© Copyright Dr. Daniele Trevisani, Studio Trevisani Consulting Training Coaching and Research, article extracted in editorial preview from the text “Neuro-Associative Programming™”, Franco Angeli publisher, Milan.
Bring out your own inner dialogue. Identity, State of Consciousness, Communication Situation (COMSIT) in Intercultural Communication
Communication implies an exchange of information and emotions. Reasoning about our identity asks us to shed light on our true nature, on our being. Transferring “who we are” to others is always difficult, as human complexity and the many roles and shades of personality that are part of us form a truly huge galaxy. We are atoms in an infinite aquarium of molecules, every now and then we try to stop and talk to each other, but we realize how difficult it is, both to stop and to talk to each other.
In intercultural communication it is very important to come to understand which part of our inner dialogue is emerging, which part we would like to share, and if “understanding deeply” is difficult, at least knowing is possible. This requires adequate exercises of focusing on the “multiple Selfs” that we carry within us. And how they communicate externally, that is, what part of us is emerging in intercultural communication. Is the “scientist” emerging, is the hero emerging, is the victim emerging, is the traveler or the researcher emerging? Which archetype guides me at a certain moment? And by which archetype is the other guided? This step is essential to know the possible D1, the role distances, and how these can impact intercultural communication.
“If understanding is impossible, knowing is necessary.” Primo Levi
Lack of communication can prevent us from making others understand what we would like to do, how we feel, what we really are, and what we could be.
A great source of incommunicability occurs when we ourselves have not made a clear picture of us, first of all about ourselves, about our being, about the boundaries of our mental space and our role in the world. I may not be able to correctly transfer information also because I myself have a blurred, uncleared representation of my Self. The communication that will come out will certainly be the bearer of doses of incommunicability, at the start.
The whole problem of life is this: how to break one’s loneliness, how to communicate with others. Cesare Pavese
Targeted Introspection has a name in psychology, it means Focusing. Focusing (both in the variant of emotional focusing – shedding light on emotions, and in informative focusing – clarifying data and facts), allows us to clarify – first of all to ourselves – what we want to convey, what we feel is important to convey, and what we want to happen as a result of our communication (communicative effect or result).
The issue of incommunicability leads us to ask ourselves what the possible “common ground” is, what “you and I” potentially have to share, what common interests we have or could have, what we could talk about.
The following principle speaks of this:
Principle 5 – Focusing on one’s identity and multiple roles, State of Consciousness and COMSIT
Intercultural communication becomes positive and effective the more:
- people have practiced “focusing” on their own identity;
- people have practiced focusing on their multiple life roles;
- people understand with what role it is good to communicate and are consistent in doing so, given the COMSIT (Communication Situation) they have to face;
- the person experiences the intercultural relationship in a positive role and within a “cognitive space” of pleasure, in a positive neurophysiological state of consciousness, connected to relaxation, and appropriate to the situation;
- the people or a person accept each other (one accepts the other) in the specific role they have decided to put in place and represent during the interaction;
- people play the right role in relation to the ongoing COMSIT;
- people are looking for a “Common Ground” or common ground of role, identity and project and the possible necessary relational glue.
Intercultural communication becomes difficult or ineffective when:
- people have not practiced “focusing” on their identity and this acts in the background but without awareness;
people have not practiced “focusing” on their multiple life roles and therefore do not know exactly which role to play or stage the wrong role; - people do not understand with which role it is good to communicate and are not consistent in doing so, given the COMSIT (Communication Situation) they have to face;
- the person experiences intercultural interaction with a negative role, within a “cognitive space” of malaise and in a negative neurophysiological state of consciousness dominated by anxiety and / or altered with respect to the situation;
- people or a person do not accept each other (or one does not accept the other) in the specific role they have decided to put in place and represent during the interaction;
- people play the wrong role in relation to the ongoing COMSIT;
- people do not look for a “Common Ground” or common ground of role, identity and project, and they do not actively nourish the possible relational glue.
The map of our states of consciousness and altered states of consciousness is useful, as well as for well-being, to improve our communication
The Fisher Scale, or map of states of consciousness, highlights the position of any person, in the mental continuum between agitation and relaxation, up to the extremes of deep meditation (on the right) and hysteria (on the left), passing through states such as daily perception, anxiety, creativity and others.
