²⁴A problem with this logic, which we already partly saw in Chapter 9, is that it is not clear why simulation of positive experiences would not cancel the effect of simulating negative experiences. Somehow, it seems that negative experiences are stronger in this case. It is possible that this only holds for some people whose thinking just happens to be more often negative than positive, and it is those people whose mood is most improved by meditation. Or, it could be that due to some evolutionary reasons, that is the case for the vast majority of humans: Baumeister et al. (2001) reviews a great number of results leading to the conclusion that “bad is stronger than good” as far as the emotional effects of life events are concerned. The case of rumination was treated in Chapter 9.