Conscience, Time, and Life 125Finally, the time span between crime and punishment may be too great.
In order for conscience to operate, Perceiver thought must notice a
connection between cause and effect. One could say that the Perceiver
observer looking through the window into Mercy memory has only a
limited attention span. Two Mercy events may in fact be connected, but if
enough unrelated experiences slip in between, Perceiver thought, which is
so easily interrupted, will be distracted and never notice the connection.
We can see this happening in the North American system of justice. The
length of time needed to get a case to court is so long that justice often
becomes a side issue. Instead, the process of appeal and counter-appeal
turns into a game of its own, completely separate from the real world of
crime and punishment.
Let me summarize. In order for conscience to be an effective deterrent,
the punishment must produce sufficient Mercy pain. But, the Perceiver
connection which creates conscience will only survive if the penalty is not
too painful, the temptation not too pleasant, and the length of time between
these two events not too great. This means that three principles should be
followed whenever conscience is being programmed. First, the right
amount of discipline should be used. Either too much or too little will
produce undesirable results. Second, the right amount of time is required.
On the one hand, if consequence follows action too closely, then there is
no need for Perceiver belief—automatic Perceiver thought is sufficient. On
the other hand, if these two are separated by too long an interval, then
Perceiver thought also will not notice connections between cause and
effect. Finally, as conscience is being formulated, the mind should be
shielded initially from excessive emotional pressure. Otherwise, emerging
Perceiver strategy will freeze, mesmerized by the glare of Mercy
emotion—and stop noticing connections.
Assuming that We are Different
We have seen that an effective conscience requires a solid Perceiver
connection; Perceiver thought must know that there is a link between cause
and effect. It is not comfortable for us as humans, though, to live with
conscience. We have therefore evolved various ways to eliminate it.A The
most simple method—and a quite common one—is to deny, using strong
emotion, that some principle is valid.
A If life is built from bricks of conscience, then denial of conscience is a
choosing of death. However, this is a Perceiver principle, and it can be
overwhelmed by the glare of the moment.