5.1｜How Memes Are Inputted: The Childhood Structure of Destiny

The next natural questions are: How are these memes inputted? When are they formed? And what are their defining characteristics?

The Psychological Foundation of "Seen at Three, Set at Seven"

In China, there is an ancient proverb: "Seen at three, set at seven" (San sui kan da, qi sui kan lao). It means that a person's ego structure and subconscious blueprint are virtually finalized in early childhood. The environment and inputs of this stage determine not only our lifelong interpretative framework but also profoundly shape our so-called destiny.

Almost every mainstream psychological school validates this from different angles. Consequently, contemporary psychotherapy must almost always return to an individual's early experiences to touch the unconscious content that was deeply written without conscious awareness.

The subconscious has several key characteristics:

1. Early Blank Period (Ages 1–7): Total absorption and unconditional writing. Children at this stage are like blank paper, lacking judgment mechanisms; they simply absorb, categorize, and store information.
2. Growth Period: Primary social input. After age 7, inputs mainly come from socialized education—knowledge, norms, and culture. Most of this remains at the conscious level, with only a small portion being received and rewritten by the subconscious.
3. Adolescence: Formation of Self-Consciousness (Ages 11–17): The "Solidification Period." The self-narratives, value judgments, and sense of identity formed during this time are extremely difficult to revise, as any revision implies a negation of the "Self."

In other words: Your "Destiny" is essentially the combination of the family you were born into, the parents you encountered during your most vulnerable attachment phases, the beliefs they inputted into you, and the value judgments shaped by teachers, peers, social norms, and media. These are written into the depths of the subconscious and become your "Fate."

Two Critical Window Periods

(1) The Attachment Input Period (Ages 1–7)

This is the "Hull Structure of the Ship of Destiny." It determines the fundamental "color" of your life—your basic feelings toward yourself, the world, and human relationships.

(2) The Self-Formation Period (Ages 11–17)

This is the "Heading of the Ship of Destiny." Adolescent identity building, social evaluation, and learning experiences are written into the subconscious, becoming a lifelong interpretative framework.

After these two windows, the subconscious structure is nearly fixed. To change it requires major life events or profound spiritual cultivation; otherwise, it is exceptionally difficult.

Classic Case Argument: Victor of Aveyron (Late 18th Century)

This is one of the most important cases in the history of psychology. Between 1797 and 1800, a boy who ran naked and acted like a wild beast was discovered in the forests of southern France. He could not speak, ate only raw food, was indifferent to cold or heat, had no attachments to humans, and showed no reaction to social norms.

Dr. Jean-Marc Itard conducted the first recorded "re-socialization experiment." The results:

1. Sensory abilities could be partially restored.
2. Behaviors could be partially trained.
3. Language, morality, and abstract thinking were almost completely impossible to establish.

Conclusion: Higher mental functions have critical developmental windows; once missed, they can never be fully recovered.

Second Argument: Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development

Erikson pointed out that adolescence (ages 12–18) is the critical stage for Ego Identity formation. The task is to answer: Who am I? What is my place in the world? What kind of person will I become?

• If stable: The individual constructs a sustainable self-narrative with consistent behavior and reduced internal conflict.
• If unstable: It leads to chronic identity confusion, emotional extremes, a lack of meaning, and a heavy cost to rebuild the self in adulthood.

How the Subconscious Becomes "Destiny"

We can now understand:

• Destiny is not innate.
• Only the biological framework and natural inclinations are innate.
• True destiny is the memetic structure written into the subconscious during childhood and adolescence.

During these window periods, the subconscious has no judgment; it only performs unconditional writing. This makes early experience the "Source Code," and life is the continuous self-actualization of that code. This is not mysticism; it is the result of psychological development mechanisms and the laws of subconscious formation.

Once formed:

• Facts are filtered, and feedback is self-interpreted.
• Actions align automatically.
• Life will continuously replay the script written in the early years.

All subsequent practices and results are simply self-actualizing the early self-perception. This is what we call "Destiny"!