The Limits of Thought

About a five minute read (you may want to read this when you have more time to process the information)

Introduction

In the first third of the 20th century, Alfred Korzybski uttered the provocative idea, "the map is not the territory." While this seems obvious, it bears further pondering. On a superficial level, it means that your GPS map is not the actual terrain of the land and that a paper map is not the real geography of physical space. Our brains want to pass over this because the idea has profound implications. What it means is that our concepts are not reality. Again, stating what is obvious, picturing turning left, or thinking, "I am turning left," is entirely different from the experience of moving the body or having the body moved by a larger object (a car, a train, or plane). This idea also may be pretty easy to grok, but it means that thoughts are not reality. Again, a provocative statement, especially given that we predominantly live not in the world but in the world of thoughts. Almost our entire workday is lived through thought.

What are we saying here? We are saying that all those conceptual thoughts that occur in our heads all day long; all of them; every single one of them, are infallibly flawed. Even your best attempt to express an observation or learning is not the territory. We can accept that we exaggerate to make a point. We can even admit that we sometimes generalize in error, but this is not the earth-shattering, revolutionary idea Korzybski discusses. What he is saying is that any conceptualization is faulty. It is inherently not the territory of experience, even what is written here.

For thousands of years, Buddhism has been trying to tell us that we are not our thoughts, that thoughts occur. Interestingly, Buddhism and other eastern contemplative traditions have pointed us towards exactly where Korzybski was pointing us. The truth of empirical reality. Korzybski's concern was our tendency to care more about words than reality. He encouraged listening as the best tool for

finding reality, for finding the truth. But, this was a different type of hearing where attention was not on words. Instead, he encouraged deeper listening, attending more to non-verbal listening and non-verbal understandings. He encouraged listening to words, not for content, but instead for the experience the words had

within us – listening with our feelings and other faculties of gathering information outside our heads and the limits of thought.

Why Listening?

Listening is empirically a better device for gathering data. It is superior to sight, which is more limited, and superior to the tool of thought. Hearing centers us in the world, while sight is more likely to create an illusion of being apart from and separate from what we see. Thinking also separates us – there are our thoughts and the object our thought is focused on. Hearing also centers us in an ecosystem, an alive space that transmits understanding. Korzybski believed hearing impacted the entire nervous system. What interested Korzybski was how words created physiological reactions, increases in blood pressure, how we react as a physiological organism, and this he called meaning. This understanding included the nervous systems integration of data beyond words. In this way, listening, or hearing – is an active force in that it absorbs data and transforms information into an understanding beyond thought and language.

Why is Listening Important Now More than Ever?

As we migrated to a virtual, remote work atmosphere, our bandwidth for listening has been drastically reduced, and our interactions have become increasingly transactional. For data to lead to understanding, it needs more room to breathe. As we lead virtual teams, listening beyond data (or into the data) gives us the more profound understanding we need to ensure the right things are being done. It provides us with the insight necessary to hear what levers a team needs pushed or pulled to create higher performance.

How Can We Listen Better?

1. Listening more effectively:

• Instead of listening to the content of words, we can listen to absorb experience.

• Don't listen to see if you agree or disagree with what is said; listen to understand the experience of the communicator and team.

  • Are they nervous? Are they anxious?

• What is the impact of what is being

  • discussed on the individual and team's nervous systems?

• What is your nervous system experiencing as you listen as a leader?

  • Are you defensive? Energized? Overwhelmed?

2. Make efforts to be present: More data comes in, and deeper understanding

occurs when we are more present

• Take time to "come out of" your thoughts, into the experiential moment, closer to empirical reality.

• Use your senses as instruments to receive a more profound understanding

  • Start with hearing – what subtle data can you pick up in the quality of each person's voice?

  • What do you see as you look at your team on the monitor? What subtle data are they revealing that you can see?

  • What does your desk feel like? Your clothing? The clothing as it touches your skin?

  • What does the air feel like?

  • Feel your feet on the floor, bring your attention to your feet

• How is this different from thinking?

• What do you notice when you are more in your body than in your thoughts?

• What emotions can you sense? In yourself and others?

3. Even if it is just 30 seconds, take time to ground yourself between meetings. Come out of the busyness of activity so that you attune to a gentler, more observant cadence.

It is also worth studying; when thought occurs within the larger space of presence, both the utility and limits of thinking can be seen.