The User's Manual for the Brain Volume I

by Bob G Bodenhamer

  Third position offers a way of dissociating from the entire event or conversation. In the third position you become an independent observer. Third position allows us to operate from the position of objectivity. Ask yourself, “How would this conversation or event look to someone totally uninvolved?” Imagine yourself being out of your body and off to the side of the conversation between you and the other person. You can see both yourself and the other person.

  Recent NLP literature offers two additional Perceptual Positions to the first three. We give them here:

  4.1 The Fourth Perceptual Position

  Dilts (1997) specified the Fourth Perceptual Position in his Visionary Leadership Skills manual. He defined the Fourth Position as “We”—from the perspective of the system. In this position, we have “associated in the perspective of the whole system.” To take fourth position, step aside and adopt the perspective of the whole system so that you can there consider what would contribute to the best interest of the system. A linguistic format for this position goes: “If we consider our common goals…”

  4.2 The Fifth Perceptual Position

  Atkinson (1997) in an unpublished manuscript entitled Five Central Ideas suggests another perceptual position—“a universal perceptual position.” This results from applying the universal quantifiers (all, always) to our perspective. Doing so “springboards us to the valuable idea of a universal perceptual position.” (p. 24). This provides the widest and largest-level perspective of all.

  By taking this meta-position to everything, we can then learn to take on multiple perceptual positions and even change rapidly between them. Doing so increases our flexibility of consciousness so that we don’t get stuck in any one position.

  This may involve “over-viewing through time”—seeing things as they progress through and over time. None of these positions offers a superior position to the other. Each position has equal importance. The wise communicator knows how to move at will from one position to the other.

  Just think what would happen if you got stuck in either position. A person stuck in first position would find himself or herself an egotist. Do you know anyone who lives in first position? A person stuck in second position would live constantly over-influenced by other people’s views. In my NLP classes, after I (BB) explain the second position, and how those who live in second position tend to let the state of others determine their state, I say, “Second position functions as the position of co-dependency.” Just about every time I do this, I will hear several sighs come from students as they realize what and how they have caused themselves to allow others to control their states.

  A person stuck in: Becomes

  First position = Egotistical

  Second = Caretaker,

  position rescuer

  Third position = Cold and unfeeling

  A person stuck in third position would become detached and unfeeling. Others perceive these people as “cold hearted.” Indeed, I have found that those who live in third position find themselves as the loners of the world. Many, but not all, also will have the characteristics of the Auditory Digital person. These people provide society its thinkers and philosophers. Living life detached permits a person to analyze objectively.

  Everyone moves from one position to the other. For most, moving from one position to another flows with everyday life. The ability to move from one to the other, either consciously or unconsciously, permits one to act with wisdom and respond appropriately. By moving among the perceptual positions, you will add richness and choice to your conversations.

  4.3 Exercise: Perceptual Positions

  Try this experiment. Recall the last major argument you had with someone. Associate into your body (first position) by seeing what you saw, hearing what you heard, and feeling what you felt. Do you still feel the same negative emotions you felt then? Now, imagine yourself floating out of your body and floating into the body of the person you argued with (second position). Look through their eyes at yourself. Notice how you looked during the heat of the argument. What tone of voice did you use? How do you feel as you look at yourself and hear your tone of voice? Now,imagine yourself dissociated from the total event (third position). Move yourself off to the side where you can see both yourself and the person arguing with each other. How do you view the argument from this dissociated position? Notice your reaction and feelings and how they differ in each position. Has your perception of the argument changed now that you have been in all three positions? Would you have given a different response to the person had you done this during the argument?

  4.4 The Aligning Perceptual Positions Pattern

  Sometimes our ability to perceive things from out of our own eyes (first-person perception) and from out of the eyes of another person (second-person perception, the “empathy” perspective), and from an observer position (third-person perception) gets out-of-alignment. Structurally, each of these perceptual resources can operate as separate “parts.”

  These three perceptual positions refer to the three ways that we can “look” at the world. As we have seen, conceptually, we can become stuck in one position or another. Those stuck in first-person position can become totally self-referencing in their view of things so that they think-and-feel in highly “narcissistic” ways. They will process things only in terms of themselves. Those stuck in second-person position tend to become totally other-referencing in their perspective and can get stuck in the role of rescuers and caretakers to the exclusion of taking care of themselves. People stuck in third-position may take a historical view, a cultural view, etc., so that they become so dissociated from their body and emotions that they seem more like robots than people (Satir’s “Computer” stance––see Chapter Twelve).

  Not only can we get stuck in one position, but we can experience an out-of-alignment between these perceptual positions. Problems may also arise from having parts of ourselves react from different perceptual positions. When that happens we end up working against ourselves. Aligning perceptual positions in all rep systems, results in inner congruence and personal power. This pattern also enables us to resolve inner conflict and attain internal alignment.

