THE MEANING OF MEANING

What does meaning mean? As Neuro-Semantic trainers we use, explore and teach people about meaning. We teach the linguistic structure of meaning as a complex equivalence: X means Y Incidentally, I think this is one of the most damaging cognitive distortions people do to themselves, and conversely, one of the most powerful linguistic tools in coaching when used to clarify that distortion (or to sneak it in conversationally or hypnotically in a positive way). But meaning is much more than a casual statement of complex equivalence.

Meaning is powerful. Meaning kept Viktor Frankl alive during his years in Nazi concentration camps. When others lost meaning, gave up and died, Frankl (and all those he helped) persevered. Meaning gave them hope and the will to live (read Man’s Search for Meaning by Frankl, an amazing book). In more day-to-day contexts, when we ask or hear people say, “What’s the point in that?” The ‘point’ they’re asking about is meaning.