The Mind of the Buyer

1 22 T H E M IN D O F T H E B UY E R
a n d faili ng, m ake s him d oub t th e s ta tement
th a t S a nta Cla us enters thro ugh th a t p assage.
Afte r a numbe r of suc h expe rienc es, c oming
m o re fre quently a s a dul th o o d app roa ch es, th e
i ndivi d ual fo rm s th e h abi t of supp re ssing his
inn a te t endenci es to c re dulity. H e tests eve ry
on e of hi s feelings of reality wi th hi s o th er
expe riences. He ten tatively a c ts up on th em
t o se e if they bring th e re sp onse to b e ex
pected, an d h e pl ac e s alongside th em th e i dea s
gain e d from forme r exp e ri enc es. If hi s m ove
m ent s do no t resul t i n sa tisfa c to ry re sp onse,
h e doub ts. If th e n ew impression i s belie d
by his pa st exp e ri ence s h e doub ts. Only if
th e new obj ec t give s full and expec ted re
sp ou se to h is te sting m ovement s, a n d a grees
wi th hi s p revi ou s exp e rienc e s is hi s do ub t re
solve d a n d ch ange d int o c onfi denc e.
Wh e n suc h a tes t resul ts favo rably it b rin gs
sa tisfacti on a n d appeasem en t o f desi re. I n
orde r to un de rsta n d h ow grea t may b e thi s
sa tisfac ti on a ft e r t h e resol ution of a do ub t,
on e h a s only to rea d th e “ M e di t a ti on s” o f some
of th e chu rch Fa th e rs, wh o, a fte r h avi ng been
ra cke d a n d t orn by religio us doub ts, c am e
to a sta te o f p erfe c t b elief and t rust. Th e re
to o on e m ay sec ure ill uminatin g un de rstand
ing of th e psych ologic al c ondition s a ttending