136 A Programmer’s Guide to the Mind
- Perceiver mode sees similarities between many Mercy experiences.
The common arrangement of several situations is stored as a fact.
In order to distinguish these two ways of programming Perceiver
strategy with information, we will adopt the following convention within
this book. Whenever we are referring to facts based upon Perceiver
observation and repetition, then we will use words without single quotes:
belief, fact, knowing, truth, and so on. On the other hand, when describing
Perceiver belief which is based upon excessive emotion, then the words
will be placed in single quotes: 'belief,' 'fact,' 'knowing,' 'truth,' and so on.
Usually, I will also place the word emotional in front of the term in single
quotes in order to emphasize the method by which Perceiver strategy
acquired the information. Note that I will now be using two types of single
quotes. Single lines will be used to describe emotional 'facts,' whereas
raised commas will be used for illustrations, analogies or comparisons—
for instance, talking about a Mercy „room.‟
I should emphasize that we are talking here about belief and not about
feelings. The person who has seen the car accident does not feel that red
balloons and car wrecks are connected, he 'knows' that they are, just as he
knows that two plus two equals four. I suggest that this is how 'blind faith'
is created: Some experience or set of experiences has sufficient emotional
strength to mesmerize Perceiver thought into 'believing' that certain
connections are either 'true' or 'false.'
A person who 'believes'
emotional 'facts' usually does
not realize that his information
is based upon an emotional
foundation. This is because he
truly does not feel that his
'beliefs' are correct; he literally
'knows' that they are true. He will often be offended by the suggestion that
he is following blind 'faith' or insulted by the insinuation that Perceiver
thought in him is mesmerized.A
If rational belief and blind 'faith' look so similar on the surface, how is
it possible to tell them apart? Let me suggest some basic guidelines. First,
the person who looks for Perceiver repetition will be able to tell you why
he believes what he believes. Question his facts, and he will point to solid
connections which support his assertions. In contrast, the individual with
blind faith will usually respond to the question “Why?” with the answer
A This is especially true of the composite styles (Exhorter, Contributor and
Facilitator). They find it very difficult to analyze the foundations for their
beliefs.