80 A Programmer’s Guide to the Mind
absolutes. Who knows. However, it appears that Perceiver strategy can
only function properly if it assumes some set of facts as absolute.A
If the human mind requires absolutes in order to operate, then the basic
question changes. It does not matter whether absolutes exist or not,
because if they didn‟t, we would be mentally driven to create them.
Therefore, the puzzle now involves finding the best set of absolutes.B Let
us approach this challenge by playing our „why‟ game one more time. This
time we will start with the statement: “Stealing is wrong.” “But why is
stealing wrong,” responds the obnoxious
child.
One possible answer is: Because I say so.
But why should I believe you? Because! I
might be clever and add: Because it says so in
my Holy Book. Here. See? It‟s one of the Ten
Commandments. But why is your Holy Book
correct? Because it is the Word of God. But
why is it the Word of God? Again, because!
As we examine this approach, we see that the ultimate „Because!‟ is
rooted always in the statements of some person or religion. This reminds
us of the traditional approach to questions of „morality.‟ However, we have
now learned that „absolutes‟ involve Perceiver thought and we also know
that Perceiver strategy views a „fact‟ as a set of elements which are
connected: A fact is „true‟ if the various elements belong together, and it is
„false‟ if the various pieces do not fit together.
A Perceiver definition of Truth:
A fact is true if its component parts remain connected.
A fact is false if its various components cannot stay together.With this definition of „truth,‟ let us try again to come up with an
answer: Stealing is wrong because it takes things without working for them.
But why is it wrong to take things without working? Because if others take
what you make, then you will never make anything. But why must people
make things? Because unless people make things, there will be nothing to
steal. Q.E.D.
Notice that this second line of reasoning is different from the first. Why
did we conclude that stealing is „wrong‟ or „false‟? Because if everyone
A Even the „politically correct‟ person believes in absolutes. He is
„absolutely‟ sure that Perceiver truth can be based in his own personal
feelings about what is politically correct.
B Remember the footnote with the riddle about why a mirror image is
backwards but not upside-down. The answer came easily when we
discovered the right question.