UPDATING YOUR EPISTEMOLOGY

In the previous article, I introduced the subject of epistemology. An epistemology is a way of thinking in order to effectively ‘know’ what you know. An epistemology is also inevitable and unconscious. You already have an epistemology just as I do. Everyone does even though most people who be hard pressed to consciously identify and define their epistemology. Further, there are good epistemologies and there are poor epistemologies.

“Today ... mind/body is an epistemology and no longer a branch of philosophy. It has become ... a branch of experimental and observational science.” (A Sacred Unity, Bateson, 1990, p. 90)

Bateson criticized the old ways of thinking that were prevalent in the 20th century and argued for new and updated ways of thinking and knowing. He argued that the new ways of knowing needed to be based on the following: Everything in reality is a process—a process of actions and change that evolves. There are no “things” in the “mind,” only processes. Our thing-language creates confusing muddles which need to be denominalized. There are therefore no “things” only patterns. Everything exists in a system and each system lies within larger systems. When ideas interact with ideas the resulting patterning sets up ways of being in those contexts. A “difference that makes a difference” is an idea (information) and the only thing that gets into the mind.

Freud had an epistemology. For him, to know anything meant digging into one’s origins. How did he think? He thought historically. Archeology was his favorite way to think. Why? He loved archeology, he loved ancient Greek and Roman stories and myths, and originally wanted to be an archeologist. As a result, that colored his thinking and knowing about people. He would explain why and how a person is the way one is due to early life experiences. So psychoanalysis became a form of psycho-archeology and continues that way today. The premise in that way of childhood thinking— your past determines who you are and how you are.

That’s an example of what I consider an unhealthy, dysfunctional, and even toxic epistemology. If you think that way, you will think and feel that your life is determined (fated), that there is little you can do except ‘understand’ how you got that way, and that if you don’t ‘know’ what happened in the past, there’s no hope for the future. As a psychotherapist, I would not recommend that way of thinking about yourself and your life. In Neuro-Semantics we take a very different way of thinking.

What is your epistemology? It is your way of thinking and knowing about yourself, your mind, your unconscious, your purpose in life, your abilities and skills, your capacities for developing, your potentials for unleashing, about leadership, about money and wealth creation, about health

and well-being, and on and on. You have a way of thinking about these things. You have an unconscious way of knowing regarding each. Whatever is your way of thinking and knowing— that is your epistemology.

Now we can ask an even more personal question: How well does your way of thinking work for you? Ultimately, you think for a living. We all do. That’s because your thinking determines the quality of your life, the way you see things, your assumptions.

Let’s now map out an epistemology. As an example, let’s create an epistemology about health. Let’s say that one of your goals is well-being and health. Let’s say that you want to be fit with the energy and vitality to live and do the things you want to. We can now ask: What do you think about health? How do you think about health? How do you think about your thinking?

Do you know what to do to be healthy? What do you know that you need to do in terms of eating, exercising, sleeping, etc.? Are you able to be specific about foods to eat and foods not to eat? What exercises to do, how long, how often, when and where? Do you know how to do the things that are required if you are to be healthy and energetic? Do you have a daily schedule for exercising? Do you have a nighttime ritual for slowing down and preparing yourself for 8 hours of good sleep? Do you actually do these things? Do you know how to think about doing the things which are required? Do you know the best way to think about those things? What is the best way to think about them? Do you know how those who are most successful at these things think? How do they think about food, diets, junk food, sugar, etc.? How do they think about moving their bodies, stretching, doing cardio-vascular exercises, about muscle strength exercises, etc.?

You already have an epistemology about health and fitness. Did you discover yours? When you discover the way you think and know about these things, you can then begin to update and upgrade what and how you ‘know.’ The bottom line: Your thinking—your epistemology. Your epistemology—your experiences.