Human emotional states such as intense love, hatred, grief, and obsession are commonly attributed to the intensity of singular experiences. This work proposes an alternative and complementary framework—the Theory of Mental Displacement—which argues that the psychological power of a memory is determined not only by intensity, but equally by repetition and recall frequency.Using an economic analogy of memory value, this theory models how low-intensity but repeatedly recalled thoughts can accumulate influence comparable to, or exceeding, high-intensity shock events. The framework introduces the concepts of Temporary Memory (TM) and Base Memory (BM), explaining how repetition converts transient thoughts into dominant emotional structures. A limited-capacity Highlight Window is proposed, representing the brain’s active priority space, where only a small number of high-value memories exert continuous influence, while others remain archived without emotional dominance.The theory further introduces the notion of Terminal Mental Clones, conceptualized as emotional continuity mechanisms that function as psychological “UPS systems” during grief and extreme attachment. These clones persist not due to objective reality, but due to sustained recall, and naturally terminate when the associated memory is displaced from the highlight window rather than erased.This work emphasizes displacement over suppression, arguing that psychological regulation is achieved by redirecting repetition toward neutral, grounding anchors rather than attempting to delete or deny memory content. The proposed model offers implications for cognitive therapy, grief processing, addiction frameworks, and human–AI interaction design, providing a system-level explanation for how repeated thought patterns shape emotional reality.
Khan Alim ul haq (Fri,) studied this question.