Nine levels of meanings influence you without you realizing.
Nine levels of meanings influence you without you realizing.
“It’s not just a piece of candy; it’s an image that forms in your mind, crafted in a specific, radiant, polished, and captivating way. It’s not merely a piece of candy—it’s your reward for your efforts or an outlet for your worries. It grants you a sense of happiness, satisfaction, or appreciation unlike any other. You see it through a lens that blinds you to everything else. It’s that fantastical dance that carries you through a starry sky, through which you aspire to regain your energy and strengthen your inner self. This is the key to enduring the hardships of daily life.”
The previous paragraph is not a literary excerpt from a novel but rather a representation of one of the most profound concepts in the psychology of consciousness—a central building block in the construction of the self. It is a concept that lies at the heart of all tools of psychotherapy, coaching, and self-development without exception: the levels of meaning.
To clarify what is meant by “levels of meaning,” let’s explore some everyday situations that often pass without deep reflection:
– A person starts a diet but consistently gives in to the temptation of soft drinks, while their friend spends a fortune to spend a night in the desert capturing photos of the clear sky and returns extremely happy. Meanwhile, their friends consider them extravagant or even crazy.
– A girl dedicates herself to studying day and night, achieving top grades and excelling academically. Yet, as soon as she earns her university degree, she chooses to stay at home, completely content.
– A man joins a gym, spending a significant amount of money on it. He runs until he’s out of breath, lifts weights until his muscles nearly tear, sacrifices many pleasures, and even spends more money on the nutritional supplements required for his training. Yet, he goes to bed at night feeling completely satisfied.
These examples illustrate how different actions and choices are driven by deeper, often unspoken, layers of meaning that shape our behaviors, priorities, and sense of fulfillment.
Let’s take the last example, and the others can be measured against it. The superficial image of the event is a man spending a lot of his money, exhausting his breath and muscles, and sacrificing his pleasures—each of which might typically lead to dissatisfaction or aversion. Yet, reality is not only different but the complete opposite! Not only does he endure this without dissatisfaction, but he enjoys it and even seeks more! How does this happen? More importantly, why aren’t all people like this man?
The answer to this question lies in the concept of **“meaning”** and its impact on creating a **“state”** (the combination of thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations). Humans have the unique ability to assign meanings to objects and events, which in turn shape their responses to them. For example, someone who sees candy as a reward is drawn to it, while another who sees it as “white poison” is repelled by it—even though the candy itself remains the same.
This concept—the concept of meanings and their influence—is one of the most central and deeply rooted ideas that anyone involved in psychological assistance in any form must master thoroughly. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if one masters this concept alone, it would suffice for understanding all others.
Levels of Meaning
Understanding the levels of meaning depends on knowing how the nervous system processes the data it receives through the senses via the mind. The body does not typically interact with events, objects, or people directly but rather through the mediation of the mind. The mind represents the “world” internally. What is in your mind right now is not the actual words your eyes are capturing, but rather an internal reflection of them. The retina carries these words through the optic nerve so they can be represented in your mind in a way you understand. These words then undergo various cognitive processes, and it is to the result of these processes that the nervous system responds.
The most important aspect of these processes is the creation of **meaning**. Here, “meaning” refers to what the psyche and mind attribute to an event, not its dictionary definition. This meaning has levels, each of which influences the final outcome and, consequently, the nervous system’s response. Below are nine of these levels:
1. **Sensory Level**: The raw data received through the senses (sight, sound, touch, etc.).
2. **Perceptual Level**: How the mind organizes and interprets sensory data into recognizable patterns.
3. **Emotional Level**: The feelings evoked by the interpreted data.
4. **Cognitive Level**: The thoughts and beliefs associated with the event or object.
5. **Symbolic Level**: The deeper symbols or metaphors the event or object represents to the individual.
6. **Contextual Level**: The broader context or environment in which the event occurs.
7. **Relational Level**: How the event or object relates to the individual’s personal experiences or relationships.
8. **Existential Level**: The meaning attributed to the event in the context of one’s purpose or existence.
9. **Transcendental Level**: The spiritual or universal significance the event holds for the individual.
These levels collectively shape how we perceive and respond to the world around us, influencing our emotions, behaviors, and overall mental state. Mastering this concept is crucial for understanding human psychology and facilitating personal growth or therapeutic interventions.