  Use this triple description pattern whenever you or another lack a full awareness or perspective on a given problem. Take all three positions to broaden your thinking-feeling. This can truly enrich perspectives in such situations as conflict resolution, mediation, influencing others, personal flexibility, etc. The technology enables us to gain an expanded perspective and information on problem situations.

  4.4.0.8 The Pattern

  1. Identify target information. Specify a limitation, a problem or a situation in which you (or another) feel stuck. “Please describe the situation in which you would like to have a more congruent response.”

  2. Identify the visual, auditory and kinesthetic factors within each perceptual position.

  a. Visual: What and how do you see the situation? From what perceptual position? If you have two or more “conceptual parts” or entities that reference this same subject, check what perceptual position each part uses. Do some parts see the situation as an observer or from the eyes of another person? Locate the position of each part. Point out (internally or externally) where you find them. Do some of the parts seem closer to the situation than others? How does each part see the situation? What does each part actually see? What differences occur between them?

  b. Auditory: What sounds and words do you hear about the situation? From what perceptual position do you hear these things? If you have two or more parts in reference to it, what does each part say? Listen for the pronouns that each part uses. A part in the observer mode will have a neutral voice and will refer to “he” or “she.” An “other” voice will typically refer to “you” with a more judgmental tone. The “self” voice will use “I” and “me.” Where exactly in your body do you hear each part? (Side positions often indicate other or observer; self usually comes from vocal chord area.)

  c. Kinesthetic: What do you sense abo
ut the situation? From what perceptual position? For multiple parts, where do you sense each part in your body? What emotions do you experience with each part? Do you have any neutral parts as if you only observe and don’t experience life?

  3. Realign perceptual positions in all rep systems. For the Observer alignment (3rd position), go through the VAK checks.

  a. Visual: Ask the observer part, “Would you communicate any information you have gathered to the self part?” Continue the dialogue until self and other similarly view the situation.

  b. Auditory alignment: Ask the observer part, “Would you shift pronouns to support the self using ‘I’, ‘he,’ or ‘she?’” Also, please use “self” tone of voice.

  c. Kinesthetically: Ask the observer part, “Would you be willing to shift feelings to those compatible with self feelings.” Also move feelings to the place where “self” holds feelings.

  4. Align your self in terms of the VAK perceptual positions. “Make sure you see from your own point of view and out of your own eyes. Make sure your voice location arises from your own vocal chords and that you use ‘I’ pronouns. Make sure that all feelings come from inside the ‘self’ and reflect resourceful states.”

  5. Do another alignment (2nd position) in the same way. “Please adjust your perceptions to make them compatible with the view held by self.” Move the location of “other” to the place occupied by self. Please move the voice you hear to the vocal chord area and have it represent ‘self’, bringing any enriching information to the ‘self’ position. Align feelings from ‘other’ to those of ‘self.’ Integrate feelings in such a way as to make the ‘self’ more flexible and resourceful.

  6. Run an ecology check. Do all the parts feel aligned and in harmony?

  7. Future pace. Allow yourself now to become aware of new behavioral possibilities. “Describe any new abilities and behaviors that now become available to you. And you can notice yourself performing in the future as the ‘self’ part increases in richness and flexibility.” If the “other” part objects to integration, you can request that this part return to the person to whom the thoughts and feelings belong.

  4.5 Thought Questions To Assist Your Learning:

  Without referring to your notes, list and describe the five Perceptual Positions.

  Which position do you favor so much that you tend to use it as your default Perceptual Position?

  Which Perceptual Position feels like the biggest stretch for you?

  Do you have any Perceptual Positions in which you can become “stuck?”

  What procedures will facilitate you (or someone else) developing more flexibility of consciousness about Perceptual Positions?

  5

  NLP Presuppositions For Building Resourcefulness

  Thinking Theoretically About Theory

  5.1 What you can expect to learn in this chapter:

  The theoretic foundations of the NLP Model

  The central presuppositions that create empowerment

  The critical difference between “map” and “territory”

  The NLP attitude in communicating

  The systemic nature of NLP

  The importance of flexibility

  The attitude that helps us to take a positive attitude

  5.2 Keeping The Context In Mind

  To discern the proper meaning of a thing, we have to keep it in context. The original context arose from therapy, family systems, gestalt perceptual psychology, foreground/background, computer science, etc. It has everything to do with communication and with the structure of excellence in various human behaviors. To forget that context or to judge it by another context or criterion, inevitably leads to misunderstanding, unnecessary and inaccurate judgments, and the missing of some resources we can use to improve our lives.

