I like to think of positive and negative experience pairs as the peak and trough of the same wave. Waves are disturbances rippling through an elastic medium. The nervous system feels like an elastic medium.
| Subjective Energy Level | Peak Experience | Trough Experience |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | in breath | out breath |
| 1 | pleasant learning event | unpleasant learning event |
| 2 | pleasant social interaction | unpleasant social interaction |
| 3 | pleasant family event | unpleasant family event |
| 4 | pleasant work event | unpleasant work event |
| 5 | heavenly experience | hellish experience |
| 6 | birth | death |
When the peaks and troughs have varying amplitudes, the set of experiences still seems to me to be along the same wave. There are lots of examples like this. Below is one with two cups of coffee after abstaining for a week.
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