We went through six parts in this mini-series dedicated to NLP Values and the evolution of consciousness. If you missed the beginning parts of this article, you can find all the other parts here – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6. Without the understanding presented in these parts it will be difficult for you to reach the point where you should be for this present article to make sense.
Nevertheless, here are the most important points to remember in reference to the different values levels which in our NLP Master Practitioner trainings we call “the Values Levels” based on the initial research done in the 70s by Dr. Clare Graves.
So again let me begin by reminding you of the eleven important points to remember in relation to values.
- Values are not what we like but what is important to us
- Every person has values
- Every individual set of values is different from another individual’s and
- No values levels (IE types of thinking) are “better” than others” but they are all geared to support existence inside a certain type of environment.
- Development through the values levels and different types of thinking is possible but not guaranteed.
- Values are not related to intelligence or IQ, nor are they related to how people think (in NLP we call these strategies). They are not even related to the concepts of “toward” and “away from” (carrots or sticks).
- At least in the western world (this is the one I am most familiar with) nobody “is” a certain values level. You can’t say to somebody “Oh, you’re a values levels X!”
- Under stress people revert to the last completed previous VL. This can be one or two or even more values levels backwards – depending on which one was completed fully.
- You cannot progress through values levels unless all the concerns related to one values level are fulfilled, and the energy spent on these concerns is freed. In other words you need to walk the walk not only talk the talk of a certain values level to be done with it and progress further.
- People can exhibit different values levels in different contexts of life.
- A lower values level cannot understand or comprehend a higher values level. Remember this because it is the basis for the remainder of our analysis.
Now don’t think of values level (VL) 7 as being the “be all” superior human being since this is not the end of the line in terms of possible human development. It is markedly different in as much as thinking – very different – but the VL 7 thinking could also decide that for the survival of the habitat/community/human race it is necessary to adopt novel and drastic measures to correct the situation.
The solutions to world problems in VL 4, VL 5 and VL 6 have not produced any substantial positive effect. The world is in turmoil, wars are waging in many parts of the world, the “fight” for resources parallels the “fight” for ideology, and VL 6 is notorious for not doing anything even if it could conceive of viable solutions; VL 6 will not be willing to implement anything since “Who am I to step out of the group consensus” reigns in VL 6 thinking.
Again…why does any of this matter? Well, here’s one reason. There is an enormous amount of mind-control brain research occurring all over the world by the VL 5 “gods of science”. This research is based on the premise that, when it comes to humans, there is nothing more than atoms and molecules, electrical impulses and chemical reactions. Amino-acids, DNA which has two DNA strands known as polynucleotides (bear with me here) since they are composed of simpler units called nucleotides. Each nucleotide is composed of a nitrogen-containing nucleobase, either guanine (G), adenine (A), thymine (T), or cytosine (C), as well as a monosaccharide sugar called deoxyribose and a phosphate group.
Aren’t you happy to know what you are? VL 5 science is more than happy to tell you. VL 4 told you that God make you out of dust, VL 5 tells you that you are not dust but all the particles described above. Phew! What a relief! Look no further. This is all there is! Consciousness? Does not exit! There is nothing else to a human being, in other words there is nobody actually driving the bus. There is just the brain, and the functions of the brain can be manipulated and divided, split, separate into parts or portions and reduced, in order to make “the human machine function normally.” It’s just tinkering with the apparatus since “we can make it better” and “God got it wrong”. Please note that these two sentences reflect VL 5 referring to VL 4.
Fun aside – and I must admit that I had fun writing the above paragraph – let’s talk seriously.
Let’s say for argument sake, that space exploration is happening right now. It is a hypothetical scenario. A sort of SciFi inside an NLP values talk. Let’s say that someone on this planet, a group of people have developed technology that deals with antigravity, zero-point energy, interstellar travel, and the like.
If this were to be true, automatically this planet and all inhabitants, all systems of “the good old way of life” are insufficient to deal with the complexity of the issue and the complications arising from it. The whole planet now enters a new ballpark game.
Think of it even if we’re talking hypothetical scenarios: the possibility of interstellar travel, interplanetary commerce and economic exploitation, mining asteroids, establishing human colonies on other planets and even traveling to the other ends of the Galaxy.
All of a sudden you are not only a “little you” from a little town lost somewhere in a country on a certain continent. If you can think this way you will realize rather quickly that you have become a life form called human in a galaxy of many other life forms and you – through your representatives of this fictional group of people – are interacting with other living humanoids (or not) from another planet from another solar system, and maybe even from another galaxy.
And most important, in order to deal with the complexity of this issue you definitely need some new and different thinking.
How are you going to think about a hypothetical scenario where ET actually comes here? Are you going to think they’re friend or foe? Go back to your kin for advice and safety? Run to buy some guns and fight the little gray bastards? Convene a lot of political meetings to establish the suitable procedure according to the higher regulations or run to the church to pray for salvation? Establish a scientific study group to see if economic trade is possible or maybe create an emergency strategy for getting involved in weapons development (overall there is good money to be made during a war with anybody)? Think that since they’re technologically more developed then us (if they are) they’re also morally superior? Will you want to offer our brothers and sisters from other planets a warm welcome since now we are going to be accepted in the bigger galactic community?
Note that these reactions based on different values levels thinking are neither good nor bad – they are different. Who is to say that buying some guns won’t be the best measure to assure your survival?
In truth, VL 7 complexity of thinking is required in order to grasp the magnitude of what this means for you as an individual, and for the whole human race; and here we encounter VL 8 thinking which is the “the new tribal” – the world is perceived now as a family of earthlings.
But who is to say that the people in our fictional organization or group are all at VL 7 or above in terms of their thinking? Who is to say that there are no VL 3 military people who think only of war, defense and deliver a knock-out to the ET while blowing him to smithereens and getting his mothership for us to reverse engineer, VL 4 government people who think of regulations, rules of conduct, re-election errr that was a joke!, VL 5 transnational corporations people ready to make a deal and find a interstellar tax loophole you get the idea.
And you have a soup of different values levels individuals dealing with values levels 7 and 8 technology. How are they going to use it? Of course, according to their own values levels thinking!
There is more. in the next article – Part 8
Until them, be well