"Try not to become a man of success, but rather a man of value." - Albert Einstein
David Martin at an international conference in Cancun, Mexicopresented the concept of "Connecting to Wealth"
And what our thoughts?
There are many different scientific answers, yet everyone knows intimately, what thinking is for themselves. One useful way of thinking about thinking is that we are using our senses internally.
When we think about what we see, hear and feel, we re-create the sights, sounds and feelings inwardly. We re-experience information in the sensory form in which we first perceived it. Sometimes we are aware of doing this, sometimes not.
Can you remember where you went to your last holiday? Now, how do you remember it? Maybe pictures of the place come into your mind. Perhaps you say the name or hear sounds. Or maybe you recall what you felt.
Thinking is such an obvious, commonplace activity we never give it a second thought. We tend to think about what we think about, not how we think about. Also we assume other people think in the same way that we do.
So one way we think is consciously or unconsciously remembering the sights, sounds, feelings, tastes and smells we have experienced. Through the medium of language we can even create varieties of sense experience without having had the actual experiences. Read the following three paragraphs as slowly as you comfortably can.
Take a moment to think about walking in a forest of pine trees. The trees tower above you, rising up on every side. You see the colors of the forest all around you and the sun makes leafy shadows and mosaics on the forest floor. You walk through a patch of sunlight that has broken through the cool ceiling of leaves above you.
As you walk, you become aware of the stillness, broken only by the birds calling in the crunching sound of your feet as you tread on the debris of the forest floor. There is the occasional sharp crack as you snap a dried plague underfoot. You reach out and touch a tree trunk, feeling the roughness of the bark on to your hand.
As you gradually become aware of a gentle breeze stroking your face, you notice the aromatic smell of pine mingling with the more earthy smells of the forest. Wandering onto you remember that supper will be ready soon. It is one of your favorite meals. You can almost taste the food in your mouth in anticipation…
To make sense of the above paragraphs, you went through those experiences in your mind, using your senses inwardly to represent the experience that was conjured up by the words. You probably created the scene sufficiently enough to imagine the taste of food in an already imaginary situation.
If you have ever walked in a pine forest, you may have remembered specific experiences from that occasion. If you have not, you may have constructed the experience from other similar experiences or used material from television, films, books or similar sources. Your experience was a mosaic of memories and imagination. Much of our thinking is typically a mixture of these remembered and constructed sense impressions.
We use the same neurological pathways to represent experience inwardly as we do to experience it directly. The same neurons generate electrochemical charges which can be measured by electromyographic readings. Thought has direct physical effects; mind and body are one system. Take a moment to imagine eating your favorite fruit. The fruit may be imaginary but the salivation is not.
We use our senses outwardly to perceive the world, and inwardly to ‘re-present’ experience to ourselves. In NLP the ways we take in, store and code information in our minds –seeing, hearing, feeling, taste and smell – are known as representational systems.
The visual system, often abbreviated to ’V’, can be used externally (e) when we are looking at the outside world (Ve), or internally (i) when we are mentally visualizing (Vi).
In the same way, the auditory system (A) can be divided into hearing external sounds (Ae), or internal (Ai).
The feeling sense is called the kinesthetic system (K). External kinesthetics (Ke), include tactile sensations like touch, temperature and moisture. Internal kinesthetics (Ki), include remembered sensations, emotions and the inner feelings of balance and bodily awareness, known as the proprioceptive sense, which provides us with feedback about our movements.
Without them we could not control our bodies in space with our eyes closed. The vestibular system is an important part of the kinesthetic system. It deals with our sense of balance, maintaining the equilibrium of our whole body in space. We have many metaphors about this system such as losing our balance, falling for somebody, or being put in a spin. The vestibular system is very influential and is often treated as a separate representational system.
Visual, auditory and kinesthetic are the primary representation systems used in Western cultures. The sense of taste, gustatory (G), and smell, olfactory (O), are not as important and are often included in the kinesthetic sense. They often serve as powerful and immediately links to the sights, sounds and pictures associated with them.
We use all three of the primary systems all the time, although we are not equally aware of them all and we tend to favor some over others. For example, many people have an inner voice that runs in the auditory system, creating an internal dialogue. They rehearse arguments, rehear speeches, makeup replies and generally talk things over with themselves. This is however, only one way of thinking.
Representational systems are not mutually exclusive. It is possible to visualize the scene, have the associated feelings and hear the sound simultaneously, although it may be difficult to pay attention to all three at the same time. Some parts of the thought process will be unconscious.
The more a person is absorbed in their inner world of sights, sounds and feelings, the less he or she will be able to pay attention to the external world.
There is a story of a famous chess player in an international tournament, who was so engrossed in the position he was seeing in his mind's eye that he had two full dinners in one evening. He had completely forgotten eating the first. Being "lost in thought" is a very apt description. People experiencing strong inner emotions are also less vulnerable to external pain.
Our behavior is generated from a mixture of internal and external sense experience. At any time, you will be paying attention to different parts of our experience. While you read this you will be focusing on the text and probably not aware of the feeling in your left foot... until I just mentioned it...
As I write this I am mostly aware of my internal dialogue pacing itself to my rate of writing with the computer. I would be distracted if I paid attention to outside sounds. Not being a very good typist, I look at the keys and feel them under my fingers as I type, so my visual and kinesthetic senses are being used outwardly. This would change if I stopped to visualize a scene I wanted to describe.
There are some emergency signals that would get my immediate attention: a sudden pain, my name being called, the smell of smoke, or if I'm hungry, the smell of food.
Understanding the primary representational systems will assist you in your ability to connect at a deeper level with people, whether it is in business or personal relationships.
Put everything you have into your study of Human Interaction & Connection, it’s the difference that makes the difference. And remember, the Best is yet to come!
David Martin
Answer Concepts, S.A.
answerconcepts@msn.com
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