I think another key point related to this is that it is our child brain’s interpretation of what people say to or about us that imprints. I have no memories of being called stupid as a child, but I do have memories of my big sister making fun of me when I didn’t know what words meant, which can still translate as “stupid” and “inferior.” And she was just a child, too — she didn’t mean me any intentional harm. Or I can remember coming home from school excited to tell my parents something that I learned and then feeling deflated when they explained something further about that topic, because I internalized it as what I knew wasn’t “good enough.” And sometimes the damage can be from what is intended to be positive feedback — like unintentionally implanting a fixed mindset into a child by telling her that she is “so smart” which creates a where when she’s not immediately good at something, it threatens her identity and she gives up. In my work with my clients to surface stories from the subconscious, I often go out of my way to remind them that the messages we take in that become our subconscious wiring don’t always come from explicit “trauma” as most people think about “trauma” — but rather our brain’s immature way of making everything about us. So when a parent or teacher is having a bad day and makes a mistake, even if we don’t consciously remember the moment, it can still create scars or “programming” that effects us every day as adults. This is a great article, George — thank you for taking the time to write it!