(01-29-2011, 02:52 PM)WildFlower Wrote: If I'm understanding you correctly, the sub would have to be specific wouldn't it?

Tangential to your habit breaker/exchanger suggestion, I've been wondering a bit about the psychology behind why an insult is infinitely more powerful than a compliment. I know it is for me anyway. If I was complimented 10 times in a row, followed by 1 insult, I know it would be the insult that would effect my mood more so than the compliments. Studies show we (and by we I include animals) remember painful event's in our lives much more than we do any other type of event's. I'm not a big fan of Evolutionary Psychology but I'm sympathetic towards the view that it's biologically more important to avoid danger, and therefore the subconscious is more privy to learning what's 'bad' and should be 'avoided' rather than what's 'good'. It would make sense that an insult effects your mood more than a compliment, as to make a greater lasting impression and influence on you. The upshot - and the downside - of this, I guess, is that it's much easier to reinforce negative beliefs about one self than it is positive beliefs. I'd say it's not unreasonable to suggest that everyone reaches adult age with some form of negative baggage they've accumulated over the years. Thank god for Subliminals. I wonder if there's a way to harness the natural power of the insult and inject it into the compliment.