Hi!

I think your explanation of consciousness training is very accurate. You reminded me of a composition class in which I explained rationalization as a logical fallacy to my students; as beings endowed with the ability to speak in articulate language, we humans are capable of providing truculent and stupid explanations, to the point of tricking ourselves (our conscience). For example, "I can steal from this store because the owners have more money than me and so I need and deserve this more than they do"; with explanations like this, we are conditioning our mind to validate reprehensible behaviors like this. Not only people with psychopathic personality disorders have problems of conscience, of ethics; also mentally healthy people can make themselves develop a disorder after much rationalization.

I was delighted to read your post, @benton3. Best of luck :)