118 A Programmer’s Guide to the Mind
world—something with which me does not want to identify. It is this
identification which makes the hook so nasty; it becomes part of me; it
enters into my „flesh‟ and cannot be removed.
The effectiveness of conscience depends upon the size of the „hook.‟ If
Johnny thinks that taking a cookie will only be punished by a slap on the
wrist, then he might decide that this is a reasonable price to pay for the
cookie. On the other hand, if mother tells him that an infraction will result
in an appointment with father behind the woodshed, then the mere sight of
that cookie will remind Johnny of painful Mercy experiences.
Remember that, within each mental context, the Mercy experience with
the strongest emotion becomes the emotional absolute. Mercy thought
interprets other similar situations in the light of this experience. This means
that if mother‟s punishment is not very painful, then images of cookies
move to center stage
within Johnny‟s mind
and spankings play
only a peripheral role.
In contrast, if the
consequences of
violating the rules are
sufficiently unpleasant,
then punishment
becomes the primary concern, and thoughts of cookies are pushed to the
side. In other words, altering the emotional severity of the punishment
changes the mindset of Mercy strategy. It does this by determining which
experiences become the emotional absolutes.
I suggest that conscience, guilt, and punishment are all slightly
different. Conscience could be compared to a warning sign. It is like the
bold black letters on the cigarette package, “SMOKING CAUSES
CANCER.” It is the connection between cause—in this case smoking, and
effect—cancer. Conscience is the internal voice that tells me what will
happen if I take the bait and swallow it, if I identify with the pleasant
experience and pull it into my internal Mercy world. Note that this
identification has not yet occurred; I have not yet put a cigarette into my
mouth and started to puff.
Guilt, in contrast, happens when I identify with the bait, when I light up
the cigarette and stick it into my mouth. The internal voice of conscience
warned me that I would get cancer if I smoked. The voice of guilt tells me
that I will get cancer now that I am smoking. Notice how guilt takes the
general statement of conscience and makes it specific. This is because
conscience is stated as a Perceiver belief. Perceiver thought believes which
experiences belong together. However, conscience remains an abstract
Perceiver fact until Mercy identification has occurred. Guilt uses Mercy
identification to attach a specific Mercy experience on to the general