Neuro-Linguistic Programming: Does it do anything?

[reddragdiva]

... No.

The theory doesn't hold, so if you want to build further theory on it you're out of luck. (Wikipedia summarises the problems pretty well: the models are provably incorrect, it appears oddly hard to teach and communicate, and advocates even try claiming science is inadequate to analysing it.)

The master hack for getting people to do what you want is confidence: simply, to confidently tell them to do what you want. NLP works insofar as having a theory at all, even an erroneous one, increases your confidence. And what NLP actually sells is getting people to do what you want. So NLP delivers what it's selling. Sort of.

(I said "simple," not "easy." But that is the actual answer.)

Many other such marketed mental hacks work the same way, including ones that sell themselves as therapies rather than control techniques. They pretty much all work by applied confidence. Some with an admixture of exploiting cognitive biases.

If you don't buy that and think I'm just mired in pseudosceptic negativity, you could always try using NLP for weight loss, psoriasis or to cure cancer.

Comments

[rbarclay]

How to spot NLP disciples:

if you suspect there's an NLP disciple in your group, do an easy test.

1. make eye-contact
2. note your own use of "looks like" "feels like" "sounds like"
3. note how they adapt
4. focus on one of "looks" "sounds" "feels"
5. note how they adapt
6. use all of "looks" "sounds" "feels" at once
7. watch their mental model break down
8. fun! maybe add an ad hominem for added emphasis


Over-simplified example:
a. "buy foo, it does z, oh, and x and y, too!"
b. "foo doesn't feel right, because bla"
a. "foo could change x to y, and you would feel better"
b. "this not only feels wrong, it sounds wrong, and also looks wrong."
a. usually breaks down at about now
b. "in fact, your body-language looks and feels fake, and your voice sounds fake, too"
b. "and why are your eyes darting about all of a sudden, looking for an escape?"
b. "guess you need to throw more money at train-the-trainer in your NLP"