Mercy plus Perceiver 91These Perceiver connections have an impact upon Mercy thought. You
will recall that there is a one-way path from Mercy strategy to Perceiver
mode. Therefore, Mercy thought is unable to see the development of
Perceiver strategy. What Mercy thought will notice is that some unseen
influence is changing the way in which experiences connect. In other
words, Perceiver links bend the mirror in which Mercy strategy sees its
reflection. Notice exactly what shifts. The Mercy experiences are the
same—they always remain within Mercy memory. It is only the
connections between these Mercy experiences which are altered.
For instance, suppose that a person is bitten by a dog: In Mercy strategy,
the experience of „dog‟ and „bite‟ occur together. Perceiver thought,
looking in from next door, notes the connection between these two
elements, and stores this connection as a fact within the Perceiver storage
shed of information. If Perceiver strategy reaches into its storage shed for
facts about dogs, it will come up with this connection between „dogs‟ and
„bites.‟ The label of confidence associated with this Perceiver fact will
probably be „quite certain.‟
Now suppose that several more incidents with dogs occur in which a
person is not bitten. As usual, these facts will be noticed by Perceiver
strategy and deposited within its storage shed. However, as each fact is
remembered, the label of certainty associated with this collection of facts
will change. After the twentieth encounter with a friendly dog, a search by
Perceiver strategy within the storage shed for facts about dogs would
probably retrieve the item: “ „Dogs‟ and „friendly‟ go together; probability:
reasonable.”
Mercy strategy, of course, does not have conscious access to this
mental library of factual Perceiver information. What will happen is that as
Perceiver facts grow, Mercy associations change. Initially, the image of a
dog reminded Mercy strategy of the memory of being bitten. However, as
the fact which is stored within Perceiver thought changes, the sight of a
dog will begin to trigger memories of wagging tails and friendly licks. The
memories within Mercy strategy have not been altered. Only the Perceiver
connections have changed.
Altering the connections between individual Mercy experiences will
have an indirect effect upon Mercy emotions. If thinking of a dog reminds
Mercy strategy of the experience of being bitten, then obviously this
memory will feel unpleasant. However, if wagging tails and friendly licks
come to mind, then Mercy feelings about dogs will change as well.
Over time, as Perceiver thought places confidence in facts which are
repeated, Mercy strategy will notice that associations start to be based in
common sense. I suggest that this is the mental transition which begins in
the average child at about the age of six, when he enters school. Piaget, the
Swiss child psychologist, studied these types of mental transitions in great
detail.