“I failed my math test. – THEREFORE – I must be stupid.”

“I failed! I’m so stupid!”

Ever heard that before – in your own head?

It’s a logic level leap.

What? You’ve never heard of logic levels? Well don’t feel bad – lots of people haven’t heard of them. In Neurolinguistics, logic levels are basically a hierarchy of experience.

Rapid Eye Technicians are familiar with NLP logic levels – they are represented in the Circle of Creation Walk. Basically there are 8 logic levels (named and described by Robert Dilts, 1991):

1. Environment
2. Behavior
3. Capabilities
4. Beliefs
5. Values
6. Identity
7. Mission/Vision
8. Spirituality

Logic level leaps are errors in cause and effect thinking. We misidentify the cause from the effects we experience. Let’s look at two logic levels, Behavior and Identity. Behavior is the level of action (do) whereas Identity is the level of being (be). Over time, this confusion of logic levels creates a situation in which the person believes they ARE what they DO. Sound familiar?

Many people run with the following logic levels leap:

“I did poorly on my math test.” — (behavior level isolated to one environment)

“THEREFORE”

“I must be stupid.”               — (leap to the identity level)

Some people take anything that they have done well or continue to do well and attribute it to outside forces (attempting to abrogate their responsibility). They say, “I got lucky.” Or maybe, “It must have been fate.” Or, “It was a fluke.” Or, “It was God’s will.” As a result, they do not increase their own belief in themselves. They perceive all of their successes at the behavioral level. When something goes bad or horribly wrong, they integrate the result at the identity level. Consequently, they increase their belief in their own “incompetence”.

Alternatively there are those people who take anything that they have done well or continue to do well and integrate it into themselves at the identity level, thereby increasing their own confidence in themselves and their abilities. Anything that gets them less than stellar results they chalk up as a learning experience and an indication to do something differently (leaving it in the behavioral level). They perceive the action at the behavioral level where it belongs and choose to assign the positive aspects to identity level:

“I did poorly on my math test.” — (behavior level isolated to one environment)

“THEREFORE”

“I will study differently in the future.” — (leaving the negative aspects assigned to the behavior level)

***

“I did well on my math test.” — (behavior level isolated to one environment)

“THEREFORE”

“I am a success.” — (leap to identity level)
Positive reinforcing positive identity; negative reinforcing change in behavior.

To turn the negative pattern around, one must put the logical levels in their proper places and use them beneficially. This can be done with RET by addressing the “I AM” (identity) levels with the Core Belief Scrambler, Should Scrambler, and Life Skills – this will set the stage for reversing the already upside-down logic. For the technician, it’s a simple matter of listening for logic leaps (“My wife left me, so I must BE a failure.” “I didn’t get the job, so I must BE incompetent.” “I’m stupid – I’ll never pass the test.”). Then applying the Scramblers with some instruction on logic levels as I’ve described in this article.

The very awareness of logic levels and how we make logic leaps may awaken some to how they can use them beneficially for themselves and others.