230 A Programmer’s Guide to the Mind
hand, if it is seldom triggered by the internal or external worlds, then
Perceiver thought knows that it is not part of me. Since the most emotional
experiences which I encounter are generally not directly associated with
my physical body, my emotional absolutes will tend to differ from me.
4) Conscience will be active, and me will be forced to face guilt, failure,
and hurt. Conscience occurs when Perceiver thought knows that a pleasant
Mercy cause will be followed by a much worse Mercy effect. Guilt comes
when Perceiver thought knows that the Mercy cause related to conscience
has become part of me. Failure, I suggest, is guilt without the personal
element. Hurt occurs when Perceiver thought links any bad Mercy
experience to me—regardless of responsibility.A As long as Perceiver
confidence is sufficient, Mercy thought will be forced to face all bad
experiences which Perceiver thought says belong to me.
5) Me is stable and not fragmented. Me has stability, because self-image is
held together with Perceiver confidence. Me is also not fragmented,
because Perceiver thought ties all the experiences of me together into the
single mental object of self-image. Since the internal world holds me
together, the external world can change without threatening me.
Notice that we have achieved mental stability at the price of lasting
guilt. This is not a trivial problem. However, we will only have sufficient
tools to analyze this problem in detail once we have discussed Contributor
thought. Therefore, we have no choice but to leave the topic until later.B
Until then, I suggest that any lasting method of dealing with guilt must
involve closure. In other words, it is only when cause has led to
consequence that an issue can be settled and put to rest mentally.
A Let me expand on the difference between failure and guilt. A feeling of
failure occurs when I violate natural conscience; the bad result comes from
natural rules of cause and effect and no person is involved with the
punishment. Failure turns into guilt when people get involved; they may
either threaten me with disapproval, or they may suffer as a result of my
failure.
B If guilt is such a major problem, then how can I postpone dealing with it?
Because this book follows a path of rational thinking. Why does that help?
I will explain later.