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A Summary of Associative Thought 229

Blame, in contrast, is connected with excessive emotion. As before, the
process begins with a painful experience which is part of me. Mercy
strategy will then focus upon the aspects of this memory which relate to
another person. The associated emotional pressure will mesmerize
Perceiver thought into 'believing' that the other person was the source of
this experience.
Notice the relationship between this statement and the previous point.
In the second point, strong emotion is used to make good experiences part
of me, whereas in the third point, strong emotion is used to stop bad
experiences from being part of me.
4) Me will be fragmented and self-image will have low mental stability.
This is because me is continually attaching itself to good situations and
detaching itself from bad experiences. Each time that me is altered, Mercy
emotion is being used to overwhelm Perceiver confidence. Because
Perceiver thought is continually thwarted in its efforts to gain confidence,
it will lack the self-confidence which is needed to hold me together.
How does a person with insufficient Perceiver self-confidence achieve
mental stability? That is a topic which we will be discussing in the next
book. However, before we continue let me briefly suggest what happens. If
internal structure is lacking, then the external must make up for it.
Therefore, the individual with a weak identity will order the defining
experiences in his physical environment and then use this arrangement to
hold his mind together. He will control his feelings by dividing his
environment into good, normal, and bad places and times and then move
his body between these physical locations. In essence, the map of his
external world will act as a substitute for Perceiver thought.

If Perceiver confidence is used to learn Perceiver facts, then:

1. Self-image is determined by Perceiver confidence. Perceiver logic looks
   for connections between experiences which are repeated, and does not care
   whether these Mercy experiences feel good, bad, terrible, or terrific.
   Therefore, when Perceiver thought sees certain Mercy experiences
   continuing to reappear, it decides that these experiences are me and creates
   a mental object called self-image.2) There are no defining experiences,
   only emotional absolutes. This is because Perceiver and Mercy thought are
   independent of one another. As before, Mercy feelings are guided by
   emotional absolutes. In each context, the most emotional experience
   determines how Mercy thought feels about related experiences. However,
   because all connections between Mercy experiences are determined by
   facts which are based in Perceiver confidence, individual Mercy
   experiences do not define 'truth.' This means that facts become separate
   from feelings.


2. Emotional absolutes are separate from me. An emotional absolute is the
   most emotional experience within each mental context. If it comes to mind
   often, then Perceiver thought decides that it is part of me. On the other