Winfried Diejmann wrote "Peter, it would help me to understand you if you
could give me an example of "Real", "Actual" and "Virtual".
Well I think "Real" in William van de Heuvel papers can be compared with
the "observable data" of Rick Ross's Ladder of Inference - such things as
might be recorded by a video camera. Real stuff out there. And "Virtual"
corresponds to all those other steps that occur within the mind of the
observer, personal meanings, assumptions, conclusions we draw, and beliefs
we adopt. Whereas "Actual" (as I understand it) means anything (Virtual
or Real) that causes an action, or reaction, and thus has an effect of
some sort. So when we say an emotion is real, it would be more accurate
to say it is "actual, but not real."
The objective believe it or not, is clarity. Health and Safety Rules and
Laws are "Virtual", but hazards and the injuries a person suffers as a
result of an accident are "Real." Is it better to focus on the rules, or
the hazards?
With regard to your "* observations + perceptions = Conclusion = emotion
("Truthness")
o + p = C --> eT" I find it interesting that your formula do correspond
well with the Ladder of inference too. Although for me formula tend to be
a turn off. To quote the Fieldbook (p195) "The central practice of
personal mastery involves learning to keep both a personal vision and a
clear picture of current reality before us." And for me being as clear as
possible about what is "Real" and what is "Virutal" helps to establish a
clear picture of the current reality I am facing. To use an example from
Goleman's "Emotional intelligence" if a person cuts in front of me in their
car on the freeway that is real, and so are the automatic responses of my
nervous system, however, my anger which finds expression in the thought
"that b****** could have killed me" is virtual. And personal mastery of
this anger is being able to recognise this and intellectually throw some
cold water on the anger before it gets out of control, such as by saying to
myself, "he's probably tired, or in a hurry, or not thinking, and I'll just
pull back a bit" - presto! I have stopped the negative reinforcing loop of
anger before it has chance to grow. Hope this helps. In a way I guess it
is a similar process to that discussed by Steven Covey when he talks about
the gap between stimulus and response.
Kind regards from sunny Wellington, New Zealand.
Peter H. Jones
Peopletronics Limited
PO Box 30 451, Lower Hutt, NZ
Level 4, 22 The Terrace, Wellington, NZ
Tel. 64 4 569 8875. Fax: 64 4 569 8881, http://www.Peopletronics.co.nz
--"Peter H. Jones" <phj@actrix.gen.nz>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>