“That’s the Way I Was Brought Up”

Sometimes, I can’t help but get frustrated when people say, “That’s the way I was brought up,” as an excuse for the most blinkered, unproductive way of thinking and acting. As though being raised a certain way makes that way set in holy stone. As though following the edicts of our upbringing is the only absolutely right, just, and pure way to live one’s life. And to question that way, or—heaven forbid—defy that way, makes us either evil or insane.

But what if the way we were raised is wrong? What if, say, we were raised by chimpanzees, but we didn’t realize that while we were children? Now that we’re adults, should we still be flinging poop, because “that’s the way we were brought up?”