Thought Patterns

This is a pragmatic hypothesis I came up with, I have no idea if it's valid or not. Just like in programming, we create algorithms in our minds and sort them in different classes and subclasses. Here's an example:

* Class "Self-Awareness"

o "I am fundamentally wrong"

+ "I should fix myself to be good"

# "I should do good things to prove my worthiness"
# "I should pray to God to forgive my flaws"
# "I need others' approval to feel worthy"

+ "I should be ashamed of myself"

# "I should hide my feelings"
# "I shouldn't make mistakes"

* Class "People"

o "People are evil"

+ "People should be kept under control"

# "God should be the superior moral judge"
# "Slavery is good"

+ "People are no better than animals"

# "Animals should have the same rights as humans"

Each subclass inherits the beliefs of the former class. So if you want to individually change or amend a subclass, like "Slavery is good", the new values still have to comply with the beliefs "People should be kept under control" and "People are evil". You cannot overwrite parent values with their subclasses. So if we want the belief changed to "Slavery is bad", we'd have to work at a deeper level and change "People are evil". But drastically changing low-level classes in your belief system would probably mean that most of their subclasses will be destroyed. Humans have an automatic drive to consistency, and the unconscious mind won't allow the beliefs to be changed, unless they are outdated and overruled by repetition. I think that's what positive affirmations are about. You repeat them so many times that your unconscious mind is now ready to make a new pattern and replace the old one with it. If the old pattern, however, is still in use, then the new pattern won't be allowed to overwrite it because of internal contradiction. It would be like trying to join the same poles of two magnets together. That's why the old pattern should not be referred to. This way, the evidence for the new pattern will prevail and the class can be redefined. Overall, if you want to change someone's belief system, you have to isolate them from their current surroundings. That's what cults do and it works perfectly well. It's kinda like brainwashing - in order to change the core beliefs of a person, you need to have them isolated from their prior environment, because it would keep reminding them of their old way of thinking.