It's been on my mind since you discussed it Knut. A very thought provoking topic for me. I didn't intend to throw it at you on here but you popped up as I was contemplating it again.

I think you're right about the mind consciousness being reactionary.

1 of those reactions is preference. I prefer to eat honey over not eating it even though there's risk & pain involved with acquiring it.

Another reaction is the beliefs we subscribe to. Honey is amazing. Bee stings hurt for a while but they're not lethal.

Both our preferences & our beliefs impact our choice of action in a given scenario. I think knowing this allows us to regain some control over our actions since we have control over what we prefer & some control over what we believe. I might see someone die from swallowing a bee & change my belief around bees. I might also decide honey is disgusting and hence not worth the risk.

Yes we have conditioned responses but we can become aware of them & aware of their consequences. Not all our beliefs serve us and many arent even rational. We can uncover beliefs that cause us to suffer & then modify them. Beliefs are just agreements we've made with ourselves & others.