26 A Programmer’s Guide to the Mind
style emerges from the shadow of nurture and culture. And when a person
learns what he can change, then he is able to live with what cannot be
altered.
The Diagram of Mental Symmetry
Learning about a theory is somewhat like getting to know a person. So
far, we have been at the level of “Hello, how are you? My name is...” and
so on. Now that we have a general idea of our theory of the mind, it is time
to add content to the overall impression.
In a relationship, the next stage usually begins with asking what a
person does. By learning his profession or skill I can uncover much about
his essential character. For instance, suppose I learn that someone is a
banker, a lawyer, an engineer or a professor. Instantly, I know things about
that person. Some of my ideas may be mistaken, but most of them will
probably be correct.
At the beginning of the book, I suggested that the operation of the mind
could be summarized by what I call the diagram of mental symmetry.A
Think of this diagram as the „profession‟ of our theory of the mind. While
knowing the profession of a person tells me much about that individual, I
suggest that this diagram can encapsulate all of our theory of the mind.
Of course, if I do not know what a banker really does, then learning
that a person is a banker will not tell me much. Similarly, the concepts in
this book will not make much sense unless we clearly understand the
meanings of key terms. I will be giving precise definitions to a number of
words. While I have done my best to pick terms which already have the
appropriate connotations, it is inevitable that my meaning will often be
slightly different from the popular definition. Therefore, the back of the
book contains a glossary of terms. If you cannot remember the meaning
which I give to a certain word, look it up in the back. From now on,
whenever I introduce a term which is defined in the glossary I will
underline that word.
A This diagram is at the back of the book, after the references and in front
of the glossary.