Presuppositions of NLP Explained (2)
The resources an individual needs in order to effect a change are already within them.
If something is humanly possible then it's possible for you to do it too afterall, you're a human being - aren't you?
This presupposition also includes the concept that we all possess resources such as courage or sensitivity but that sometimes we are unable to access those resources under certain sets of circumstances i.e. we may find it difficult to remain calm and logical in the face of loud, angry and unwarranted verbal abuse, or to be logical and methodical whilst experiencing overwhelming excitement.
The map is not the territory
This is one of my favourite presuppositions and, in my humble opinion, one of the most significant underlying principles of the whole ethos of NLP.
Originally coined by the Polish-American philosopher and scientist Alfred Korzybski it relates to the principle that we, as human beings, do no operate directly on the world but rather on a model of it.
In layman's terms we use the information we take in through our five senses to build in our mind an internal representation or internal map of the world. As good as that map might be, as it exists only in our own mind it is exactly and only that - a map and not the territory itself, in just the same way that even the best map of the United Kingdom, even if it was made to scale, could never be the United Kingdom itself. This particular topic area will be covered in more depth in the Learning Strategy section.
The positive worth of the individual is held constant, while the value and appropriateness of internal and/or external behavior is questioned.
In short, people are not their behaviours. All learning and hence behaviour is geared towards adaptation and so behaviour is context dependant. As an example you may have experienced being less patient and chatty when you're feeling tired and run down, but would it be fair to be judged as mean and grumpy on the basis of that single incident?
NLP teaches us that we should accept the person (including ourselves) and be willing to change the behaviour.