Contents
Who is William?
One hundred years ago, an American professor divided mental images into three types (visual, auditory and motor) and noticed that people often unconsciously prefer one of them. He noticed that mentally imagining images causes the eye to move up and sideways, and he also amassed a vast collection of important questions about how a person visualizes — these are what are now called «submodalities» in NLP. He studied hypnosis and the art of suggestion and described how people store memories «on the timeline». In his book The Pluralistic Universe, he supports the idea that no model of the world is «true». And in Varieties of Religious Experience, he tried to give his opinion on spiritual religious experiences, previously considered to be beyond what a person can appreciate (compare with the article by Lukas Derks and Jaap Hollander in Spiritual Review, in NLP Bulletin 3:ii dedicated to William James).
William James (1842 — 1910) was a philosopher and psychologist, as well as a professor at Harvard University. His book «Principles of Psychology» — two volumes, written in 1890, earned him the title of «Father of Psychology». In NLP, William James is a person who deserves to be modeled. In this article, I want to consider how much this harbinger of NLP discovered, how his discoveries were made, and what else we can find for ourselves in his works. It is my deep conviction that James’s most important discovery has never been appreciated by the psychology community.
«A Genius Worthy of Admiration»
William James was born into a wealthy family in New York City, where as a young man he met such literary luminaries as Thoreau, Emerson, Tennyson, and John Stuart Mill. As a child, he read many philosophical books and was fluent in five languages. He tried his hand at various careers, including a career as an artist, a naturalist in the Amazon jungle, and a doctor. However, when he received his master’s degree at the age of 27, it left him despondent and with an acute longing for the aimlessness of his life, which seemed predetermined and empty.
In 1870 he made a philosophical breakthrough that allowed him to pull himself out of his depression. It was the realization that different beliefs have different consequences. James was confused for a while, wondering if humans have real free will, or whether all human actions are genetically or environmentally predetermined results. At that time, he realized that these questions were insoluble and that the more important problem was the choice of belief, leading to more practical consequences for his adherent. James found that life’s preordained beliefs made him passive and helpless; beliefs about free will enable him to think choices, act, and plan. Describing the brain as an “instrument of possibilities” (Hunt, 1993, p. 149), he decided: “At least I will imagine that the present period until next year is not an illusion. My first act of free will will be the decision to believe in free will. I will also take the next step in regard to my will, not only acting on it, but also believing in it; believing in my individual reality and creative power.»
Although James’s physical health has always been fragile, he kept himself in shape through mountain climbing, despite having chronic heart problems. This decision to choose free will brought him the future results he aspired to. James discovered the fundamental presuppositions of NLP: «The map is not the territory» and «Life is a systemic process.» The next step was his marriage to Ellis Gibbens, a pianist and schoolteacher, in 1878. This was the year he accepted the offer of publisher Henry Holt to write a manual on the new «scientific» psychology. James and Gibbens had five children. In 1889 he became the first professor of psychology at Harvard University.
James continued to be a «free thinker». He described the «moral equivalent of war,» an early method of describing non-violence. He carefully studied the fusion of science and spirituality, thus resolving old differences between his father’s religiously raised approach and his own scientific research. As a professor, he dressed in a style that was far from formal for those times (a wide jacket with a belt (Norfolk waistcoat), bright shorts and a flowing tie). He was often seen in the wrong place for a professor: walking around the courtyard of Harvard, talking to students. He hated tackling teaching tasks like proofreading or doing experiments, and would only do those experiments when he had an idea he desperately wanted to prove. His lectures were events so frivolous and humorous that it happened that students interrupted him to ask if he could be serious even for a little while. The philosopher Alfred North Whitehead said of him: «That genius, worthy of admiration, William James.» Next, I will talk about why we can call him the «grandfather of NLP.»
