Gregory Bateson

[Jeffrey W Bloom]

Robert Dilts

[Copyright © Robert Dilts]

The Neurological Levels concept was developed by Robert Dilts, taking much of his inspiration from the work of Gregory Bateson (leading anthropologist, philosopher and seminal figure in the early development of NLP) - particularly his Logical Levels of Learning construct. For this model of abstracted levels of what we learn and how it affects us, Bateson himself drew on the Logical Typing of mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell.

 

Taking his cue from Bateson, Dilts conceived a hierarchy of levels the mind uses to order its relationship with the world. Dilts linked these 'Logical Levels' to neurological functions and structure of the brain. Thus, Neurological Levels!

 

While the supposed 'logicality' of the model has been attacked and Dilts' use of neurology is sometimes open to question, almost everyone who has worked with the model testifies to its power to describe what we might call Nominal Level Adaptation. In other words, the match of Identity - and the Values & Beliefs which flow from Identity - to the Environment in which we find ourselves.

 

The key to a healthy psyche, according to Dilts, is to align the levels from top to bottom so that the Identity has the Values & Beliefs to acquire the necessary Skills & Knowledge to demonstrate Behaviour appropriate to the Environment. For example, someone who is a teacher (Identity) would almost certainly behave differently in the classroom (Environment) to when they were being a worshipper (Identity) in a church (Environment).

 

Where the neuroscientists have found Dilts' attribution of brain structures to functioning of the levels to be phenomenally perceptive is in the relationship between Values & Beliefs and Skills & Knowledge.

 

Skills & Knowledge (aka Capability) involves higher level processing primarily in the cerebral cortex of the brain. Here mental maps are formed from sensory information, other mental representations and imagination and plans are made.

 

However, Values & Beliefs - which relate to the question, 'why?' - are associated with the limbic system and, in particular, the amygdala's stimulation of the hypothalamus. The limbic system's integration of information from the cortex and regulation of the autonomic nervous system means that physiological changes such as tingling of the skin and increase in heart rate often occur when we are operating at this level. However, the amygdala can react to certain sensory information faster than the cortex can evaluate and plan, resulting in what Dr Daniel Goleman calls 'emotional hijacking'. People can act before thinking and without any sense of consequences when their Values & Beliefs are challenged!

 

See Dilts’ Brain Science for further information on the neurology of the model.

 

Interestingly, again drawing from Bateson's work, Dilts also identified different linguistic patterns and vocabulary associated with each level. (This is reflected in the words on the right hand side of the graphic above.)

 

In the Dilts hierarchy, the higher the level change takes place at, the greater the impact upon the whole. Which doesn't rule out change at the lower levels impacting upwards - though this is far less likely and is also less likely to be sustainable.

 

                                                                                                  A Frame for Spiral Dynamics
Not only do Neurological Levels form a powerful model in their own right but they form an excellent frame for understanding the relationship between the vMEMES of Spiral Dynamics. and the Life Conditions - what's going on - in the Environment.The dominating vMEMES are related to the sense of Identity and will influence the formation of Values & Beliefs. We might call this Deeper Level Adaptation. (Ian Lavan reputedly was the first to use Neurologlical Levels as a frame for Spiral Dynamics.)

 

However, vMEMES can also relate to the Skills & Knowledge level - see the Gernia Variation of 4Q/8L.)

 

It is the association between the higher neurological levels and vMEMES which provides the central core of Integrated SocioPsychology.

 

From my own experiences, an example of using Neurological Levels this way...

 

A few years ago I was 'walking' 'Harry' through his neurological levels - an exercise Dilts developed for gaining enlightenment from the Unconscious Mind. When he reached the Identity level and I asked him what his mission in life was, Harry turned around, tears streaming from his eyes, and said, "Mission? I don't have any mission. I don't have any idea what I'm doing here. I just live day to day. Like a dog." That confirmed to me what I already suspected: that Harry was stuck in a RED state.

 

Such is the power of the Neurological Levels model that it can be applied across 4Q/8L's Lower Quadrants to groups and organisations as well as individuals. A number of consultants and business advisers have used it as an analytical tool on business planning projects. The results of one such analysis I carried out can be viewed here.

 

                                                                                                       Identity and Spirituality
Identity is a key issue in many psychological theories, making another reason for Neurological Levels being so important to the development of Integrated SocioPsychology.

 

For example the effect of Identity upon Behaviour means neurological levels have implications for understanding modelling in Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory. Identity is also especially important in the work of Carl Rogers, Erik Erikson and James Marcia.

 

Although it is not always represented in depictions of the model, Bateson and Dilts do acknowledge a level beyond Identity: Spirituality. Bateson described this as: "The individual mind is immanent but not only in the body. It is immanent in the pathways and messages outside the body; and there is a larger Mind of which the individual mind is only a sub-system. This larger mind is comparable to God and is perhaps what people mean by 'God' ,but it is still immanent in the total interconnected social system and planetary ecology."

 

With this, Bateson certainly allows for a 'collective consciousness' and a sense of 'interconnectedness'. Dilts has acknowledged the therapeutic value of the spiritual dimension on many occasions. However, neither has really taken the concept as far as Ken Wilber does in his Integral Psychology and Integral Spirituality concepts.

 

 

 

Click here to learn about Integrated SocioPsychology ‘open’ workshop programmes which use Neurological Levels as a key structure.

 

 

Neurological Levels Resources

 

'Steps to an Ecology of Mind' - Gregory Bateson (Ballentine, 1972)

 

 

 

 

'Tools For Dreamers – Strategies For Creativity And The Structure Of Innovation' - Robert B Dilts, Todd Epstein & Robert W Dilts (Meta Publications, 1991)

 

 

 

Robert B Dilts/NLP University
Robert Dilts web site - NLP University is his NLP training school

 

 

 

'From Coach to Awakener - Robert Dilts (Meta Publications, 2003)

 

 

 

 

Neurological Levels Resources