  The context of NLP concerns accessing the mindset, state, and skills necessary for understanding and bringing about successful communication and personal change. As such it concerns how processes work, not the source or origin of those resources. It stays away from theory, morality (right and wrong judgments) and explanations, as it focuses on what does work and how we can model it.

  In its therapeutic concern, NLP aims to discover state-of-the-art methods for getting people out of their small, limited, inaccurate, and painful perspectives that keep them locked into dysfunctional habits. Thus it addresses the issue of changing the meanings that people attribute to things which keep them limited and in pain. Without prescribing meaning, NLP suggests effective methods for changing meanings, how to alter perception, how to take on new and different frames of reference, etc.

  Accepting the epistemology of General Semantics, NLP corresponds to the Cognitive-Behavioral proposition that with regard to things inside human psychology, thinking itself plays a central and crucial role. Thus how we map our internal reality about the territory makes all the difference in the world.

  NLP also operates within the context of resources. It assumes that in order for a person to make positive change and model excellence, one needs lots of feelings of confidence and certainty that such changes can occur. This involves finding enough resources to bring to bear upon a person. In NLP we commonly access curiosity, flexibility, a sense of possibilities, a desire for change, etc. NLP itself makes no assumptions whatever about where these resources come from.

  NLP recognizes that “mind” involves more than the surface information at any given moment within the conscious mind. Based upon numerous scientific experiments and models about human neurology and “mind,” NLP seeks only to access these not-conscious facets of mind that run the autonomic nervous system.

  Having first modeled Satir and Perls, NLP asserts the value of viewing a person as “response-able” (“at cause”) for their own life. This stands in contradistinction to some psychologies which view a person as a victim of early childhood training, genetics, birth order, trauma, etc.

  5.3 NLP’s Theoretical Assumptive Presuppositions

  We now want to shift from applied neuro-linguistics to a more philosophical perspective about the NLP model. To do that we want to step back and consider the model in terms of its theoretical underpinnings. We have structured this chapter around a list of the Key Presuppositions of NLP as formulated by Bodenhamer (1995)5. All of the primary therapeutic techniques of NLP go back to these presuppositions.

  We have noted before that the NLP developers and community do not think of NLP as a theory, but as a model. How does a theory differ from a model? A theory goes into explanations of why a system works. NLP does not do this. A model simply describes, in a step-by-step fashion, how to use the model.

  Does that mean that NLP has no theoretical underpinnings? Of course not!Every system and every model operates by some assumed theoretical understandings about the world, people, God, etc. Some systems spend a lot of time and energy on developing their theories, defending their theories, arguing against the theories of other systems, and using the scientific method to run experiments on the validity of the theories. NLP does not do this.

  What does NLP do? It simply assumes a certain ideology—and announces these presuppositions up front. In other words, it lays its epistemological premises on the table admitting, “We can’t prove these ideas.” “We cannot demonstrate that they stand as ‘true,’ or ‘right,’ or that they comprise any ‘ultimate reality,’ but we do accept them. We do so because we find them useful in the task of making changes and accomplishing things.”

  Korzybski (1933, 1994) described epistemology (the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of knowledge, its presuppositions and foundations, and its extent and validity) in very similar terms. He argued that once we realize that we don’t deal with “reality” directly, but only indirectly via our nervous system and sense receptors, and we understand the fundamental difference between “map” and “territory”—then we also realize that we can never “say” everything about anything—we cannot so simplify the territory of reality. Nor can we, via our human powers, ever “
state” the foundational principles of the universe—we have to operate linguistically, and therefore mentally, from “undefined terms” and assumptions. So, for the sake of science and sanity, Korzybski argued that we take the approach of announcing our “undefined terms” up front.

  NLP does precisely this—announcing its “undefined terms” and undefined beliefs in the list of “the NLP Presuppositions.” Where did these come from? From the theoretical underpinnings that were found in the systems that were modeled: gestalt psychology, family systems therapy, Ericksonian hypnotic-medical communication, general-semantics, cybernetics, information systems, transformational grammar, cognitive-behavioral psychology, and Batesonian anthropology.

  Consider now these presuppositions and test them for yourself. We believe you will find that they do not contradict the beliefs/values of most people. NLP offers unsurpassed tools for working with subjectivity.

  5.4 The NLP Presuppositional Beliefs

  The importance of our presuppositions lies in how they operate as unspoken beliefs. We inevitably and inescapably have operating presuppositions that control our “undefined terms” and understandings. A belief, as a concept, theory, paradigm, etc., describes a basic structure in our model of the world that we hold as true. Often we hold varying degrees of beliefs. We believe some things strongly, other things not as strongly. Beliefs that we hold very dear and that drive our thoughts and actions we call core beliefs. We use them as our presuppositions.