What does the name Neuro-Linguistic Programming mean?
The name Neuro-Linguistic Programming has been around for nearly 30 years. Neuro refers to how the mind and body interact. Linguistic refers to the insights into a person’s thinking that can be obtained by careful attention to how they use language. Programming refers to the study of the thinking and behavioral patterns, or programs, that people use in their daily lives.
The name "Neuro-Linguistic Programming" was actually an extension of the term "neuro-linguistic" which (as far as I can discover) originated with Alfred Korzybski, the founder of General Semantics. The earliest use of the term I have been able to find is 1933.
The term "Neuro-Linguistic" (two capital letters and a hyphen), combined with "Programming" was coined by Richard Bandler, co-creator of Neuro-Linguistic Programming, in the mid-1970s (exact date unknown, but probably some time in 1974.
The first part of the name refers to the idea that our behaviour is determined by what goes on in our brain (the ‘neuro’ part) and that this in turn is largely determined by the words we hear and the words we use. For example, my view of what you said is determined by what I think you said.
Of course I can hear the words you used, but I may have a different interpretation of the words and phrase you use, as compared to the meanings you intended.
One of the initial reasons for creating the FoNLP was the wish to find ways to communicate ideas more effectively.
The "Programming" part of the name indicates that we are all, to a greater or lesser extent, following ‘programmes’ laid down from infacy onwards. This is not to say that we are robots, only that we often live our lives according to eules, ideas, etc. which we have never really examined or questioned – just like a computer will try to execute whatever instructions it is given.
