For the most part we live in the world of "me". A definition for the ego is "The sum total of beliefs one holds about oneself." On the right hand side of the illustration below we can see a feedback loop created by these self-fulfilling beliefs. The pattern is as follows:
LOOP
We get a result
Why? Because we either took or failed to take an action
Why do we act or not act? Due to our attitudes which may be positive, negative or indifferent.
Where do our attitudes actually come from? From layer upon layer of beliefs/judgements that we have accumulated and stacked up into what become belief systems.
Creating Belief
So how do we actually create a belief or a judgement?
We take a piece of information, an image or impression
We store this in the brain
We create a value charge which has 2 components: Polarity and intensity. I.e. It is either negative or positive and ranges from very weak to very strong. So one could for example be mildly uncomfortable around dogs, or paralysed by fear at the thought of a dog...depending on one's beliefs about dogs.
The final step is to create a neural link between the impression and the value charge
Recall
Our impression may be visual image, a timeframe (eg. when I was on holidays in Spain), a specific incident, a location etc. The way we remember is that any time we encounter any new experience that reminds us of the issue, both the image AND the feeling of charge arise at the same time.
