234 A Programmer’s Guide to the Mind
Finally, Perceiver confidence is needed to instill a sense of value.
Perceiver logic looks for qualities in an object or experience which will last
over time. This also seems to be lacking in Russia. Buildings which are
five years old appear as if they have been decaying for at least thirty. The
finishing touches are particularly absent. Many structures appear nice from
a distance but lose their appeal as one gets closer and the lack of
workmanship becomes obvious. I remember specifically the paint job in
one apartment in which we were staying. All of the outlet covers had been
painted over. No one had bothered to take them off when painting. The
paint did not reach all the way to the ceiling, and about two inches of the
old color remained at the top of the wall. The windows all had streaks of
paint because no masking tape had been used to protect the glass from
being covered.
The lack of value was also obvious in
the money. Inflation was high and the
ruble was continually dropping in relation
to other currencies. After all, money is
just a representation of value. If
everything that one buys and sells is
cheap, then it is impossible for money to
have any value. This principle was
vividly illustrated by the currency of
Kazakhstan. The bills were beautiful and
well made, and had been printed in
Germany. But with a lack of basic values, even the most elegant imported
money was unable to prevent inflation.
I suggest that everything which I have mentioned about Russia can be
traced back to one single deficiency—the lack of Perceiver confidence.A
Russians today are like children who were mesmerized by cruel and
domineering parents. They have finally escaped the abuse but now they
find themselves in the situation of the teenager who wants to become
independent. They face the choice of either learning to think for
themselves by waking up the Perceiver observer, or else, like so many
teenagers, remaining hypnotized, and succumbing to the tyranny of the
peer pressure which we call nationalism.
Germany
Let us now turn our attention to another country which I have had the
privilege of visiting several times—Germany. While there is no example
today of a country in which a majority of people use only Perceiver logic, I
A Russia also contains many professionals—nomenklatura—who have
great expertise in some limited area. However, outside of their
specializations, the same lack of Perceiver confidence can usually be seen.