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Epistemology 135

Here is an example. Suppose that I see
a terrible car accident and that in the
middle of this wreck there is a red balloon.
The emotional trauma associated with this
disaster will probably be sufficient to
„mesmerize‟ Perceiver mode. Perceiver
strategy will notice the experiences within
Mercy thought, see a red balloon amidst
the images of blood and carnage and
'believe' that these belong together. In other
words, the link between red balloons and
car accidents will be remembered as a 'fact'
by Perceiver strategy.
Even though this connection occurred
only once, the emotional glare of the event
fools Perceiver mode into believing that
car accidents and red balloons always
belong together. Now, whenever Mercy
strategy thinks of a red balloon, Perceiver thought will remind Mercy
thought of the terrible accident, because Perceiver thought 'knows' that
accidents and red balloons belong together.
Let me describe this in another way. Normally there is a division of
labor between Perceiver and Mercy thought. Mercy strategy remembers
individual experiences whereas Perceiver thought handles the connections
between these experiences. When Perceiver strategy is mesmerized, then
both the experiences and the relationships between these experiences are
controlled by Mercy thought. In other words, „good‟ becomes synonymous
with „right,‟ and „bad‟ automatically becomes „wrong.‟ The result is that
the arrangement of a specific incident becomes stuffed into Perceiver
memory as a general 'fact.' Therefore, instead of Perceiver strategy
associating red balloons with parties and celebrations—the normal
connection based upon what usually goes together, Perceiver strategy will
link red balloons with horrific tragedies and dead people.
I suggest that what we have discovered here is an alternative way to
program the Perceiver internal world. Until now, we have assumed that
Perceiver strategy is always able to choose what it believes and what it
does not believe. However, I suggest that just as the internal world of
Mercy experiences can be overwhelmed by excessive emotion, so the
internal world of Perceiver belief can also be mesmerized by too much
feeling.

There are two ways of producing a Perceiver fact:

1. The Mercy emotions of an experience overwhelm Perceiver thought.
    The arrangement of that one situation becomes a universal 'fact.'