Use of sensor systems
We sometimes assume that it was the creators of NLP who discovered the sensory basis of «thinking,» that Grinder and Bandler were the first to notice that people have preferences in sensory information, and used a sequence of representational systems to achieve results. In fact, it was William James who first discovered this to the world public in 1890. He wrote: “Until recently, philosophers assumed that there is a typical human mind, which is similar to the minds of all other people. This assertion of validity in all cases can be applied to such a faculty as imagination. Later, however, many discoveries were made that allowed us to see how erroneous this view is. There is not one type of «imagination» but many different «imaginations» and these need to be studied in detail. (Volume 2, page 49)
James identified four types of imagination: “Some people have a habitual ‘way of thinking’, if you can call it that, visual, others auditory, verbal (using NLP terms, auditory-digital) or motor (in NLP terminology, kinesthetic); in most cases, possibly mixed in equal proportions. (Volume 2, page 58)
He also elaborates on each type, quoting M. A. Binet’s «Psychologie du Raisonnement» (1886, p. 25): «The auditory type … is less common than the visual type. People of this type represent what they think about in terms of sounds. In order to remember the lesson, they reproduce in their memory not how the page looked, but how the words sounded … The remaining motor type (perhaps the most interesting of all the others) remains, undoubtedly, the least studied. People belonging to this type use for memorization, reasoning and for all mental activity ideas obtained with the help of movements … Among them there are people who, for example, remember a drawing better if they outlined its boundaries with their fingers. (Vol. 2, pp. 60 — 61)
James also faced the problem of remembering words, which he described as the fourth key sense (articulation, pronunciation). He argues that this process mainly occurs through a combination of auditory and motor sensations. “Most people, when asked how they imagine words, will answer that in the auditory system. Open your lips a little and then imagine any word that contains labial and dental sounds (labial and dental), for example, «bubble», «toddle» (mumble, wander). Is the image distinct under these conditions? For most people, the image is at first «unintelligible» (what the sounds would look like if one tried to pronounce the word with parted lips). This experiment proves how much our verbal representation depends on real sensations in the lips, tongue, throat, larynx, etc.” (Volume 2, page 63)
One of the major advances that seems to have come only in twentieth-century NLP is the pattern of constant relationship between eye movement and the representational system used. James repeatedly touches on the eye movements accompanying the corresponding representational system, which can be used as access keys. Drawing attention to his own visualization, James notes: “All these images initially appear to be related to the retina of the eye. However, I think that rapid eye movements only accompany them, although these movements cause such insignificant sensations that they are almost impossible to detect. (Volume 2, page 65)
And he adds: “I can’t think in a visual way, for example, without feeling changing pressure fluctuations, convergence (convergence), divergence (divergence) and accommodation (adjustment) in my eyeballs … As far as I can determine, these feelings arise as a result of real rotation eyeballs, which, I believe, occurs in my sleep, and this is exactly the opposite of the action of the eyes, fixing any object. (Vol. 1, p. 300)
Submodalities and remembering time
James also identified slight discrepancies in how individuals visualize, hear internal dialogue, and experience sensations. He suggested that the success of an individual’s thought process depended on these differences, called submodalities in NLP. James refers to Galton’s comprehensive study of submodalities (On the Question of the Capabilities of Man, 1880, p. 83), beginning with brightness, clarity, and color. He does not comment or predict the powerful uses that NLP will put into these concepts in the future, but all the background work has already been done in James’s text: in the following way.
Before you ask yourself any of the questions on the next page, think about a particular subject—say, the table at which you had breakfast this morning—look carefully at the picture in your mind’s eye. 1. Illumination. Is the image in the picture dim or clear? Is its brightness comparable to the real scene? 2. Clarity. — Are all objects clearly visible at the same time? The place where the clarity is greatest at a single moment of time has compressed dimensions compared to the real event? 3. Color. “Are the colors of china, bread, toast, mustard, meat, parsley and everything else that was on the table quite distinct and natural?” (Volume 2, page 51)
William James is also very aware that ideas of the past and future are mapped using the submodalities of distance and location. In NLP terms, people have a timeline that runs in one individual direction to the past and in the other direction to the future. James explains: “To think of a situation as being in the past is to think of it as being in the midst of, or in the direction of, those objects that at the present moment seem to be influenced by the past. It is the source of our understanding of the past, by which memory and history form their systems. And in this chapter we will consider this sense, which is directly related to time. If the structure of consciousness were a sequence of sensations and images, similar to a rosary, they would all be scattered, and we would never know anything but the current moment … Our feelings are not limited in this way, and consciousness is never reduced to the size of a spark of light from a bug — firefly. Our awareness of some other part of the flow of time, past or future, near or far, is always mixed with our knowledge of the present moment. (Vol. 1, p. 605)
James explains that this time stream or Timeline is the basis by which you realize who you are when you wake up in the morning. Using the standard timeline «Past = back to back» (in NLP terms, «in time, included time»), he says: «When Paul and Peter wake up in the same beds and realize that they have been in a dream state for some period time, each of them mentally goes back to the past, and restores the course of one of the two streams of thoughts interrupted by sleep. (Vol. 1, p. 238)
Anchoring and hypnosis
The awareness of sensory systems was only a small part of James’s prophetic contribution to psychology as a field of science. In 1890 he published, for example, the anchoring principle used in NLP. James called it «association». “Suppose that the basis of all our subsequent reasoning is the following law: when two elementary thought processes occur simultaneously or immediately follow each other, when one of them is repeated, there is a transfer of excitation to another process.” (Vol. 1, p. 566)
He goes on to show (pp. 598-9) how this principle is the basis of memory, belief, decision-making, and emotional responses. The Association Theory was the source from which Ivan Pavlov subsequently developed his classical theory of conditioned reflexes (for example, if you ring the bell before feeding the dogs, then after a while the ringing of the bell will cause the dogs to salivate).
