A

Epistemology 129

manage to give myself several years of tendinitis and I did get acquainted
with the local health clinic.
Because of this need for development, I suggest that Perceiver thought
cannot gain instant confidence. We cannot expect a belief immediately to
survive all emotional attack. As generations of wise men have told us, faith
must be tested. Just as the weight lifter becomes stronger by pushing to the
limit of his ability, so confidence in a belief grows as it is stressed to the
edge of its endurance.A

Perceiver knowledge cannot be acquired instantly.

 Mental knowing can be torn apart by emotional pressure.

 Facts grow in confidence as they survive emotional threats.

If Perceiver facts need confidence in order to survive emotional
pressure, then this means that knowledge is not learned, but rather
acquired. I suggest that this distinction is becoming clear in today‟s
information-driven society. In terms of quantity of material, never has so
much been available literally at our fingertips. We have „information
superhighways‟ and „world-wide-webs‟ bursting at the seams with
„megamasses‟ and „gigagobs‟ of data about everything.
However, we are discovering that the real problem is not information,
but rather „infoglut.‟ We have lots of facts, but do not know where they fit.
We have heaps of data, but do not know how to apply them to our personal
world of emotions and experiences. Why do we feel lost in a sea of
information? I suggest the problem is that we have learned a lot of
information, but we have not acquired it. We have filled our storage sheds
of automatic Perceiver thought with myriads of facts, but we have not
taken the time to examine these facts, find solid connections, pull them into
our internal Perceiver worlds, and build a system of belief. The result is
piles of facts, rusting out in fields of learning. No wonder we feel confused.

Sheltering Confidence

Unfortunately, our method of handling information prevents us from
building anything solid within our internal Perceiver worlds. First, we tend
to look at details and not at the big picture. The various media inundate us

A The illustration which I just gave compared Perceiver confidence to

muscle strength. Actually, it is Server confidence that is really the analog
to physical strength, since both grow through repeated action. The physical
analog to Perceiver confidence is bone strength, since bones and Perceiver
confidence both provide solid connections which hold elements together. It
is interesting that bones also become stronger under repeated exercise.
Bone stress triggers local piezoelectric voltages which encourage bone
growth.