48 A Programmer’s Guide to the Mind
suggest that it is that which makes me an individual, different from others
and separate from my environment. Identity, first of all, can be created
mentally. Emotional situations enter my internal world of Mercy thought.
Because these memories live within my mind, they are present wherever I
go. My environment may change, but my memories stay relatively fixed.
In other words, they define me.A
My internal world also affects how Mercy strategy feels about situations.
This is because experiences with the strongest emotions force their way
into my internal world, and these obviously have the greatest effect upon
emotional labeling. Therefore, I end up imposing my emotional likes and
dislikes upon my environment, another expression of identity.
Second, identity can be created physically. Wherever I go, my physical
body follows me around. It is easy for me to change my environment,
much harder to alter my physical abilities. My physical skills and
limitations therefore also define me.B
The presence of a personal physical body affects how Mercy thought reacts
to situations. I can feel pain and pleasure from my own body, but I cannot
feel the physical sensations of another person. Therefore, my emotional
responses are colored by my own physical reactions of pain and pleasure.
The relationship between me and
emotional labeling often shows up in the
personality of the Mercy person, who has
conscious access to the Mercy internal
world: Suppose that he really likes
hamburgers. When he sees someone who
is hungry, he is reminded first of food
and then of the good emotions associated
with eating hamburgers. As a result, the
Mercy person‟s response to the famished
figure may revolve around hamburgers.
But, what if the other person hates beef and cannot bear the thought of
eating fast food? Obviously, the Mercy person‟s actions will be misguided.
He will feel that he is helping the other person, but he may actually be
hurting him.
It is common for the Mercy person to fall into the trap of assuming that his
likes and dislikes are shared by others. I suggest that there are three reasons
A We all know from personal experience that „me‟ is very fundamental to
human thought and existence. Therefore, whenever I am referring to my
identity within the Mercy internal world, I will put the word in boldface:
me. As we go through the book, we will see that me can take on many
forms.
B What is the relationship between these two me‟s? That is one of the basic
questions which we will be examining throughout this book.