A

Perceiver Strategy 83

describe these hypocrisies with great precision. As a result, he took a „leap
of faith‟ and became a convert to the Greek Orthodox faith. When you talk
with him, he uses logic to try to convince you of the futility of following
Protestant Christianity and then mentally jumps to the conclusion that the
real truth is found in the icons, rituals and writings of the Orthodox
Church.A

The Perceiver analog to multiple personalities is cynicism.

 The cynic blocks off people and beliefs as inherently wrong.

The Perceiver analog to schizophrenia is the leap of faith.

 The „leaper‟ combines logical reasoning with irrational denial.

Oh no! Not another heavy subject. First philosophy, then university,
now religion. Let us see if we can use our understanding of Perceiver
thought to cut through this tangle of emotional information. Remember
that a Perceiver fact is a set of connections. A fact is „true‟ if connections
exist and „false‟ if they do not exist. But, notice that cynicism and the „leap
of faith‟ both involve the breaking of connections—they put up a mental
wall which separates one set of facts from another. Since both of these
mental strategies involve the denial of connections, I suggest that they are
by definition „wrong.‟ One need not get sidetracked by questions of
philosophy or religion. Rather, one simply looks for the existence of
lasting connections.B In order to discover „truth,‟ one must build
connections. Attacking connections leads only to a knowledge of „error.‟
Notice also that both Mercy schizophrenia and the Perceiver „leap of
faith‟ involve an essential contradiction. On the one hand, mental thought
is allowed to operate: The schizophrenic emotionally identifies with his
internal world of safe Mercy experiences. Similarly, the „faith leaper‟ uses
Perceiver logic and internalized beliefs. On the other hand, both of these
individuals are very selective about when and where they allow this
thought to function. The schizophrenic identifies with a limited set of
Mercy memories and uses conscious control to prevent Mercy thought
from expanding into other areas. In the same way, the „faith leaper‟
restricts his Perceiver logic to a limited number of facts and uses conscious
control to freeze the rest of his Perceiver internal world.
Notice, in a final related point, the interaction between conscious
thought and the mental „room‟ which is under conscious control. As I
mentioned before, it appears that these two are different: For instance, the

A It is interesting that the father of this individual wrote many books

warning people not to take a „leap of faith.‟
B Of course, if I block off a certain approach as „wrong,‟ then I am falling

into the same mental trap. Therefore I am examining things carefully and
building connections.