It is understood by people within the NLP community that NLP has much to offer the world in terms of change, communication and actualizing human potential. A constant concern and frustration, however, is the degree to which NLP has not been accepted and integrated into key areas of society (such as the educational and academic field, the business world, etc.). To make matters even more challenging, it remains difficult to explain in a definitive manner what exactly is NLP.
The extent to which NLP is able to interface and integrate with the rest of mainstream society is the extent to which NLP can have a future which realizes its full potential. However, one of the main obstacles that could be preventing NLP from achieving its optimum niche in society is the current epistemology of NLP itself. If we were to apply to ourselves the NLP presupposition of 'The meaning of our communication is the response we get', then our (NLP) difficulties with interfacing and integrating with mainstream society may not be that society is "resistant", but that we may need to change our approach in how we relate with society. However, this change in our approach may require more than just a change in what we do, it may even require a change in our epistemology.
From several perspectives, it could appear that the field of NLP is at a choice point regarding its future. One of those choices is to continue to operate from its current epistemology which produces the difficulties it now faces. The consequence of this choice is that the natural course of action is for the field of NLP to "try harder" at interfacing and integrating with mainstream society while continually having to address the same class of problems it already has (although perhaps at greater intensities due to its greater effort to "push" on the system called "society"). Another choice is for the community of NLP to be willing to reflect on the epistemology of NLP itself, and be willing to reorganise its epistemology if appropriate.
While there are many other choices available to NLP as a field, this document is oriented around exploring the possibilities of the choice of re-examining, reperceiving, and reorganising the very epistemology of NLP itself.
The Vision
The NLP community operates from an epistemology which enables it to self organize as a cohesive and viable system. The result of this epistemology and viable community system is that NLP as a field is able to:
Clearly specify and articulate what defines NLP as distinct from other related fields.
Clearly specify and articulate the systemic value it adds to society.
Continually transform itself as field by continually re-examining, reperceiving and rethinking its ontological principles.
Interface and integrate with mainstream society to the degree that the field of NLP optimally fulfils its potential for adding value to humankind.
Inherently maintain the ability to prevent a solely self referential model of the world and thereby sub-optimising its ability to achieve the above points.
Continually attend to and develop its meta systems which facilitate its ability to achieve and sustain the above points.
The Objectives
To engage in processes which facilitate the development of a meta epistemology within a critical mass of the NLP community.
That this critical mass of the NLP community begins the initial processes which can facilitate a more community wide collaborative re-examination and reorganisation of NLP"s epistemology.
That this critical mass of the NLP community begins the initial processes in designing a meta system which enables the NLP community to maintain itself as a viable system which is able to evolve and transform itself as needed on a continual basis.
The Next Steps
To design and run an event which will introduce other fields, models, epistemologies, systems, methodologies, etc. to the NLP community. The event will engage a process to utilize this new information in order to re-examine, reperceive, and possibly reorganise the epistemology of NLP to more ecologically align, interface and integrate with other significant developments in society
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