[Neurons] 2011 Meta Reflections #28

[L. Michael Hall]

The First International Neuro-Semantic Conference

July 1-3, and July 4

See www.neurosemantics.com

 

L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.

Meta Reflections 2011 - #28

June 20, 2011

 

 

META-STATES AND META-COGNITION

 

"One difference between a competent performer and a master in any field is
that the master can go back and tell you exactly what it is that he has just
done, and how he did it.  Masters have unconscious competence and the
ability to make the competence explicit.  This last skill is referred to as
meta-cognition."  

Introducing Neuro-Linguistic Programming, O'Connor and Seymour, 1990, page
198

 

Once upon a time I used to travel to Houston Texas to present Meta-States.
In fact, it was in Houston Texas, at the NLP Center that I presented and
certified the very first "Meta-States Training."  That was 1996.  Thereafter
I worked with Edit Rodas-Carroll, who was the NLP Trainer and Director of
the NLP Center there in Houston, and began traveling to Houston the first
weekend of each month to present the NLP Master Practitioner, and from time
to time various Meta-State Trainings.

 

One time I met with some people from the Medical Research department at
Baylor University.  We met at a restaurant near the University and when one
of the researchers joined us later that evening, someone introduced me as
the developer of the Meta-States Model.   He didn't know anything about the
model and so asked about it.  When I mentioned that it was a model about the
special kind of consciousness unique to we humans, self-reflexive
consciousness, his next statement was as telling as it was arrogant.

"Oh you mean meta-cognition!  Yeah, that can be interesting but most of it
is pretty boring stuff."

 

Now at that time, I was still mapping out lots of new things about the
Meta-States Model, and still a novice to the working of frames, at least I
was able to hear a limiting frame when I heard one like that.  I also knew
that "Whoever sets the frame controls the game" even though I had not
formulated in that succinct line at that time.  So I responded:

"So are you telling me that all you know about meta-cognition bores you?
This is great!  You are going to be so excited when you find out all that
has been recently discovered about what has gone under the title of
'meta-cognition.'"

 

I then read the stunned silence that followed as indicating that he didn't
expect that response and had not prepared himself for the frame war that he
initiated.  So with his silence, I began talking about the practical use of
meta-cognition for creating the frames of mind to set a person free to
explore the processes of excellence and mastery.

 

Yes, a meta-state as a state-about-a-state is an aspect of meta-cognition.
But if you go study the field of meta-cognition, you will find that much of
it does seem to be pretty sterile.  That was my first impression when I
studied Meta-Cognition.  What I first read focused mostly, the field has
focused on memory and learning.  Memory because the ability to manage your
mind to remember things is a function of your meta-cognition as you decide
what to remember, how to remember, and why to remember something.  Then I
found other writers and key thinkers in the field of Meta-Cognition who were
anything but boring.   Later, in fact, I included them in the book,
Meta-States (2007).

 

Joseph O'Connor and John Seymour, in their excellent book introducing NLP,
are among the very few in NLKP who even mention meta-cognition.  They write
about meta-cognition as an epistemology- that is, a strategy for "learning
to learn," and a strategy for "knowing what you know" (epistemology):

"Gregory Bateson described NLP as the first systematic approach to learning
to learn; it is the first applied epistemology." (Introducing NLP, p. 205)

 

That dinner with wine and fish in Houston was the first time that someone
used "meta-cognition" as a way to dismiss the importance of the Meta-States
Model, but it was not the last time.  Just last week a Psychologist called
to ask about the Coaching Boot Camp, Coaching Mastery, that we are
conducting here in Colorado this July.  I couldn't tell if he was truly
interested or just wanted to kill some time because a client didn't show.
The other possibility is that he has a mis-matching meta-program which was
in full access when we talked!

 

Anyway we talked and after sharing information about the meta-levels and
Meta-States, he responded with the old line that I had not heard in years,
"Oh that's meta-cognition, I know all about that!"  Of course, I recognized
that as a come-on, an invitation to do battle.  He obviously wanted me to
"convince" him that he should invest in Meta-Coaching.  I say obviously
because he told me that that is what he wanted!

 

True enough, he didn't tell me that immediately.  That only came after I
provoked him.  And I did that because, over the years, I have learned to not
try to convince people of things!  If a person doesn't want to be convinced,
the person won't be.  If the person doesn't want to change, he won't be.
That's why I said to my caller, "Sounds like you already know everything you
want to know about meta-cognition.  So what would you like to know?"  So he
said, "Convince me that this is important and I should learn this!"

 

"So let me get this straight, you want me to spend time convincing you that
the meta-levels are important?" I asked matching the words he used.  "Yes,"
he said and then he began making his argument that there were more things he
wanted to learn about meta-cognition.  "Really?" I said with a tone of
incredulity.  "Like what?  What is there about meta-cognition that you don't
know and want to learn?"  He didn't know!  I guess that caught him off
guard.  Or perhaps it surprised him that I had no need to convince him or
change his mind or sell him anything.

 

How does meta-cognition relate to NLP and to Meta-States?  Well, it relates
because that's what NLP and Meta-States are about- they are meta-models
about how we humans create our models.  With meta-cognition, you move to the
thoughts (cognitions) that you have about your   thoughts.  So whatever you
are thinking- whether it is about learning, remembering, understanding,
being convinced, etc.-the higher level thoughts about that are your
meta-cognitions.  They make up your conceptual frames by which you interpret
things as you do.  Obviously, that makes them highly influential and
powerful.  And that's why meta-programs are important, why meta-modalities
(sub-modalities) are important, as are values, beliefs, understandings,
concepts, etc.  And the Meta-States Model explains how you create these
higher-level (meta) frameworks.  And when you know that, you know how to
create change at a much higher level for more systemic change than just
changing something at the primarily level.  There's much more to say about
all of this, so I'll do that in the next Neurons.

 

 

 

 



 

 

Question:

            Where do I order on Line?

 

Answer:

            Go to www.neurosemantics.com - "Business" "Pay a Statement"

            $20 per book, $5 SH in USA;  $14 SH outside of the USA.

 

            Or go to: http://www.neurosemantics.com/benchmarking-intangibles
and order directly.

 

 

Question:

            Are you offering a special price for this new book?

 

Answer:

            Yes, for a limited time --- June and July 2011 only, the book is
discounted by 20% and to make the offer even richer, for that period of
time, you can also order ONE of the other books in the Meta-Coaching series
for 20% off.  So what is normally $25 is $20 and what would be $50 is $40
until the end of July. 

 

Question:

            Can I order more than one copy?  If so, how do I calculate the
cost?

 

Answer:

            3 of the books can be put into one of the shipping packages ($5
in US, $14 outside US).

            So calculate extra postage and use the "Business" "Pay a
Statement" if ordering more.

            And yes, each one at $20 (20 percent off).

            If you have questions, write to Michael Hall directly (see email
address below).

 

 

 

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).
Trainers' Reflections are on Tuesdays and Meta-Coach Reflections on
Wednesdays.   Contact Dr. Hall at  meta at acsol.net  

 

 

 

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