James also studied hypnosis treatment. He compares various theories of hypnosis, offering a synthesis of two rival theories of the time. These theories were: a) the theory of «trance states», suggesting that the effects caused by hypnosis are due to the creation of a special «trance» state; b) the «suggestion» theory, stating that the effects of hypnosis result from the power of suggestion made by the hypnotist and do not require a special state of mind and body.
James’s synthesis was that he suggested that trance states do exist, and that the bodily reactions previously associated with them may simply be the result of expectations, methods, and subtle suggestions made by the hypnotist. Trance itself contains very few observable effects. Thus, hypnosis = suggestion + trance state.
The three states of Charcot, the strange reflexes of Heidenheim, and all other bodily phenomena that were previously called direct consequences of a directly trance state, in fact, are not. They are the result of suggestion. The trance state has no obvious symptoms. Therefore, we cannot determine when a person is in it. But without the presence of a trance state, these private suggestions could not be made successfully…
The first directs the operator, the operator directs the second, all together form a wonderful vicious circle, after which a completely arbitrary result is revealed. (Vol. 2, p. 601) This model corresponds exactly to the Ericksonian model of hypnosis and suggestion in NLP.
Introspection: Modeling James’s Methodology
How did James get such outstanding prophetic results? He explored an area in which practically no preliminary research had been carried out. His answer was that he used a methodology of self-observation, which he said was so fundamental that it was not taken as a research problem.
Introspective self-observation is what we must rely on first and foremost. The word «self-observation» (introspection) hardly needs a definition, it certainly means looking into one’s own mind and reporting what we have found. Everyone will agree that we will find states of consciousness there … All people are strongly convinced that they feel thinking and distinguish thinking states as an internal activity or passivity caused by all those objects with which it can interact in the process of cognition. I regard this belief as the most fundamental of all the postulates of psychology. And I will discard all inquisitive metaphysical questions about its fidelity within the scope of this book. (Vol. 1, p. 185)
Introspection is a key strategy that we must model if we are interested in replicating and expanding on the discoveries made by James. In the above quote, James uses sensory words from all three major representational systems to describe the process. He says that the process includes «gazing» (visual), «reporting» (most likely auditory-digital), and «feeling» (kinesthetic representational system). James repeats this sequence several times, and we can assume that it is the structure of his «introspection» (in NLP terms, his Strategy). For example, here is a passage in which he describes his method of preventing getting wrong presuppositions in psychology: «The only way to prevent this calamity is to consider them carefully in advance and then get a clearly articulated account of them before letting the thoughts go unnoticed.» (Vol. 1, p. 145)
James describes the application of this method to test David Hume’s claim that all of our internal representations (representations) originate from external reality (that a map is always based on territory). Refuting this claim, James states: «Even the most superficial introspective glance will show anyone the fallacy of this opinion.» (Volume 2, page 46)
He explains what our thoughts are made of: “Our thinking is largely composed of a sequence of images, where some of them cause others. It is a kind of spontaneous daydreaming, and it seems quite probable that the higher animals (humans) should be susceptible to them. This type of thinking leads to rational conclusions: both practical and theoretical … The result of this can be our unexpected memories of real duties (writing a letter to a foreign friend, writing down words or learning a Latin lesson). (Vol. 2, p. 325)
As they say in NLP, James looks inside himself and «sees» a thought (visual anchor), which he then «carefully considers» and «articulates» in the form of an opinion, report, or inference (visual and auditory-digital operations). Based on this, he decides (audio-digital test) whether to let the thought «go away unnoticed» or which «feelings» to act on (kinesthetic output). The following strategy was used: Vi -> Vi -> Ad -> Ad/Ad -> K. James also describes his own internal cognitive experience, which includes what we in NLP call visual/kinesthetic synesthesias, and specifically notes that the output of most of his strategies is the kinesthetic «head nod or deep breath». Compared to the auditory system, representational systems such as tonal, olfactory, and gustatory are not important factors in the exit test.
