We carry these self-justifying images with us into new situations... We don‘t see people straightforwardly, as people. Rather we see them in terms of the self-justifying images we‘ve created. If people act in ways that challenge the claim made by a self-justifying image, we see them as threats. If they reinforce the claim... we see them allies. If they fail to matter... we see them as unimportant. ... We‘re already in the box.