[Neurons] 2011 Meta Reflections #17

[L. Michael Hall]

L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.

Meta Reflections 2011 - #17

April 11, 2011

 

HOW IDENTIFICATION

MAKES PEOPLE STUPID

 

 

In the last few Neuron posts about Korzybski and the foundations of NLP and
Neuro-Semantics, I've been writing about the un-sanity of the process of
identification that leads to semantic reactions.  When you identify one
thing with another thing and you will create an unsane map about the world.
Why is that?  Because there is no sameness; nothing is the same as something
else.  Similar?  Yes.  Absolutely the same?  Of course not.  Well this past
week we had a great example of un-sanity created by identification.

 

It all began with the burning of the Koran by the unsane person in Florida
and then that was followed by more unsane persons in Afghanistan as they
created the riots in the streets.  Two examples of un-sanity.  Two examples
of people being the victims of identification due to their un-sane frames. 

 

The pastor's unsanity shows up in how he thinks that the book he burned
which has the words, "The Koran" on it is the Koran.  And the rioters who
are hurting themselves and others and having a big destructive tantrum in
the streets are also unsane because they must think that what he burned is
the Koran!  Both the pastor and the protestors are identifying something and
having a fight over that identification and rapidly spreading stupidity
around the planet that already has plenty of stupidity to go around.

 

Now whatever message that a group of people acknowledge, honor, and use to
guide their lives and that they consider special, holy, and sacred - that
message is more than the words that carrying the message or the book that
contains those words.  There's a difference between the idea and all of the
expressions of those ideas.  And all of us have certain ideas that we find
special and even sacred- that touch us, that move us, that inspire us to be
better than we are.  But the words that convey that message-whether it is
poetry, or music, a song, or some prose- those words that inspire us and
capture our imaginations and move us to what we call "the sacred" in life is
just an expression of some inspiring idea.  All this is good.  It is our
innate self-actualization drive moving us to a higher level of experience.

 

What's not so good is to confuse any particular form or expression of those
ideas that the words are pointing to and a symbol of with the reality.  "The
map is not the territory."  The menu you study and use to choose your meal
is not the meal; please don't' bit into the menu, it will not do your
digestive system any good.  It might, in fact, make you very sick.  The
beautiful pictures of the holiday get-away is not the holiday.  And while
you can induce yourself into a nice state as you thumb through the brochure,
you still have not left home!

 

The book that the pastor burned is just paper and ink and binding glue.  It
does not reduce "the Koran" one bit.  If someone decided to burn the
pastor's Bible, well, it's just a book made of paper and ink and binding
glue, that's all.  It doesn't reduce the inspiring ideas that the book
records and conveys.

 

But people who confuse symbol with reality, who confuse map and territory,
who identify one thing with another then create for themselves all kinds of
unsane semantic reactions.  And then those semantic reactions evoke other
semantic reactions and eventually there's a semantic war.  And in my
opinion, this is a complete waste of energy, understanding, compassion, and
all of the  sacred values that the two holy books, the Koran and the Bible
preach - love, peace, serenity, understanding, brotherhood, etc.

 

So the stupidity is this: people start behaving badly to protect the
inspiring ideas of love and peace!  They hurt, threat, get aggressive, get
nasty, condemn, judge, act hateful ... all in the name of a God of love and
peace.  Is there something wrong with this picture?  Am I the only one who
thinks that somebody needs to slow down and exercise some other "spiritual"
qualities like patience, understanding, kindness, and so on?

 

Semantic reactions ... people reacting, getting their buttons pushed,
treating symbols as if they are the same as the reality that they point to -
all initiated because they have identified and confused map and territory.
Korzybski we still need your processes of non-identification and semantic
silence so that we can have more thoughtful semantic responses and cut out
all of the non-sense of our unsane semantic reactions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.  Michael Hall, Ph.D.

Neuro-Semantics Executive Director  ----   <http://www.neurosemantics.com/>
www.neurosemantics.com

P.O. Box 8

Clifton, CO.  81520 USA                             ----
<http://www.self-actualizing.org/> www.self-actualizing.org

1 970-523-7877                                               ----
<http://www.meta-coaching.org/> www.meta-coaching.org

 

     

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Reflection articles by Dr. Hall are sent out every Monday (Colorado time).
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Wednesdays.   Contact Dr. Hall at  meta at acsol.net  

 

 

 

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