“My visual images are very vague, dark, fleeting and compressed. It would be almost impossible to see anything on them, and yet I perfectly distinguish one from the other. My auditory images are grossly inadequate copies of the originals. I have no images of taste or smell. The tactile images are distinct, but have little to no interaction with most of the objects of my thoughts. My thoughts are also not all expressed in words, as I have a vague pattern of relationship in the process of thinking, perhaps corresponding to a nod of the head or a deep breath as a specific word. In general, I experience fuzzy images or sensations of movement inside my head towards various places in space, corresponding to whether I am thinking about something that I consider to be false, or about something that immediately becomes false to me. They are simultaneously accompanied by the exhalation of air through the mouth and nose, forming by no means a conscious part of my thought process. (Volume 2, page 65)
James’ outstanding success in his method of Introspection (including the discovery of the information described above about his own processes) suggests the value of using the strategy described above. Perhaps now you want to experiment. Just peer into yourself until you see an image worth looking at carefully, then ask him to explain himself, check the logic of the answer, leading to a physical response and an internal feeling confirming that the process is completed.
Self-awareness: James’ unrecognized breakthrough
Given what James has accomplished with Introspection, using an understanding of representational systems, anchoring, and hypnosis, it is clear that there are other valuable grains to be found in his work that can sprout as extensions of current NLP methodology and models. One area of particular interest to me (which was central to James as well) is his understanding of «self» and his attitude towards life in general (Vol. 1, pp. 291-401). James had a completely different way of understanding «self». He showed a great example of a deceptive and unrealistic idea of his own existence.
“Self-awareness includes a stream of thoughts, each part of the “I” of which can: 1) remember those that existed before and know what they knew; 2) emphasize and take care, first of all, about some of them, as about «me», and adapt the rest to them. The core of this «I» is always bodily existence, the feeling of being present at a certain moment in time. Whatever is remembered, the sensations of the past resemble the sensations of the present, while it is assumed that the «I» has remained the same. This «I» is an empirical collection of opinions received on the basis of real experience. It is the «I» that knows it cannot be many, and also does not need to be considered for the purposes of psychology an immutable metaphysical entity like the Soul, or a principle as the pure Ego considered «out of time». This is a Thought, at each subsequent moment different from the one it was in the previous one, but, nevertheless, predetermined by this moment and owning at the same time everything that that moment called its own … If the incoming thought is completely verifiable about its real existence ( which no existing school has hitherto doubted), then this thought in itself will be a thinker, and there is no need for psychology to deal with this further. (Varieties of Religious Experience, p. 388).
For me, this is a comment that is breathtaking in its significance. This commentary is one of those major achievements of James that have also been politely overlooked by psychologists. In terms of NLP, James explains that awareness of «self» is only a nominalization. A nominalization for the «owning» process, or, as James suggests, the «appropriation» process. Such a «I» is simply a word for a type of thought in which past experiences are accepted or appropriated. This means that there is no «thinker» separate from the flow of thoughts. The existence of such an entity is purely illusory. There is only a process of thinking, in itself owning previous experience, goals and actions. Just reading this concept is one thing; but to try for a moment to live with her is something extraordinary! James emphasizes, «A menu with one real zest instead of the word ‘raisin’, with one real egg instead of the word ‘egg’ may not be an adequate meal, but at least it will be the beginning of reality.» (Varieties of Religious Experience, p. 388)
Religion as truth outside of itself
In many of the world’s spiritual teachings, living in such a reality, achieving a sense of one’s inseparability from others, is considered as the main goal of life. A Zen Buddhist guru exclaimed upon reaching nirvana, «When I heard the bell ringing in the temple, suddenly there was no bell, no me, only ringing.» Wei Wu Wei begins his Ask the Awakened One (Zen text) with the following poem:
Why are you unhappy? ‘Cause 99,9 percent of everything you think about And everything you do Is for you And there’s no one else.
Information enters our neurology through the five senses from the outside world, from other areas of our neurology, and as a variety of non-sensory connections that run through our lives. There is a very simple mechanism by which, from time to time, our thinking divides this information into two parts. I see the door and think «not-I». I see my hand and think «I» (I «own» the hand or «recognize» it as mine). Or: I see in my mind a craving for chocolate, and I think «not-I». I imagine being able to read this article and understand it, and I think «I» (I again «own» or «recognize» it as mine). Surprisingly, all these pieces of information are in one mind! The notion of self and not-self is an arbitrary distinction that is metaphorically useful. A division that has been internalized and now thinks it governs neurology.
