A

The Two Me’s 237

That should be a rhetorical question, but there are other factors which
complicate the issue. Suppose that I do want to abandon emotional 'facts'
and experience the benefits of life under Perceiver confidence. What are
the costs? Is there a downside to living in paradise? Does purgatory have
its rewards? Let us look at some of these questions.
One major challenge on the way to living under Perceiver confidence
involves childhood and growing up. We have seen how the mind of the
child starts out with Perceiver strategy filled with the emotional 'facts' of
culture and the Perceiver observer snoring away contentedly, enjoying
dreams of innocent trust. In contrast, Perceiver confidence can only be
gained by enrolling the mind in a lengthy „exercise‟ program.
In terms of our country illustration, this means that every person is born
in „Russia‟ and has the option of „moving‟ to „Germany.‟ „Germany‟ is
populated only with immigrants; it has no native born citizens. This means
that the mentally passive person remains by default in the chaos of „Russia‟
while only the enterprising individual will make it to „Germany.‟ This
explains why „Russia‟ will always be full of people.
But, there are many real German people who were born in Germany.
Doesn‟t this prove that my statement is wrong? Actually, at the risk of
stepping on a few more politically correct toes, I suggest that there really
are no authentic native-born „Germans.‟ In order to understand this, one
has to look at the personality of the average German citizen.A On the
outside, it appears as if everything is guided by Perceiver confidence and
rational logic. However, look at the subjective core of the German psyche
and you find that me is ruled by emotional 'facts,' and not by logic. There
is an unspoken rule that the personal feelings of every German must be
taken seriously and never questioned.B It is as if every citizen is an artist
who lives a life of art, and who reacts emotionally against anyone who
dares to criticize his artistic expression of me.

We all grow up in „Russia‟ and can emigrate to „Germany.‟

 Me is initially held together by emotional 'truth.'

 It is possible to redefine me using Perceiver confidence.

This means that while the body and head of the average German citizen
lives in Germany, the core of me still resides within the childhood home of
„Russia.‟ In other words, while the me of the physical body may be

A I am making sweeping generalizations, but I have lived in Germany, I do

speak German, and I believe that these statements are accurate. Of course,
there will always be individual exceptions, but it is amazing how deep the
emotional current of culture runs.
B Uh oh! I am just about to violate this rule. Entschuldigen Sie mir, bitte.