156 A Programmer’s Guide to the Mind
both easy to break open but much more difficult to put back together. If
Mercy strategy has ever identified with some painful experience of being
broken physically and bleeding, then Perceiver thought will connect this
bad memory with the Mercy image of seeing the watermelon plummet to
its doom below. The demise of the melon will make Mercy strategy
shudder in horror as Perceiver strategy sees the similarity between its fate
and my possible future. Therefore, I can learn from the mistakes of others.
How to Benefit from Conscience
But, isn‟t it common knowledge that people never learn from the
mistakes of others? Unfortunately, this is usually the case. Let us examine
why this is so, and see if we can find a possible solution.
The first difficulty is that it takes mental effort to draw lessons from the
problems of others. It is much easier for me to wipe my brow in relief,
thank my lucky stars that it wasn‟t me, and move on.
Why? Because Perceiver thought has to search for similarities between
my situation and that of another. Repetition looks at the entire incident and
sees whether this fact has occurred before. Similarity goes a step further—
it breaks a fact down into its component parts and then sees if these various
fragments are being repeated. It is hard work for Perceiver strategy to do
this dividing and comparing.A
Looking for Perceiver similarities between me and others may take real
thought, but I suggest that in the long run it saves effort, because others can
act as my „guinea pigs.‟ I can observe the types of mental cancers which
develop in my neighbors, for instance, as they are driven by the frantic
pace of their rat-race. Just think how much one could learn, for instance, by
logically analyzing the stupidities discussed on television talk shows: “And
here we have Exhibit A. He jumped off a mental „cliff‟ and landed on the
rocks below. He will share with us his mental pain and reveal to us his
inner scars.”
One might think that some of this difficult thinking could be avoided
by following approval conscience. After all, emotional 'knowing' is
instant—some expert tells me which rule to follow and I immediately
'know' that it is the 'truth.' However, I suggest that following approval
conscience actually makes it harder for me to learn from the mistakes of
others. First, the Perceiver mode is incompatible. Approval conscience is
rooted in emotional 'facts,' it requires a Perceiver observer which is asleep.
A One might think that looking at details would cause a person to get lost in
triviality. However, it is only as I analyze details that it becomes possible
for me to discover underlying connections and general patterns. Of course,
some people never make it past the stage of specialization. But, I still
suggest that it is a necessary, intermediate step.