Cultural Paradigm as a Perceptual Filter
The cultural paradigm learned in childhood is a powerful filter through which we perceive the world and form our thoughts. At an early age, we absorb specific ways of seeing and interpreting phenomena, which become the basic templates or stereotypes of thinking that govern our view of reality. As noted in one of the sources, "Culture sets the paradigm of thought. By acquiring such a cultural paradigm of thinking in childhood, we look at all the phenomena in the world through it. The adopted paradigm of thought is the most important stereotype we carry within us. For this reason, every one of our thoughts is refracted through the prism of stereotypes. However, they help us in communication by shortening the time required to process information; but in this shortening, the features of the observed phenomenon that do not fit the customary representation are pushed out of the field of consciousness, even though these features may turn out to be the most essential characteristics of the phenomenon." (source: link txt)This means that our ability to quickly navigate the world and make decisions largely depends on the notions fixed in our childhood. This mechanism significantly conserves our mental resources, allowing us to instantly interpret the events we encounter; however, it can also limit our flexibility and our capacity to notice new aspects of reality that do not conform to the established paradigm.In summary, the cultural paradigm acquired in the early stages of life forms our internal "filter" of perception, which, on one hand, simplifies the processes of information processing and social interaction, and on the other, may hinder the unveiling of a complete picture of the world unless we begin to rethink and modify this initial set of ideas.Supporting citation(s):"Culture sets the paradigm of thought. By acquiring such a cultural paradigm of thinking in childhood, we look at all the phenomena in the world through it. The adopted paradigm of thought is the most important stereotype we carry within us. For this reason, every one of our thoughts is refracted through the prism of stereotypes. However, they help us in communication by shortening the time required to process information; but in this shortening, the features of the observed phenomenon that do not fit the customary representation are pushed out of the field of consciousness, even though these features may turn out to be the most essential characteristics of the phenomenon." (source: link txt)