How Experience Affects the Mind
Experience – the state of interacting with one’s environment; or, the retained effect(s) of such interaction.
Drawing from the “Law of Conservation of Energy”, one can reasonably conclude that anything that impinges on, or comes into, our field of consciousness, becomes a part of our consciousness.
Likewise, anything that becomes a part of our consciousness, changes the state of our consciousness from its previous state.
The ability to retain these changes (added information) to our consciousness allows us to use the record(s) of these experiences for analysis and computation, and for comparison to subsequent experience; all this to facilitate the ever-present impulse to “Survive”.
However, the effective facilitation of our Survival depends on our ability to properly interpret our experiences.
Interpretation – the “meaning” one assigns to one’s experience(s).
How do we “interpret” our experiences? How do we assign “meaning” to them?
If our primary drive is to Survive – which certainly appears to be the case – then we are bound to interpret our experiences in terms of whether we perceive such experiences to be “helpful” to our Survival or “harmful” to our Survival.
It appears – on the most basic level – that we perceive those experiences which are “more pleasant than painful” as helpful to our Survival.
Likewise, it appears that we tend to perceive as harmful to our Survival, those experiences that are “more painful than pleasant”.
This is easily seen in our obvious “attraction” to things which give us “pleasure”, and in our equally obvious “aversion” to things which give us “pain”.
Therefore, we can conclude that we are generally and naturally “attracted” to those things which we perceive are helpful to our Survival; and we are likewise “repelled” or “repulsed” by those things which we perceive are harmful to our Survival.
However, as one’s understanding of the dynamics and purpose of Life broadens by virtue of one’s experience, one may (or will) begin to realize that it is often necessary to experience “pain” to attain a “pleasurable” result.
(“No pain, no gain.”)
Fundamental Assumptions – conclusions one reaches due to one’s interpretation of one’s experiences.
Fundamental Assumptions are concepts which one holds true, and which one uses to form the bases for action, which are also known as “practical beliefs”.
Example:
“A” is pleasant; therefore, “A” is “good”.
“B” is unpleasant; therefore, “B” is “not good”, or is “bad”.
These are assumptions. The validity of these assumptions depends on one’s understanding and/or interpretation of what constitutes “good”, in Truth.
Core (Practical) Beliefs – what one accepts as a generally true or necessary course of action – under a given set of circumstances – as a means of facilitating one’s Survival.
Example:
“Because I believe A, B, and C to be True;
then, when A, B, and C present themselves,
I must do (or must not do) X, Y, and Z.
Many times, this “reasoning” takes place instinctively, “under the radar” of one’s consciousness; i.e., unknown to the actor, himself.
It is the Core (Practical) beliefs of a Being that dictate or determine the Being’s course of action under a given set of circumstances, because they relate directly to the Being’s perception of reality and his efforts towards Survival.
Theoretical (Stated) Beliefs – what one agrees is “true”, “right” or “necessary"; usually, but not always, springing from one’s Core (Practical) Beliefs.
“Stated” beliefs can spring from direct experience – in which case they would be aligned with the Core beliefs, having sprung from them – or, they can be an expression of agreement with a concept that one has not yet had direct experience with.
The latter are not always aligned with one’s Core beliefs, and are thus vulnerable to being undermined or invalidated by one’s Core beliefs.
Example:
There is a Man who extols the virtues of eating “one meal a day”, and may consciously agree with such virtues; but “for some reason” can’t stop eating snacks all through the day.
Such person’s “stated” beliefs are contradicted and undermined by his “Core” beliefs which suggest that "it's ok because I grew up eating like this", “I need to eat more”, or that “one little snack won’t hurt”.
Actions – the visible result, or expression, of what one agrees is true, right or necessary; which always spring from one’s Core beliefs. They are the active expression of the Being’s efforts to Survive.
Example 1:
There is one who claims to believe in and love God, but engages in actions universally recognized as “wrong” or “evil”…on a consistent basis.
In this case, one is demonstrating by his actions what his “Core” beliefs are – that he considers the “evil” he is doing to be more “true”, “right” or “necessary” than the principles he claims to embrace.
“Hypocrisy” is a common classification of this type of phenomena…but this classification can sometimes be insufficient; especially when we consider that even “hypocrisy” is the product of a misperception of reality.
What caused the misperception?
Example 2:
There is one whose actions (and Core beliefs) are aligned with his “stated” beliefs. This could be one who, by his experience, has formed a certain set of Core beliefs which he actually lives by and upholds or proclaims to others.
In other words, what a person really believes (in) is best seen in what he or she regularly DOES...his or her ACTIONS.
It seems that those whose Core beliefs and Stated beliefs are in agreement have a greater degree of success than do those whose core beliefs and stated beliefs are in conflict with each other.
