Ecology of the Sphere - James Rolph

A Perspective on Belief Change

Just a thought:

Imagine your mind as a sphere. The surface of the sphere is your mind at its most conscious, and the centre of the sphere is your mind at its most unconscious.

Now imagine that all of your beliefs comprise a similar (maybe even the same) sphere. At the core of the sphere are you 'core beliefs' - the things that you really believe 'deep down' below the level of normal conscious access. The surface of the sphere represents your surface level beliefs - things that you are conscious of believing and are maybe quite new or novel. All of the beliefs comprise the dynamic system that is the sphere, and sometimes beliefs at different levels are complimentary and sometimes contradictory.

When you receive a new piece of information, it hits (or settles upon the) the surface of your sphere - and it either sticks or it slides off. You either accept or reject it.

Most usually, a new belief will sit close to the surface of the sphere - you are conscious of it, it seems to fit - but it hasn't yet sunk in and become fully absorbed into the core. Beliefs usually sink towards the centre as evidence for their validity is gathered, and in absence of this evidence it may slide off. A belief at surface level is also easily disproved, so while at this level it is vulnerable.

As a new belief sinks towards the centre, it may come into conflict with other beliefs near to or at the core - the system needs to re-balance, and often the old belief needs to be updated or 'worked out'. Or sometimes the old belief will hold and the new belief will be rejected - it will work its way back to the surface and slide off when it gets there.

You could even think of this sphere as a globe - because it is what constitutes your map of the world.

If you want to update your map, how do you get your new beliefs to the core? How do you extract old limiting beliefs from the core? How do you allow the ecology of the sphere to attain balance and congruity?

The first step is simply being open to change and new possibility. Many people let their sphere solidify once they have reached adulthood, and almost everything new just slides right off. These leopards never really change their spots. But when you choose to allow your sphere to become dynamic and evolving (as is its true nature) you can become open to change and personal evolution. New ideas can sink in to the core and old redundant ideas drawn out. And this will happen over time and be modulated by evidence gathered through experience.

Now introduce NLP/hypnosis. On one level these tools will enable you to take greater control over experience to build the useful evidence you need. On another, they can be used to place new beliefs directly at the core and directly manage the ecology of the sphere! Trancework softens the surface of the sphere, NLP works with the deep structure - all in partnership with the wisdom of the sphere itself.

And as you are reading this right now, you may or may not already recognise the validity of this model - or you may just be beginning to wonder what will happen when you soften your sphere and allow this idea to completely sink in!

Just a thought.