A

122 A Programmer’s Guide to the Mind

I suggest that conscience and patience both involve exactly the same
mental circuitry. Over the next few pages we will concentrate on
conscience. Later on we will look at patience and show why it tends to be a
neglected topic.

But why does there have to be a difference in emotion between the two
experiences? Why can‟t we have a good experience followed by another
good one, or two bad experiences occurring in sequence? Because, it is the
contrast in emotion which creates the need for Perceiver belief, and we are
looking at the interaction between the internal worlds of Mercy and
Perceiver thought. Experiences with similar feelings naturally go together
in the Mercy part. There is no need for Perceiver confidence. We see this
emotional magnetism illustrated by the behavior of people. Have you ever
noticed how individuals with bitterness and hurt seem to attract each other?
The negative atmosphere makes them feel at home. Similarly, pleasant
people also seem to congregate. They don‟t have any time for those with
complaints; they are too busy enjoying themselves.

The Uncertain Connection of Conscience

We have looked at the Mercy aspect of conscience. Now let us examine
the Perceiver connection which is involved.A Remember that conscience
involves a division of labor between Mercy and Perceiver thought: Mercy
strategy stores the experiences, while Perceiver mode, as usual, deals with
the connections. Until now I have talked about Perceiver belief as
something which is „on‟ or „off‟; I either believe or I do not believe.
However, I suggest that just as Perceiver facts in automatic strategy can
acquire different labels of reasonableness, so Perceiver facts within the

A The same type of Perceiver connection is present also in patience.

Conscience Patience

Perceiver Perceiver

Fact Fact

Perceiver Thought

Mercy Thought

A B A B

a good a worse a bad a better

experience result experience result