Constructive alternativeism is a philosophical position formulated by George Kelly, according to which reality can be interpreted by people in many different ways based on «constructive alternatives» (that is, different points of view on reality, individual models of reality).
In constructive alternativeism, in principle, abstractly correct or incorrect interpretations of environmental signals are not considered, and all hypotheses that allow adequate interaction with the environment have the right to exist. In other words, in constructive alternativeism, the acceptability of a hypothesis is determined not by the degree of approximation of the model to the “original”, but by its heuristic value. How does it «work» or not.
Philosophy of constructive alternativeism
The philosophy of constructive alternativeism is described in George Kelly’s book The Psychology of Personality Constructs (The Psychology of Personal Constructs, 1955). According to her, reality is what we interpret as reality, and facts can always be viewed from different points of view.
Reality as such has no meaning for a person until it is somehow interpreted by him. A person cognizes the world in terms of similarities and differences of events, using them to establish the identity of the objects of the surrounding world. As a doctrine, constructive alternativeism argues «that our entire modern interpretation of the world is in need of revision or replacement.» To explain how a person creates a picture of the world, Kelly introduced the concept of personal, or personal, constructs.
Constructs are “transparent stencils or templates” that a person “creates himself, and then tries to fit them to the realities of which this world consists.” They are used to predict recurring events. According to Kelly, a personal construct is the simplest mechanism of this kind of activity, which is a kind of rule for operating with values, a bipolar scale with which events are analyzed. It is through the comparison of personal constructs, in his opinion, that people interpret reality. In order to form a complete picture of the world in a person, the constructs function in the system, thereby forming a system of interpretation. A person, according to constructive alternativeism, can perceive and interpret reality only through such systems of interpretation, outside of which no physical stimuli can acquire any subjective meaning for him.
George Kelly believed that the universe could not be viewed in terms of universals or absolutes. Kelly’s idea that scientists, like all people, are actively constructing an interpretation of the world contrasts sharply with the conventional idea that scientists somehow «discover» or «reveal» bits of absolute truth that await them, as if the world were «forsaken». monument.» The approach, according to which one can know the absolute truth of the Universe, by mechanically collecting all such pieces, Kelly described as «accumulative fragmentationism» and considered it as a premise antagonistic to his own constructive alternativeism.
Who uses this approach
This approach is most actively used in NLP. «The world is a map, not a territory.» «We know the truth, we only look for what works.» NLP fundamentally does not pose the question of whether one point of view is more adequate than another, or not. «Do you believe in witches? Does it work for you? “Well, that’s nice!”
Enough vigorously this approach is used during Lifespring. «You’re right, but it doesn’t work!»
This position is close to Sinton, but in Sinton’s philosophy the question “works” or “does not work” this view (picture, belief) on a particular person is an insufficient question. Now it works, but in the future serious troubles will grow out of this. Or — a person feels good from this view, but all those around him have serious troubles. Thus, the issue should be addressed systematically and comprehensively.