Perceiver Strategy 81steals, then there will be nothing left to steal. In other words, stealing is
„wrong‟ because the various bits of this composite fact do not belong
together in a permanent way: Over the long term, the two fragments of
„taking‟ and „object‟ cannot remain connected. If you do not believe me,
look at a country in which people steal from each other, or where the
government steals from the people. You will find that, ultimately, there is
nothing left to steal.
‘Schizophrenia’ and ‘Multiple Personalities’
When we looked at Mercy strategy, we saw that the Mercy person can
use conscious control to withdraw from hurtful experiences—he constructs
a wall across the Mercy room of thought. If this mental wall is erected
early in life, then the result can be multiple personalities. On the other hand,
if the wall is constructed later on, when most of the other rooms are also
functional, then symptoms of schizophrenia may emerge.
Mercy experiences come with feelings already attached. Therefore, the
Mercy person faces the challenge of dealing with strong emotions:
Multiple personalities are caused by excessive emotional pressure.
Schizophrenia, similarly, seems to be a defense against overwhelming
emotional hurt. Perceiver facts, in contrast, come without any suggested
label of confidence. Therefore, I suggest that the Perceiver person must
learn how to handle a lack of confidence. It is when the environment
denies him absolutes that he is tempted to put up a mental wall and retreat
to a safe portion of his conscious room of Perceiver thought.
Mercy denial early in life can lead to multiple personalities. Similarly, I
suggest that the Perceiver person with an underdeveloped thought life, who
rejects topics or people, can turn into a cynic. Major portions of Perceiver
thought will be blocked off and rejected wholesale: “They are lying,
cheating, stealing idiots who wouldn‟t recognize truth if it hit them over
the head with a sledgehammer. Everything they say and do is hypocrisy.
They haven‟t got an honest bone in their body.” A group of people may be
rejected. It can also be a topic, an organization, or a religion which gets the
cold shoulder.
The cynic blocks off a region of Perceiver memories, and then retreats
to a safe area of truth and absolutes: “They may be idiots, but at least I
have principles.” Unfortunately, living as a Perceiver person in today‟s
Western World is rather difficult. It is hard not to be cynical, just as it is
difficult for the Mercy person not to become desensitized by the senseless
and gratuitous violence that seems to accompany a lack of absolutes.
Let me give you a personal example of Perceiver cynicism. My
research on the mind started as graduate work in Electrical Engineering.A
A You may be asking, “What does the mind have to do with Electrical
Engineering?” If the mind can be viewed as a type of computer, then the