From: friday@netcom.com (Carol Anne Ogdin)
Subject: Artful Hypnotic Language (AHL #2):  Ambiguity
Summary: The art of using ambiguity in hypnosis and communications
Keywords: Hypnosis Language
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 04:01:51 GMT


AHL #2:  PATTERNS IN AMBIGUITY

One popular science fiction theme suggests perfect communications of the
future:  Two people can communicate "mind-to-mind," without error, and with
complete mutual comprehension at all times.  Putting aside the issue of
whether that is even desirable, it is clear that in today's world we rely on
our five senses to communicate to one another.  These words I've created in my
mind have emerged through my fingertips to a keyboard, thence through a
computer to a file; after transporting that file, you're eyes are now
transforming those marks on screen or paper into some representation in your
own mind and memory.  In the multiple transformations that take place from my
mind to you, there are many, many opportunities for mistranslation, corruption
and misunderstanding.  Then we attempt to overcome those problems (or,
sometimes, exacerbate them) by repeating the process in the opposite
direction; you ask me something further.  The resulting dialog is laden with
multiple levels of meaning and potential interpretation.

Ambiguity is essential to natural language.  Without ambiguity we'd likely
have no wars...and we'd have no poetry.  Ambiguity emerges when the
communication is less that totally, absolutely complete.   There are three
systematic ways that we can introduce ambiguity into language:

	Generalize (e.g., "Everybody knows what's right or wrong"
		[Everybody?])

	Delete  (e.g., "Pick that up!"
		[who, what, specifically?])

	Distort  (e.g.,  "You make me angry!"
		[you say something; it makes ME angry])

Of course, we could just lump all these under _distortion_, but it is useful
to reserve that verb for a particular meaning (below).

Every one of these kinds of ambiguity can be used or abused in language.
There is no intrinsic right or wrong in using generalization, deletion or
distortion; in fact, they are essential to good communication.  If I ask you
to, "Look at that dog over there!"  you can probably pick the dog out of the
crowd, despite the deletions:  I haven't specified the size, shape, color or
breed of the dog, nor the relative direction from us, nor the distance from
us.  Yet, in normal communications, those deletions are quite acceptable.  Of
course, if there is a whole pack of dogs over there, you might want to resolve
the ambiguity by asking, "Which one?"  I might then provide some of the
deleted information that will help "close the gap" in our communication:
"That small dalmation with the black left eye, standing behind the collie."

If we attempt to communicate without using generalizations (e.g., "dog"),
deletions (e.g., where?) or distortions (e.g., perhaps I'm pointing to old
automobiles), we could spend hours just to convey a small bit of information
from speaker to listener.  On the other hand, these patterns can be used to
conceal information, too-modern advertising uses those tricks all the time
(e.g., "New and Improved," compared to what?  Isn't something deleted here?)

In hypnosis, the hypnotist or the subject can generalize, delete and/or
distort, and we can do so externally or internally, willfully or accidentally.
The hypnotist may also take responsibility for the potential ambiguities that
might be internally generated by the subject, and carefully construct language
to shape the subject's experience.  Let us imagine a subject (S) just induced
into trance with an experienced hypnotist(H), who is guiding S. into a fully-
associated, neutral place for additional exploration:

	H:  Now, imagine yourself walking along a beach.  [Deleted:  in which
		direction?  how fast?  where is the observer in the image?]

	S:  [creates mental image of beach scene, watching self walking along
		beach, as viewed from a position out over the water]

	H:  Looking out of your own eyes [Filling in the prior deletion by
		suggesting, in case S. is disassociated, that the subject
		become fully associated with the imaginary self], you can
		see the trees, feel the warmth of the sun, hear the gentle
		slap of water...and you are beginning to have an interesting
		experience.  [Deleted:  what kind of experience?]

It is important for the hypnotist to maintain an appropriate ambiguity; if the
hypnotist suggests, "...and you see a large yellow garbage truck along the
road on the horizon..." that irrelevant elaboration of the scene forces the
subject to work on putting the truck into the picture instead of having the
"interesting experience" they are about to explore together.  One of the
skills of the competent hypnotist is in managing the ambiguity levels to make
sure that the subject has a worthwhile experience without unnecessarily
specifying what that experience must be like for the subject.  If we're
artful, the subject will generally be much more creative than we as the
hypnotist might allow them to be with more precision.

The hypnotist can often use intentional distortion meaningfully, as well:  If
the subject has a hard time accepting a first-hard statement, the hypnotist
might "sugar-coat" it by suggesting that someone else actually said it.  For
example, the hypnotist has the opinion that this subject doesn't want to be
told their speech is highly nasal, and that is why they're not eliciting the
respect they so eagerly seek.  Saying that directly, or even in hypnosis,
might not prove as useful as intentionally distorting the statement by
attributing it to someone else:  "I once know a woman who had a daughter who's
voice sounded just like yours; she told me that by speaking lower in the
throat, she was able to command much more respect."  [Also notice the
ambiguity in the reference to "she."  Who does the hypnotist mean?  The woman,
the daughter...or the subject?]

On the other hand, there are times when precision is important, and noticing
generalizations, deletions and distortions is essential to clarifying the
communication and resolving the relevant ambiguities.  Precision is certainly
called for in the office, in trade, and during hypnosis when the subject
begins explaining what it is they want from the experience.  For instance, a
subject who says, "I want to be confident" has left a lot of information out
(in what circumstances?  when?  with whom?) and has made a massive
generalization with the last word (what _is_ confident for you?  how would you
know you're being confident?)  The experienced hypnotist can then help the
subject flesh out the details (about which there will be much more in
subsequent articles) and resolve those ambiguities.

Has anyone ever said something to you that you completely misheard?  That is
an example of an internal ambiguity; perhaps they mentioned an old nemesis'
name and you had a "Freudian slip" by forgetting it (an internal-probably
unintentional-deletion).

See the companion AHL #2/Exercise for things you can do to hone your abilities
with these skills.

This material is Copyright, 1992, 1993 by Carol Anne Ogdin, Santa Clara, CA
95051; all rights reserved.  Distributed through alt.hypnosis newsgroup of
Usenet (Internet), and paper copies may be made for personal use.  Any 
distribution of this material must include this copyright and contact notice.
The author may be reached as     friday@well.sf.ca.us    
-- 
--Friday                                    "Knowledge is guesswork
   Carol Anne Ogdin, Principal Designer         disciplined by 
   Deep Woods Technology                        rational criticism." 
     friday@well.sf.ca.us                               --Karl Popper