In The Fifth Agreement, Don Miguel Ruiz and Don Jose Ruiz explore how human consciousness becomes shaped by external influences through a process they term “domestication.” This process fundamentally alters the authentic nature of humans, replacing instinctual behaviors with societal programming. The authors argue that domestication creates a distorted self-image that leads to suffering by replacing authentic expression with socially constructed beliefs. Through this domestication, individuals learn to judge themselves according to external standards, create internal conflicts based on adopted beliefs, and ultimately lose connection with their authentic nature. Understanding this process reveals how humans transform from authentic beings into domesticated individuals who maintain their own subjugation through internalized belief systems.

The Ruizes argue that domestication begins in early childhood when individuals still exist in a state of natural authenticity, gradually replacing this state with programmed behaviors and beliefs. According to the authors, “As little children, we’re wild and free. We run around naked without self-consciousness or self-judgment. We speak the truth because we live in truth. Our attention is in the moment” (18). This description captures the undomesticated human before societal programming takes effect.