take-psychedelics-and-the-internet-and-music-and-put-all-of/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) [Explore all 745 Terence McKenna quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) ## More Authenticity quotes > [“the property that grounded the self in Romanticism was sincerity, and in modernism was authenticity, then in postmod ernism it is visibility.10”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/the-property-that-grounded-the-self-in-romanticism-was-sincerity-and/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [Every genuine expression of love grows out of a consistent and total surrender to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/every-genuine-expression-of-love-grows-out-of-a-consistent-and-total/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Real artists offer authenticity, not just money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhymefest/real-artists-offer-authenticity-not-just-money/) [Rhymefest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhymefest/) > [“I figure the more people think I'm just mildly weird, the less likely they are to know how weird I really am.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-hooyenga/i-figure-the-more-people-think-i-m-just-mildly-weird-the-less-likely/) [Melanie Hooyenga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-hooyenga/) > [I think people can read authenticity and they know when you're involved and when you're just slapping your name on something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/la-la-anthony/i-think-people-can-read-authenticity-and-they-know-when-you-re/) [La La Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/la-la-anthony/) > [“I strive for authenticity even though it brings with it vulnerability and the inevitable judgment of others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-r-w-lee/i-strive-for-authenticity-even-though-it-brings-with-it-vulnerability/) [L.R.W. Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-r-w-lee/) > [Children go where they find sincerity and authenticity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-cantona/children-go-where-they-find-sincerity-and-authenticity/) [Eric Cantona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-cantona/) > [Accepting the reality of our sinfulness means accepting our authentic self. Judas could not face his shadow; Peter could. The latter befriended the impostor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brennan-manning/accepting-the-reality-of-our-sinfulness-means-accepting-our-authentic/) [Brennan Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brennan-manning/) > [“Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, focus your energy on what you can create.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-bennett/instead-of-worrying-about-what-you-cannot-control-focus-your-energy/) [Roy Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-bennett/) > [Anything that I ever do is from the heart and authentic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/belinda-carlisle/anything-that-i-ever-do-is-from-the-heart-and-authentic/) [Belinda Carlisle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/belinda-carlisle/) > [What I love about Nivea is they're all about authenticity. The brand isn't pretending to be anything it isn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tessa-virtue/what-i-love-about-nivea-is-they-re-all-about-authenticity-the-brand/) [Tessa Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tessa-virtue/) > [There is nothing which so certifies the genuineness of a man's faith as his patience and his patient endurance, his keeping on steadily in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-nothing-which-so-certifies-the-genuineness-of-a-man-s-faith/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you're really famous, there's very little authenticity in people, so you prefer the company of children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-ryan/when-you-re-really-famous-there-s-very-little-authenticity-in-people/) [Katherine Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-ryan/) > [“We could not be fulfilled if we weren't inauthentic some of the time—inauthentic, that is, in relation to such things as our passing desires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-could-not-be-fulfilled-if-we-weren-t-inauthentic-some-of-the-time/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [No man knows the genuineness of his convictions until he has sacrificed something for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-hubbel-chapin/no-man-knows-the-genuineness-of-his-convictions-until-he-has/) [Edwin Hubbel Chapin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-hubbel-chapin/) [Browse all 1,437 Authenticity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authenticity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Cultural conditioning is like bad software. 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