When people think about mind control or programming of people’s minds, it usually tends to be about outlandish conspiracies or science fiction ideas like cloning or assassins that are brainwashed to have certain codes or phrases that make them freeze or obey commands. People would be very amused to find underground laboratories with evil scientists, while at the same time completely ignoring the very real and subtle societal programming that is present inside all of us. We hopefully do not have codes to make us freeze all motor functions, but we all tend to believe in social constructs such as currency, modern nation-states and other social rules that complicate our interactions with others. I am not going to create an exhaustive list of everything we believe as a result of social programming because that would take all day, but there are a few things I want to touch on.
First, the society we live in is not normal. We are raised in these places and we can only have one kind of upbringing at once, so whatever we are exposed to from a young age is always going to be normal for us. Before the internet, it would have been extremely difficult to deprogram ourselves from ideologies put onto us because that would require you to meet someone with radical ideas and also for them to trust you enough to share them with you. Now that we have spiritual people as well as philosophers, more and more people are aware of the social programs that limit our minds and alter our perception to whatever supports incumbent ideologies and worldviews.
For example, people in the US tend to be biased against certain other types of people who are demographically different from the majority. Also there are invisible ideologies every person is assumed to accept such as animals being food or the conception of thinner people being more attractive than larger ones (Which historically was inverted). These things are all social programs that so many people do not even realize are limiting their mind and dictating the opinions they have of themselves and others. Especially if you are a person that does not fit into the socially valued ideas that exist.
Living without social programs makes it obvious when someone else has them. You will be speaking with people about subjects and run into statements that obviously come from a form of social programming that is present in society. The most obvious situations where social programming is obvious is with politics, romantic attraction, or on issues related to social justice and human rights. Break down any limits on your mind that do not seem reasonable, and you will be better off and see things a lot more clearly. Always assume that mainstream ideologies exist to mislead you.