Most conditioning works on humans until they learn how to think a bit deeper about how to think and if they are the one controlling their own thoughts or if some external stimuli is controlling them. (meta-cognition/critical thinking skills)

Granted, some people never even think to think about how they think.... and therefore they are basically controlled by external stimuli for the majority of their lives. Thanks for this post because I think that science is fun to think about. hehe :)