> From: jon
> Dear Morty
>
> You replied
>
> >I would contend that all beliefs ultimately are interpretations of
> >experience. We live as if we see meaning in the world, but in fact all
> >meaning is an interpretation of what we really do see, and it's only in
> >our minds.
>
> I largely agree with this statement but not completely. Two concerns I
> have. What we see is based on our image of the world. We filter inputs
> before they ever reach awareness. Our interpretation to be functional
> must be connected with our experience. While I create meaning out of my
> experience, I do not creating meaning out of nothing. I create it out of
> past experience, rather my image, my interpretation of past experiences,
> and out of what is happening at the moment.
Yes, meaning is created out of experience. But the key word is "created."
You create it -- it is not inherent in the experience itself.
> Again, I largely agree but again I have doubts. We share meanings, as we
> are attempting to do now. If my parents think I am not important, say we
> have talked it over and they have confirmed that they think I am
> unimportant. Say I had the same discussion with my wife and she agrees, I
> am not important. Say the process is repeated. At some point I will
> conclude that the whole world agrees that I am not important. This is of
> course my image but it is a shared image. I can continue with the belief
> that I am really important and all others beliefs are wrong.
Whether people say you aren't important or they merely ignore you
(behavior), your belief that you are not important is still your
interpretation of your experience. They could be right, they could be
wrong, maybe you're not important at that time, in that environment, etc.
But although it seems to you as if you can "see" that you aren't
important, in fact, you can't see that. All you can see is people (and
things) speaking and acting. The meaning of what you see is only in you
rmind. Something you "made up."
> >When you realize that a belief you hold is merely one interpetation of
> >earlier experiences, that you never saw it in the world, that the belief
> >(i.e., the meaning of the experience) has existed only in your mind -- the
> >belief will disappear permanently. This is obviously only an assertion,
> >but I've seen this happen thousands of times.
>
> I suspect you have "seen" is not a change in belief but a change in
> behaviour from which you conclude there has been a change in belief.
No, I've seen a change in BELIEFS -- based on literally hundreds of people
(including myself) who said they had a belief, that it felt true to them,
that they argued for its truth -- and then said they no longer believed
it, that they no longer felt it, that the words of the belief sounded
silly when they said them out loud. And, in a study with incarcerated
teens and adults several measures showed a statistically significant
improvement in self-esteem after they had eliminated beliefs. Not merely a
change in behavior, but a change in the subjects' inner sense of
themselves.
Morty Lefkoe
For information about the Decision Maker(R) Institute and
my book, Re-Create Your Life: Transforming Yourself and
Your World, visit http://decisionmaker.com
--"decisionmaker.com" <Morty@decisionmaker.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>