More NLP Errors

NLP needs updating and one aspect of it that needs an upgrade are some of the errors that it has fallen into. In addition to the first eight errors, here are the rest of the ones that I’ve collected. If you know more, let me know.

Error #9. Sub-modalities are ‘sub-‘ (under, below) modalities.

The choice of terminology here is the error and the problem. The qualities of your inner movies (the so-called sub-modalities) are actually the cinematic features that you use to edit any movie that you’re playing in your mind. And given that you edit from a higher perspective, they are actually meta-modalities.

This error was committed by Bandler himself after Todd Epstein had named the cinematic features (close/far; loud/quiet; bright/dim; etc.) pragmagraphics. Actually, that would have been a much better word. The cinematic features are the graphics of our movies which then lead to specific pragmatic responses. But from what I gather, Richard thought pragmagraphics was too big of a word, so he invented sub-modalities, as if that was better!

The problem is that you cannot edit your movies if you do not have a picture or sound in the first place. First, the film that you’re play, then the editing. Once you have a film to edit, now you can introduce circus music, put the picture a block away, turn it black-and-white, and on and on. You have to go meta to even detect the cinematic features of your movies. “Is it in color or black-and-white?” To find out, a person has to step back and look.

Error #10. Logical levels are hierarchical.

Well some levels can be hierarchical, but the mind’s logical levels are psycho-logical and operate more as a holoarchy. Now Dilts’ Neuro-Logical Levels does use the format of a hierarchy: Environment, Behavior, Capacity, Belief, Value, Identity, Purpose (Spirituality), but it is not really a hierarchy. Can you believe about your values? Your identity? Your purpose? The mind is much, much more fluid than a rigid hierarchy. The mind’s reflexivity makes that possible.

Error #11. Logical levels and logical types are different phenomena.

Both Steve Andreas and John Grinder perpetrated this error and from what I can tell their purpose was to argue against the logical levels that Robert Dilts and that I had introduced into NLP. While they asserted that Bateson made this distinction, Bateson actually used both phrases interchangeably. [See my articles about this with Andreas on the website.]

Error #12. NLP depends on Transformational Grammar (T.G.) for the Meta-Model.

NLP began by using the “surface” and the “deep” levels which were in the Transformational Grammar model. But quickly thereafter, almost no NLP book kept quoting the structures of T.G. And no wonder—Chomsky, who founded T.G., repudiated it in 1976. I have written the full story of that in Communication Magic (2001). Nor do we need them. The levels and logical levels of Bateson, of Korybzski and meta-cognition is quite sufficient.

Error #13. Meta-programs are about content.

This is another error that arose from John Grinder. He declared, without any evidence, that meta-programs are ‘content’ and therefore not part of NLP. This is patently false. Meta-programs are thinking and filtering patterns that govern how you think, not what you think. Perhaps because Leslie Cameron and Richard Bandler came up with Meta-Programs, that’s why Grinder refused to teach them.

Error #14. NLP is and should be content free.

Yet another error from John Grinder and one that is completely wrong-headed. Without some content, you would not know what you are actually doing with a client. If a person says he want to “Yellow” and you don’t ask what that refers to, it could be kill someone, embezzle a company, commit suicide, etc. My recommendation is to gather 20% content; and then focus 80% of your attention on the processes.

Error #15. There is a New Code in NLP.

Well, yes there was in 1983! Yet the so-called “New Code” in 2025 is now 42 years old. And that raises the question: When will the additions in 1983 become old? Actually, Neuro-Semantics introduced the next level of newness to NLP in 1996. Today “new code” is part of classic NLP.

Error #16. If any expert can do something, anyone could.

Well, that’s not exactly right. No one is going to play basketball like Michael Jordan unless they have some of his genetics and years and years of practice. Every expertise involves not only how the expert thinks, her internal strategy, but also historical context, environment, life’s challenges, decisions, inherent talent, neurology, etc.

Error #17. Eye accessing cues can tell if a person is lying or not.

This is false through and through and it is not something that NLP has ever taught, although people have attributed it to NLP. None of the ofunders believed or said this.