We’re never gonna win the world
We’re never gonna stop the war
We’re never gonna beat this
If belief is what we’re fighting for
~ From John Mayer’s ‘Belief’

It is human nature, we think in terms of what we are exposed to or what are familiar with in our surroundings. Our thinking and the way we behave is greatly influenced by how we grew up – how we were raised as a kid.

The childhood is when most of our beliefs are formed, when we watch others and try to figure out what is the accepted norm – what is right and what is wrong. As we watch the world around us day after day, our beliefs firm up over time. We start to make our own mind and our own opinion about everything around us.

“Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.” said Albert Einstein. By the time we enter our adulthood, we already have our own beliefs about the world around us.

Just think about it:

  • Our political and social views are always influenced by the community we live in and by our own social circle. Don’t confuse this with your Face Book or Twitter network – there is a real world out there;  just look outside the window. :)
  • We always follow the same religion as our parents; our religious beliefs are greatly influenced by our family and the religious preaching while growing up.


Our thinking and our beliefs are the creations of our society. Our social life and culture that we grow-up in is the stating point for any of our beliefs and our vision. Over the years, as we get fully emerged in our culture and society, our beliefs grow so strong that we may stop questioning them anymore. They become our way of life, the way of our thinking, a part of our perceptions.

However, the problem with our beliefs is that they may be wrong; we may have been ill informed or we just don’t have all the facts to begin with. This is especially true for our conceptions about social life and different cultures - home and abroad.

Our mainstream Indian thinking, just like any other society, is heavily affected by our own life style. No doubt, many of our social beliefs are commonsense and are undisputed by the society – home or abroad. However, there are some other beliefs that many may consider them to be unfounded or false or myths or superstitions….; but we still believe in them. Because, that is how we were raised; that is what we have always believed!

The reality is, just because we believe in something, does not mean it is true. Just because we were told so, does not make it so. In particular, our beliefs and conceptions about other cultures and other religions are very biased. This may be a most common side-effect of every culture and every religion trying to protect itself, trying to prove itself superior. Our beliefs are always biased when we compare our own way of life to that of others.

And when we live abroad, we quickly realize that many of our beliefs about other cultures and other people may not be entirely true; some of them are just misconceptions. If it makes you feel any better, we are not the only ones with misconceptions. Everybody has their own notions and assumptions about other cultures. America and other western countries have their beliefs – some of them misconceptions – about people from India. Similarly we, Indians, have our own notions about Western and American cultures, many of them not entirely true.

It is human nature, we think in terms of what we are exposed to. Our beliefs are always influenced by our own upbringing, our own culture. Just remember, what we believe within our own culture may not be always true – especially when it comes to other cultures and living abroad.

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