[Neurons] 2016 Neurons #55 --- The Invention of Meaning

Mon Nov 28 06:06:37 EST 2016

From: L. Michael Hall

2016 "Neurons" Meta Reflections - #55

November 28, 2016

Basic NLP Concepts #3

MEANING: CONTEXT & CONTENT

After the first two NLP premises (presuppositions) is the third one-Meaning
is context dependent. This is another very basic NLP Concept.    Because
"The map is not the territory" and because "People respond according to
their internal maps, not according to reality," if we are to understand
ourselves or others, we have to look at how the person constructs meaning
and the contextual frames that they use.

Meaning is Context Dependent

This presupposition asserts that meaning both involves contexts and depends
upon contexts.  Conversely, meaning does not and cannot exist apart from
contexts.  What are these contexts?  First and foremost is language.  What
we call a "word" or a "sentence" only makes sense when understood in its
language context.  For example, these words make sense within the English
language context.

Then there are other contexts: interpersonal, business, religious,
political, ethical, cultural, etc.  Each of these contexts determines and
governs the specific words, gestures, movements, behaviors, interactions,
etc. that occur within them.  It is the context that frames how to
understand and interpret what they mean.  A statement or an action in one
context may mean entirely something very different in another context.

Saying "I love you!" to your father does not mean the same when saying it to
your wife.

Saying, "How are you?" means something different at work, at home, in the
therapy room, and at hospital's emergency room.

For any word or action a context is require to make meaning of it.  By
themselves, words and actions have no meaning.  The context determines how
you and I frame the meaning. O'Connor and Seymour (1990), write:

"Events happen, but until we give them meaning, relate them to the rest of
life, and evaluate the possible consequences, they are not important. We
learn what things mean from our culture and individual upbringing." (p. 131)

Similarly, this is the point of the biblical Proverb, "As a person thinks
(literally, appraises, calculates, reckons) in his soul, so he is."
(Proverbs 23:7).  We are meaning makers.  When it comes to meaning, we
invent it.  We construct it.  We construct it through our thinking,
appraising, calcutating, reasoning, etc.  It is a personal construct.  And
until we do this, meaning does not exist.

To say that meaning is context dependent is to say that context (the
contextual frame) controls or governs meaning.  That is, the context we
accept determines the meaning that we attribute to something.  Fundamental
to NLP is the principle that we construct our internal experiences through
how we use our mental processes to code and re-code our thoughts.  That's
why when you change the internal structure, you change the experience
itself.  This structural point of view both defines and identifies the heart
of NLP.  While content is important, it is secondary to the contextual
framing.  The contextual framing determines the meaning of the content.  So
when you rise above your content mapping, you begin to understand how you
have structured your understandings and what's running the show.

This explains the importance of the how question rather than the why
question.   When a person says, "I am depressed," we never ask why in NLP.
"Why are you depressed?  What is causing your depression?"  Asking why will
garner explanations and justifications.   He will give you reasons to
explain and justify the depression!  That's not a wise choice.  If that
experience exists, it does so due to its structure.   So we ask the modeling
question of how, "How do you do that?"

By asking how, you move from the content of the depression to the structural
level.  How are you creating the depression state?  What are you picturing
inside your mind?  What are you saying to yourself?  Asking these questions
enables you to search for the process that explain the depression code.
Then, once you discover the structure, you can change it.

Now while we construct meaning by framing a context (which then becomes the
hidden structure behind the meaning), our meanings are not necessarily true,
accurate, or even useful.  We can (and do) construct stupid, irrational, and
useless meanings just as readily as we create meanings that are intelligent,
rational, and useful.  Just because we attribute meaning to something, or
create a meaningful understanding of something, does not make it so.  We can
be completely wrong.  Further, meaning can be not only dysfunctional, but
destructive.

This explains why perception is not reality.  Your perception is a function
of your thinking, framing, and meaning-making.  It is something you have
learned and just because your inner mental mapping sees something in a
particular way does not make it real.  Nor does it mean that it is possible
to make it real.  Just because you believe in some imagined fantasy does not
"actualize" it.  Reality is reality.  Perception is our human effort to try
to understand reality.  And when we do there are two parts- the content of
our thoughts and the framing of that content.

Content is your story, the details of what happened.  Framing is how you
think, your style of reasoning, and the categories you use to classify the
content.  Framing structures your content.  The content could be my thinking
about starting my business and the ups-and-downs in the early years, some of
the things I tried that didn't work, the things that did, and so on.  But
how do I frame it?  Do I frame it as a story of upward success, every step
leading to the next level of success?  Do I frame it as learning to succeed
through failure?  Do I frame it as a struggle because it didn't happen
quickly?  Do I frame it as unmitigated success because even failures led to
new discoveries?  Do I frame it in terms of the overall story (the big
picture)?  Do I frame it in terms of the many details?  Do I frame it by
matching what I expected?  Do I frame it by mismatching and identifying
everything that didn't fit my understanding?

What NLP began with this premise, Neuro-Semantics has expanded and developed
with the Meta-States model which gives us multiple ways to getting to the
internal context of experiences.

Neuro-Semantic News --- "The Collaborative Leader" is now available.

.        www.neurosemantics.com 

.        Just off the Press from Crown House Publications, UK

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41aXXwUZuzL._SX322_BO1,204,
203,200_.jpg

L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.

               Neuro-Semantics Executive Director 

               Neuro-Semantics International

P.O. Box 8

Clifton, CO. 81520 USA                             

               1 970-523-7877 

                    Dr. Hall's email:
<mailto:meta at acsol.net\hich\af31506\dbch\af31505\loch\f31506> meta at acsol.net

    ISNS new logo

What is Neuro-Semantic NLP?

Neurons:  Get your free subscription to the weekly International \Post on
Neuro-Semantics by Dr. L. Michael Hall. Subscribe at:
wwww.neurosemantics.com

    Coaching: For world-class Coach Training - The Meta-Coaching System,
www.neurosemantics.com/metacoaching   Meta-Coach Reflections sent every
Wednesday to the group of Licensed Meta-Coaches.
www.metacoachfoundation.org  

Self-Actualization: Neuro-Semantics launched the New Human Potential
Movement in 2007, for information about this, see
<http://www.self-actualizing.org/> www.self-actualizing.org  

NSP --- Neuro-Semantic Publications: Order books from Neuro-Semantic
website,  <http://www.neurosemantics.com/> www.neurosemantics.com  click on
Products and Services and then the Catalogue of books.  Order via paypal.  

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist8.pair.net/pipermail/neurons/attachments/20161128/f428b714/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 16713 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://pairlist8.pair.net/pipermail/neurons/attachments/20161128/f428b714/attachment-0002.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 10627 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://pairlist8.pair.net/pipermail/neurons/attachments/20161128/f428b714/attachment-0003.jpg>