ABSTRACT
Programming is the messages we have all received about body weight, shape, appearance, emotions, and other important things. These messages can come from family, friends, media, or other sources. The fact that we are carrying these things around is not a problem. We are all "programmed." It is the fact that we tend to lose perspective and automatically believe and behave based on what our programming tells us, that leads us to lose sight of the fact that it is just "programming." George Orwell, in a 1944 essay, said, "Circus dogs jump when the trainer cracks his whip, but the really well-trained dog is the one that turns his somersault when there is no whip". The famous psychologist, cognitive therapist, and researcher Albert Ellis did a study of mass media output in 1950, called The Folklore of Sex, that shows how we circus dogs have been trained to jump for decades in the US, at least.
