[Neurons] 2025 Neurons #29 PHENOMENOLOGY & THE MATRIX MODEL

[Michael Hall]

From: L. Michael Hall

2025 Neurons #29

July 14, 2025

Phenomenology Series #4

 

PHENOMENOLOGY & THE MATRIX MODEL 

 

I originally put the Matrix Model together in 2001 after publishing Frame
Games (1999).  When I did, I chose three aspects of Cognitive Psychology
(state, meaning, intention) and five aspects from Developmental Psychology
(self, power, others, time, and world).  Yet without being fully cognizant
of it, I unintentionally used the key categories of both Phenomenology.
I'll begin with the Process Matrices of the Matrix Model.  Via the three
process matrices, we create and experience our sense of reality.  It results
in our model of the world which we experience as a subjective experience.
These three matrices make up the basic content of NLP.

 

Intentionality

Intention came originally from the idea of "to stretch out."   Webster says
that the first meaning comes from the verb intend, meaning "to mean or to
signify."  "I intend to do something," and so it secondarily carries the
meaning of purpose or design.  Within "intention" is the root word tend
which refers to "movement toward something, tend toward, tendency."  Because
intentionality refers to stretching forward, to tendency, it has within it
the idea of tension.  The Latin stem is intendeze literally means "to
stretch."  From this we get our word "tension."  Intention then is a
"stretching" toward something. 

 

Heidegger notes that care is the source of will.  If I care about being, I
will shepherd it with attention to its welfare.

"Care is a particular type of intentionality ... 'intentionality' and 'care'
lies in the literal term 'tend,' which is both the root of intentionality
and the meaning of care.  Tend means a tendency, in inclination, a throwing
of one's weight on a given side..." (Rolla May, Love and Will, p. 289)

 

In Phenemenology. intentionality is the key defining characteristic of all
lived experiences.

              "Intentionality as directedness and specifically as
self-directedness, the manner in which we direct ourselves toward things."
(Dermot, 231). 

 

Consciousness is always consciousness about something and intentionality
involves directedness. It means directing yourself toward something.  As
every mental act is related to some object, it intends to something beyond
itself.   Paul Tillich (The Courage to Be) wrote, "Man's vitality is as
great as his intentionality; they are interdependent.  This makes man the
most vital of all beings."  Intentionality is being directed toward
meaningful contents- what you focus on in the world.  Your essential
intentionality is to get your life together, collect yourself, be whole, be
authentic.  

 

Regarding the intentions of others, Phenomenology starts by seeking to
understand the other person from his perspective.  It begins with the
question, "How could what he says be right?" (Gadmer, p. 292).  Similarly,
in NLP we begin by assuming positive intentions, people are trying to do
something of value and benefit for themselves even when they end up doing
hurtful and evil things.

 

Meaning

Intentionality is an aspect of meaning.  We frequently uses these terms
synonymously, "I mean to get that report done by the end of the day."
Translation, that's my intention.  That's what I'm seeing to do.  It's my
orientation and direction for this day.

 

Heidegger famouly wrote, "Language is the house of being."  How you language
things is how you create your world.  In both NLP and Phenomenology, "all
meanings are constituted in and by consciousness" (Dermot, 166).   No wonder
meaning is central.  "Human existence is preoccupied with meaning."  A
central task for us then is to understand the world.

"We are historically situated in the task of understanding the world, a
world encountered and inhabited in and through language.  Language is the
medium of the hermeneutic experience." (Dormet, 248)

 

This explains why the entire human world is linguistic by nature and why
understanding is interpretation from the start.  Human experience is
hermeneutical inside-out.  Hermeneutics is everywhere, in all aspects of
human life.  Hermeneutics recognizes that understanding is a prerequisite of
human life.  All understanding is historically conditioned, is partial, and
always comes from a point of view.  Understanding takes place within the
finite boundaries of essentially limited and historically conditioned human
living. (Dormet, 251).  Conversely, we are separated from others by
different horizons of understanding.

             "The attempt to understand the other must begin with the
recognition that we are separated by different horizons of understanding,
and that mutual understanding comes through overlapping consensus, merging
of horizons, rather than through the abandonment by one of the interlocutors
of his or her initial horizon." (Dormet, 252)

 

In Phenomenology the hermeneutic circle and highlights the fact that all
conversation is dialectic by nature.  By dialogue we co-create our realities
and then our shared realities can become our "culture."  If then meaning is
a function of context, then a text is the conversation that we have with
ourselves and/or others.  Via questions and dialogue we construct meaning.

 

When we ask a question, the question places what is questioned in a
particular perspective.   It enables us to distinguish between authentic and
inauthentic dialogue. 

"To someone who engages in dialogue only to prove himself right and not to
gain insight, asking questions will indeed seem easier than answering them.
There is no risk that he will be unable to answer a question." (Gadmer, 356)

 

This is another aspect of reflexivity.  Gadmer writes that, "The structure
of reflexivity is fundamentally given with all consciousness." (p. 337).  We
inevitably think about our thinking and feel about our feelings, and do so
in an infinite process that has no end.

 

State

With meaning and intention we induce ourselves into a state of being.  We
thereby put ourselves in our world of experience engaged with the phenomena
of our lives.  In Neuro-Semantics we speak about state the grounding of the
Matrix.  Everything in the Matrix shows up and is manifested in one's state.

 

This term state refers to where we are and what we are experiencing
(mentally, emotionally, physically, interpersonally, etc.).  A state is a
state of mind, state of body, and state of emotion.  It is what we
experience in our life-world.  It is our condition in the world.   In
Phenomenology state is referred to by the term being and "body."  Being
refers to the essence of human existence as such.  "The body brings me into
a spatial world."

 

State also highlights that our nature is not fixed or permanent, it is
conditional.  It is dependent upon many of the conditions which it comes
into contact which is why our states are constantly changing.  Rollo May in
Courage to be, says that "Being, as being, transcends objectivity as well as
subjectivity."  (p. 25).

 

Conclusion

By exploring the phenemenology of the Matrix Model, you can see the close
connection which the two fields share. 




 

 

 

 



L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.

Executive Director, ISNS

738 Beaver Lodge

Grand Jct., CO. 81505 USA

meta at acsol.net

 

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