 Also contributing to the epigenetic modeling of the self is the fact that imagination, ambition, and self-interest inevitably generate counter-associations—experiences of pain or indifference where one anticipated pleasure. Indulgence in the pleasures of imagination, Hartley writes, often “lead[s] men into such a degree of solicitude, anxiety, and fearfulness, in minute affairs, as to make them inflict upon themselves greater torments, than the most cruel tyrant could invent” (OM 2, 54). Similarly with ambition: keeping up with the “latest” fashion (in cars, clothes, or philosophers) for the sake of winning others’ approval is hard work.