Scion of NLP

When Robert Dilts first introduced me to the idea of the 4th perceptual position, I wasn’t completely certain I truly understood. NLP colleagues and I discussed it time and time again, slowly wrapping our minds around what it means and what its value is.

In retrospect I remember a short story and video which Robert presented about “Knowing your instrument.” The basic premise was simple — when you first pick up a guitar you need to learn what it is. Then you learn the positions to play it. Then you learn the cords and scales. Then you learn how those notes go together to create music. With time and practice you begin to let go of the structure of scripted music and you learn the relationships of notes and music and how that applies to the guitar. Eventually you can just pick up the instrument and play randomly and to the average person you are creating music on the spot.

The point Robert made was that you need to know your instrument before you can just naturally do it without hesitation or thought — in order to “jam” with others and interact with them in an unstructured and free-flowing way. Something I might define as the highest form of interpersonal communication.

What I didn’t connect at the time was how this has meaning with regards to the 4th perceptual position — the group mind.

Now the question has turned back on itself: what if I set the interaction without defining the group? Well … with the help of YouTube and the World Wide Web, someone has done just that! It’s called YouTube’s Symphony Orchestra … the piece is titled, “The Internet Symphony” … check it out:

Related posts:

1. My hip hop inspiration…Shlomo

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