| Topic: | Re:Re:Re: A meta whisper |
| Posted by: | Robert Holzhauser |
| Date/Time: | 09/11/2002 21:38:20 |
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Here is my understanding of what a meta-state is. A state or emotion which has as it's focus or content another state. The sensory based description that comes most easily to mind is this. If a person claims to be feeling or experiencing state X, and a practitioner asks this person "How do you feel ABOUT feeling state X?" The answer - is a meta-state. For example, right now I am feeling curious. If I ask myself how I feel about feeling curious - my answer is that I feel satisfied that I feel curious. So then to continue a bit with my example - I ask myself "How do I feel about feeling satisfied with my curiousity?" My answer is this time several states - that I long for adventure, I am grateful to be experiencing this moment, I am frustrated that my current experience lacks some zing, I have a desire to learn, I am curious where this will lead and I feel good about myself for having the curiousity. I believe it is at this level that the meta states model gets a little ambiguous. My answers here at this level - which are real answers btw - are only partially limited to feelings /states about being satisfied with feeling curious. My ansers at this third level start to include a wider frame of experience. This makes sense to me, as it is now apparently a larger chunk level. Apparently I could continue this forever. Now that I have reached a place where I have multiple responses I could choose to go after a meta state for each of these meta states or - and this is hinted at in Michael Hall's work - a meta state for this combination of states. This is an attempt to provide a sensory specific description of meta states. My interpretation is that a state qualifies as a meta state when it is a state or emotion that is about another state. It can be elicited by getting a description of present state. - There are various possibilities for this - including just asking - "How do you feel?" The typical reply to this would be a state or emotion. This is the starting point or primary state. Once the primary state is established, to elicit a meta state - The question is "How do you feel about -primary state-?" Given that the response to this meta state elicitation question is recognizable as being in the realm of states - it qualifies as a meta state. An emotion about an emotion. The primary state has a 4-tuple, and the meta-state also has it's own 4-tuple. Is this an acceptable sensory based description? Robert |