It is a very important tool to understand where we are when we communicate interculturally
Figure 5 – Fisher’s map (map of states of consciousness) [1]
Each position along the scale corresponds to a precise, scientifically measurable brain frequency.
Varieties of conscious states mapped on a perception-hallucination continuum of increasing ergotropic arousal (left) and a perception-meditation continuum of increasing trophotropic arousal (right). These levels of hyper-and hypoarousal are interpreted by man as normal, creative, psychotic, and ecstatic states (left) and Zazen and samadhi (right). The loop connecting ecstasy and samadhi represents the rebound from ecstasy to samadhi, which is observed in response to intense ergotropic excitation. The numbers 35 to 7 on the perception-hallucination continuum are Goldstein’s coefficient of variation (46), specifying the decrease in variability of the EEG amplitude with increasing ergotropic arousal. The numbers 26 to 4 on the perception-meditation continuum, on the other hand, refer to those beta, alpha, and theta EEG waves (measured in hertz) that predominate during, but are not specific to, these states. Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324877864_The_Fractal_Limit_of_Human_Thought/figures?lo=1)
Anchoring the state of mind on the Fisher Scale
The work of Neuro-Associative Programming ™ consists precisely in anchoring a state of mind to a task or performance that we want to carry out in the best possible state. In this case, communicating interculturally will be more effective if done in conditions of relaxation rather than in a state of anxiety or agitation.
As I highlighted in the text “Psychology of Freedom” [2], Fisher in this pioneering work warns us: we are increasingly bombarded with information, but in some contexts, further increases risk saturation: further increases in the content of the data can not finding adequate correspondence in an adequate processing rate of these data.
In other words, when the input information is so many, so many that our ability to process them all progressively decreases, we risk slipping towards schizophrenic states [3]. This had been highlighted in the 70s, let alone now with the increase of channels and social media available.
The fact becomes even more complicated when, in addition to elaborating “normal” communication flows, intercultural differences are introduced to complicate everything.
From the scale it is clear that for daily health, every significant piece of life spent in a state of “agitation” or nervousness, should be accompanied by a state of recovery, tranquility and meditation. Definitely after, but even earlier in some cases as a moment of mental preparation (eg, preparation for a competition or an exam, or a strong intercultural negotiation).
The Fisher scale and its many possible teachings are becoming a factor of personal health. We should all know it, at least to make a daily mapping of how we are and readjust the game on the life situations in which we are.
But of this, we do not speak.
On the other hand, it is very easy to meet horoscopes of all kinds on national and public TVs.
Another indicator that our Semiosphere is full of filth and poor in meaning and knowledge that we would really need.
Our personal power lies in picking up the contents of our personal Semiosphere, working it, putting into it what is useful, throwing out the useless. It is time to fight, it is time to fight for these concepts, for us and for all the people we care about, and for a freer and cleaner humanity, and more capable of meeting different cultures without panicking.
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[1] Roland Fischer (1971), A Cartography of the Ecstatic and Meditative States. In Science, Vol 174 Num 4012 26 November 1971.
[2] See bibliography
[3] From the original text “further increase in data content may not be matched by a corresponding increase in the rate of data processing”
© Copyright Dr. Daniele Trevisani, Studio Trevisani Consulting Coach Training and Research, article extracted in editorial preview from the text “Neuro-Associative Programming ™”, Franco Angeli publisher, Milan
Keywords of the article on Neuro-Associative Programming and Communication
- Analysis
- Anxiety
- Activation
- Welfare
- Coaching
- Active coaching
- Experiential coaching
- In-depth coaching
- Scientific coaching
- Behaviors
- Behavior
- To communicate
- Communication
- Intercultural communication
- Counseling
- Creativity
- Deep Coaching
- Effectiveness
- Efficiency
- Training
- Active training
- Corporate training
- Active corporate training
- Management training
- Brain frequencies
- Fisher Map
- Model of the four distances of communication
- To negotiate
- Performance
- Human potential
- Mental programming
- Neuro-associative programming
- Neuroassociative programming
- Psychotherapy
- Relaxation
- Performance science
- Altered states of consciousness
- States of mind
- States of consciousness
- Altered states of consciousness
- State of mind
- State of consciousness
- Values
- Intangible values
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