From: "Chris Lofting" <ddiamond@ozemail.com.au>
To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
Subject: Beliefs
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1999 23:22:02 +1000
mario wrote..
>
>I wished we could restrict memetics to this: how beliefs influence human
>behaviour.
here is my post (just sent) to another list (Quantum-Mind) on beliefs
(happens to be this weeks roundtable question re QM and beliefs, structure
of etc):
The structure of beliefs, and the ability to change them, has been covered
by Dilts (refs below) where we are looking at a definite hierarchic
structure maintained by all individuals that can be used to help
re-structure belief systems. This hierarchy is here described:
Spirituality (top position) - who else - transmission
Identity - Who - mission
Beliefs and Values - Why - permission/motivation
Capabilities - How - direction
Behaviour - What - actions
Environment (base position) - Where/When - constraints
In this hierachy, a change in the characteristics of a position will change
all positions below it but few, if any, above it other than that directly
above. For example, a change in capabilites will directly influence the
behaviour and environment levels but have little influence on the higher
levels other than a possible influence on beliefs (we then get into a
feedback loop that helps to refine the 'new' configuration)
What is noticable about this hierarchy is that it moves from a more
objective base to a more subjective top and thus from a more 'particle'
approach to a more 'wave' approach where subjective experience, being
strongly influenced by qualitative assessments, is strongly rooted in
patterns of emotion other than the syntactic form of 'correct/incorrect'.
(BTW this also emphasises the point that spirituality is something personal
and one of the main problem areas we have in our species is the attempts to
generalise, to socialise, this spirituality. It is possible that this comes
about due to the total reconfiguration that takes place when one's
spirituality changes and so a 'need' to express this 'profound' change to
others.)
To change the particular expression of a level we need to approach things
from the level above it. For example, what changes Beliefs and Values is
one's sense of identity, and so by changing one's sense of mission and our
understanding of WHO we are we change permissions/motivations
'automatically', we change 'the reasons why' in that the change leads to a
reconfiguration of all positions below the Identity position to accommodate
that change.
What changes spirituality, you ask? Social interactions in the form of
family, profession/community, planet, universe, in that order. In this
sense, 'enlightenments' gained from QM can influence one's sense of the
spiritual and so affect the expressions of all positions below that of the
Spiritual.
In general, Beliefs are suprisingly easy to change, if you know how.
Refs:
Dilts, R.(1990)"Changing Belief Systems with NLP" MetaPublications
Dilts, R., Hallbom,T.,& Smith,S.,(1990) "Beliefs: Pathways to Health and
Well-Being" Metamorphous Press.
best regards,
Chris.
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~ddiamond
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