82 A Programmer’s Guide to the Mind
To make a long story short, I found myself spending three years poring
through the neurological literature. Eventually I was asked to give a
graduate seminar on the work which I had done thus far. As a Perceiver
person, I assumed that if I came up with facts which were sufficiently
interesting, then my research would be accepted. Instead, I found to my
surprise that the response to my presentation centered around the
philosophical question of whether or not it was possible for a person to
discover facts about the human mind. While I was trying to use Perceiver
strategy to build a system of facts, those around me were not even
convinced that Perceiver thought was a valid option. The shock to my
mental system was so great that I went home and banged my head against
the floor in frustration.A It took me some time to emerge from my feelings
of cynicism.
Notice the essential similarity between Mercy multiple personalities
and Perceiver cynicism. In both cases, a person is subjected to an
environment which hinders conscious thought from developing normally.
The abused Mercy child is bombarded with emotional experiences which
stop his internal Mercy world from forming. Me is actually torn apart with
conflicting defining experiences. Similarly, the Perceiver person turns into
the cynic when his environment lacks absolutes; he is surrounded by
individuals who act as if the contents of his Perceiver internal world are
irrelevant and that Perceiver truth can be created or destroyed at will.B
I have compared cynicism to multiple personalities. I suggest that the
Perceiver analog to schizophrenia is the leap of faith. The Mercy person
who tries to suppress an operating mind discovers that any segment of
thought which he quarantines continues to work under the surface. In the
same way, the Perceiver person who knows enough facts and has sufficient
understanding is no longer able to turn into a cynic. He cannot write „them‟
off completely, for he knows that „they‟ accept some Perceiver facts which
he knows to be correct. But, he still wants to get away from „them‟ and
their hypocrisy. Therefore, he proves logically that „they‟ and their beliefs
are inadequate. Once he has shown the inconsistencies in „their‟ way of
thinking, then he uses conscious control of Perceiver strategy to jump from
their facts to his set of beliefs.
Let me give you an example. I talked once to a Perceiver person who is
well known in Protestant Christian circles for his intellectual acumen. Over
the years he has discovered many shortcomings with „the church‟ and can
answer is “Quite a lot.” In my research, I used Engineering concepts and
ideas to decipher the wiring and the programming of the mind.
A Thank goodness for carpet.
B How does the environment program the internal Perceiver world with
facts? We will look at that in a moment. However, I suggest that Perceiver
knowing is not possible when facts are continually being overturned.