Impressions are the brain's food. Some impressions you don't have much control over - like it or not, you are going to be affected by the sights in your neighborhood unless you lock yourself in a windowless room and never come out. Many other forms of impressions are entirely under your control. Looking around at all the possible input sources in the environment, you can decide which ones to attend to, which ones to ignore. Say you decide to watch television. Turn it on. Ah, your favorite soap opera! The scene is a hospital waiting room. The distraught woman standing beside the window is being informed by the doctor that her husband has cancer. Symbolically, the woman reaches for the cord of the venetian blinds, closing them. Fade to black. Commercial. Once again you get a message loud and clear: Cancer equals death" - the dimming of the light. A very strong impression has been made. Now, if this happened rarely, you would have little cause for concern. But because similar depictions are made constantly in the media, you can easily begin to believe them. The fear of cancer has become a national epidemic.

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