I, too, am interested in language and patterns. It seems to me that
this thread also ties into some of the cognitive patterns that At talks
about as essentialities. Now, exactly HOW it ties in, respondent sayeth
not
Pattern recognition is one of the most fundamental (most ancient)
parts of the brain, it's one of the most rapid-fire responses possible,
and it's enormously handy. But it also has the potential to hijack our
responses if we "recognize" and respond to one pattern, when what's
actually out there is another: whether that's in language or the
configuration of somebody else's facial expression, or the situational
analysis we perform subconsciously. I recently read about the amygdala,
the ancient segment of the human brain responsible for this pattern
recognition, and how it hijacks reactions, causing a cascade of chemicals
in the brain and body, especially in anger and fear. These anger and fear
chemicals, rapidly circulated throughout the body in response to a
split-second "reading" of the pattern we face, take a long while to clear
out - 20 to 30 minutes - during which time it's very difficult or
impossible to make sensible, rational, logical decisions.
NLP has something to say about programming and reprogramming
responses, as a means of dealing with the natural fight-or-flight
patterned response. I hope Shelia and others will link in some of these
pieces!
Sam
Mariann Jelinek
Richard C. Kraemer Professor of Business
Graduate School of Business The only enduring competitive
College of William and Mary advantage comes from changing
P.O. Box 8795 the rules
of the game.
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
--mxjeli@facstaff.wm.edu (Mariann Jelinek)
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