Preference Reference

What causes preference, and what does it apply to?

To prefer something, is to like or appeal to it. But what causes someone to like 1 option over another? Preferring something, is a significant aspect of subjectiveness, since subjectiveness is based on an individual's opinion (as I further analysed in a post from 1 week ago; Objective Subjectivity). If someone’s opinion is based on their interpretation, which functions by sensory perception and memory access of that which they have perceived (as I further described in a post from 5 days ago; Interpretation of Interpretation), then it seems that opinion is very similar to preference. 

Both, an opinion or preference, are basically someone’s subjective view, based on interpretation, that a certain option or category is better than another. The outcome of either of these concepts, seem to be determined through their minds interpretation, which causes that person’s estimate of which option they think is better. Any estimate of preference is made, based on information they’ve gained, which is not 100% accurate, so virtually comes down to a best guess (as I further explained in a post from ½ a month ago; Best Guess).

There seems to be 2 categories of causes of preference; subconscious, and conscious. Subconscious preference would basically be the concept of liking an option, without considering cause and effect of the factors involved. It would be caused by memory access of factors involved, and based on how memory of those factors are linked with reinforcement triggers. I explained more about subconsciousness in a post from about 10 months ago; Subconscious Subjection, and reinforcement triggers in a post from 1.5 months ago; Reinforcement Mechanisms. So this type of preference is basically a best guess of subconscious memory access of factors involved in the option, and based on which factors in memory, trigger the most reinforcement. 

The reinforcement could be positive, to influence preference of that factor, or negative, to influence preference of another factor. Besides positive and negative reinforcement, there is also reinforcement of the neural pathway, to cause ease of memory access to a certain factor, based on repeated use of that memory. This neural pathway reinforcement is basically the cause for habits, which can also cause preference. A repeated reaction is likely developed from some degree of reinforcement triggers to begin with, so a reinforced neural pathway is effectively still positive or negative reinforcement triggers.

If subconscious preference is determined by a best guess of memory access which the person is not aware of, then perhaps someone can have a preference without even realizing it. If an individual is presented with options, the mind would always make a best guess, based on which factor in memory has more reinforcement connected to it. So even if someone consciously thinks they have no preference, in reality, they do still have a preference, which is subconscious, but they are unaware of it. In a way, every person has some degree of hypothetical preference for every minimal aspect which is saved in their subconscious memory. It just doesn't come into play, until the person actually uses memory access, when options are portrayed to them.

Conscious preference would still function by utilizing memory of factors connected with reinforcement triggers, but it would use memory access to more specific factors involved in the options. Instead of only the basic and most obvious general factors involved in an option, the mind would access memory of details of the causes and effects of those basic factors. For eg, if I have some options for lunch, my subconscious preference might simply choose pizza delivery with 5 toppings, because my subconscious has a lot of positive reinforcement connected to memory of that factor (of pizza), from good taste and ease of delivery. But my conscious preference might then access memory of the effects caused by eating unhealthy pizza, and the effects of the extra cost for delivery and toppings. These details of extra factors, caused by the basic factor, might have enough negative reinforcement connected in memory, to trigger me to prefer another option instead. 

Your mind's reference for preference, seems to function based on a best guess, determined from subjective interpretation. It can be subconscious, based on memory of basic factors, or conscious, based on more detail of causes and effects. Either way, memory access connected to reinforcement triggers, seems to be the main process of; Preference Reference.