What is Neuro-Semantics?
Neuro-Semantics grew primarily from NLP and secondarily from General Semantics and Cognitive Linguistics. Dr L Michael Hall developed the foundations of Meta-States, the basis of Neuro-Semantics, from modelling and “mining” the riches of Korzybski. Later he conducted training programmes in London on “The Merging of the Models: NLP and GS” now called “Advanced Flexibility.”
Dr Hall was influenced by the Cognitive Sciences as that was the focus of his doctrinal work. He took much from the systems theory, Ericksonian models of Brief Psychotherapy, Narrative Therapy and Solution Oriented therapy. More recently he has integrated the chaos theory, fuzzy logic, mathematics, etc.
This means that Neuro-Semantics is first and foremost a description of the structure of experience, especially the higher levels of mind or consciousness that creates contextual or framed “meaning.” Neuro-Semantics is therefore neutral about religion and spirituality.
It does take a stand about moral and ethical issues – mainly the ethics of the scientific model: honesty, truthfulness, disclosure, respect of colleagues, openness to new and different ideas, willingness to test, experiment, and validate results, humane treatment of people and animals used in research, etc.
Philosophically, unlike Bandler and Grinder who tried to make NLP philosophically free and neutral by saying they had no theory and then snuck in the theory in terms of their unquestioned presuppositions, Dr Hall sought to make the theoretical and philosophical foundations and frameworks of Neuro-Semantics manifest and explicit. These include the NLP presuppositions and the list of Meta-States presuppositions or principles.
- A facet of the Cognitive Sciences and the Neuro-Sciences
- Constructionism (we construct maps of the territory)
- Pragmatism: we seek to identify what works, but without making the end justify the means.
- Cognitive Linguistics: we follow Lakoff and Johnson’s work in Philosophy in the Flesh to a great extent, recognizing the embodied nature of our metaphors by which we live and frame our thinking.
- Democratic: we seek to find the structure of the best experiences in order to equally support and validate all people in all cultures and to encourage the democratic ideas of equality of all, fairness, justice, etc.
- Human Potential Movement: as NLP, Gestalt Therapy, Family Systems, Rogerian Counseling, etc. grew out of the Human Potential Movement, so Neuro-Semantics is a beneficiary of that tradition and similarly seeks to promote human welfare, empowerment, health and vitality, etc.
- Generative focus: we seek to find and promote generative models rather than remedial because we believe that except for disease, genetic damage, etc., people are not broken, but work perfectly well. It’s not the lack of the ability to become resourceful, the lack of genetic possibilities that’s the problem, but the lack of top-notch maps (frames).