What would life be like without such separation? Without a sense of recognition and non-recognition, all the information in my neurology would be like one area of experience. This is exactly what actually happens one fine evening when you are mesmerized by the beauty of a sunset, when you are completely surrendered to listening to a delightful concert, or when you are completely involved in a state of love. The difference between the person having the experience and the experience stops at such moments. This type of unified experience is the larger or true «I» in which nothing is appropriated and nothing is rejected. This is joy, this is love, this is what all people strive for. This, says James, is the source of Religion, and not the complicated beliefs which, like a raid, have obscured the meaning of the word.
“Leaving aside the excessive preoccupation with faith and limiting ourselves to what is general and characteristic, we have the fact that a sane person continues to live with a larger Self. Through this comes the soul-saving experience and the positive essence of the religious experience, which I think is real and truly true as it goes on.” (Varieties of Religious Experience, p. 398).
James argues that the value of religion is not in its dogmas or some abstract concepts of «religious theory or science», but in its usefulness. He quotes Professor Leiba’s article «The Essence of Religious Consciousness» (in Monist xi 536, July 1901): «God is not known, he is not understood, he is used — sometimes as a breadwinner, sometimes as a moral support, sometimes as a friend, sometimes as an object of love. If it turned out to be useful, the religious mind asks for nothing more. Does God really exist? How does it exist? Who is he? — so many irrelevant questions. Not God, but life, greater than life, greater, richer, more fulfilling life—that is, ultimately, the goal of religion. The love of life at any and every level of development is the religious impulse.” (Varieties of Religious Experience, p. 392)
Other opinions; one truth
In the previous paragraphs, I have drawn attention to the revision of the theory of self-non-existence in several areas. For example, modern physics is moving decisively towards the same conclusions. Albert Einstein said: “Man is a part of the whole, which we call “the universe”, a part limited in time and space. He experiences his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest, a kind of optical hallucination of his mind. This hallucination is like a prison, restricting us to our personal decisions and to attachment to a few people close to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by expanding the boundaries of our compassion to include all living beings and all nature in all its beauty.” (Dossey, 1989, p. 149)
In the field of NLP, Connirae and Tamara Andreas also articulated this clearly in their book Deep Transformation: “Judgment involves a disconnect between the judge and that which is being judged. If I am, in some deeper, spiritual sense, really a single part of something, then it is meaningless to judge it. When I feel one with everyone, it is a much wider experience than I used to think about myself — then I express by my actions a wider awareness. To some extent I succumb to what is within me, to what is everything, to what, in a much fuller sense of the word, is me. (p. 227)
Spiritual teacher Jiddu Krishnamurti said: “We draw a circle around us: a circle around me and a circle around you … Our minds are defined by formulas: my life experience, my knowledge, my family, my country, what I like and don’t like, then, what I don’t like, hate, what I’m jealous of, what I envy, what I regret, the fear of this and the fear of that. This is what the circle is, the wall behind which I live … And can now change the formula, which is the «I» with all my memories, which are the center around which the walls are built — can this «I», this separate being end with its self-centered activity? End not as a result of a series of actions, but only after a single, but final? (The Flight of the Eagle, p. 94) And in relation to these descriptions, William James’s opinion was prophetic.
Gift of William James NLP
Any new prosperous branch of knowledge is like a tree whose branches grow in all directions. When one branch reaches the limit of its growth (for example, when there is a wall in its path), the tree can transfer the resources necessary for growth to the branches that have grown earlier and discover previously undiscovered potential in older branches. Subsequently, when the wall collapses, the tree can reopen the branch that was restricted in its movement and continue its growth. Now, a hundred years later, we can look back at William James and find many of the same promising opportunities.
In NLP, we have already explored many of the possible uses of leading representational systems, submodalities, anchoring, and hypnosis. James discovered the technique of Introspection to discover and test these patterns. It involves looking at internal images and thinking carefully about what the person sees there in order to find what really works. And perhaps the most bizarre of all his discoveries is that we are not really who we think we are. Using the same strategy of introspection, Krishnamurti says, “In each of us there is a whole world, and if you know how to look and learn, then there is a door, and in your hand there is a key. No one on Earth can give you this door or this key to open it, except for yourself.” (“You Are the World,” p. 158)