The Representation Level
The subjective experience of an event (such as seeing candy) is represented in the mind through what is called a **mental map**. This map reflects the visual, auditory, and sensory representation of the experience, though it does not necessarily match reality exactly. Try to recall the appearance of your desk and the items on it—you might remember some or all of them. Now, try to recall the details of a government office, a company headquarters, or a building you visited only once. Most likely, you’ll find far fewer details.
To understand the impact of mental representation on meaning, imagine in your mind a delicious piece of candy or a food you love. Notice how your nervous system responds to this imagined image—perhaps your stomach growls with hunger, or you feel a craving. You might even notice your salivary glands activating and producing saliva. Now, imagine the same food lying in the trash or on a dirty floor. Observe how your nervous system reacts to this altered image.
Let’s try another example. Imagine a man or woman blaming you for something you had no part in, and notice how your emotions shift. Now, imagine the same scene but with the sound of laughter mocking that person. How does the second image differ from the first?
At this level, the effect comes from the **content of the mental map**. What we often fail to notice is that our mental maps do not perfectly match reality. The process of representation itself is subject to **generalization**, **distortion**, and **deletion**, often automatically. This is entirely natural and even a cognitive necessity for the psychological system to function effectively in harmony with the nervous system. However, sometimes we create mental maps that harm or hinder us, and at other times, we struggle to form useful maps that elicit the desired response from our nervous system.
Therefore, the content of the mental map serves as a crucial starting point for understanding the structure of meaning, but it doesn’t end here. The mental map is just the first layer in a deeper exploration of how we assign significance to experiences and how those meanings shape our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.
The Level of Representational Characteristics
The creation of a mental map and its impact on meaning does not stop at the image, sound, or sensation alone but extends to the **characteristics** of each. For example, try imagining that piece of candy as attractive, vibrant in color, and close to your eyes, as if surrounded by a radiant halo that seems to say, “Come and get me.” Observe your internal response. Now, imagine the same image but in black and white, dull, and distant. Do you notice a difference in your response?
The characteristics of the internal representation of an experience act as the **key code** for how the nervous system is affected. Encoding an image in color differs from encoding it in black and white, and encoding a sound with a sharp tone differs from encoding it with a deep tone, and so on. This is why one of the fundamental tools for practitioners of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is understanding and correcting meaning by **re-encoding** it properly or dismantling faulty codes, as in the **Visual-Kinesthetic Dissociation Protocol** used to eliminate phobias.
It’s worth noting that the effect of changing the representational characteristics of an experience is largely subjective. What works for one person may not necessarily work for another. Each individual’s mental and emotional responses are unique, shaped by their personal experiences, beliefs, and perceptions. Therefore, interventions must be tailored to the individual’s specific mental map and representational patterns.
The Level of Language
If we understand from the previous discussion that the mental representation of an experience governs some of its meaning, we must also recognize that this representation is not uniform. Rather, there are levels that frame and govern it, which we will now begin to explore. The first level of meaning in this context is **language**—the words we use to describe an experience or event and through which we internally translate it.
For example, as soon as we label a piece of candy as a “reward,” the meaning of “reward” is attached to it, and our internal response changes accordingly. It is no longer just “a piece of sugary food” but has become a “reward,” gaining an additional symbolic quality that is not inherent to its physical nature.
This level of meaning creation is implicitly understood by sellers and marketing experts. For instance, if you visit the vegetable markets in Cairo, you’ll find a section for “مستوية” (meaning “ripe” in Egyptian colloquial Arabic). Everyone knows that the produce in that section is overripe and nearly spoiled. However, sellers insist on calling it “مستوية” instead of “تالفة” (spoiled) because they understand the impact of this labeling on the desire to purchase.
Language shapes our perception and emotional response to experiences by attaching specific meanings to them. By carefully choosing words, we can influence how we and others interpret and react to events, objects, or situations. This highlights the power of language as a tool for framing and reframing experiences, a concept widely used in fields like psychology, marketing, and communication.
The Level of Judgment
Next, we observe that some people go to the market and actively seek out “ripe tomatoes,” while others avoid them. Ultimately, all the previous levels of meaning are subjected to an evaluation process based on subjective standards, resulting in a new meaning: **judgment**. One person may see buying ripe tomatoes as a way to save money, while another may view it as being stingy.
The level of judgment is the outcome of weighing experiences against personal scales and values, regardless of their source. This is a deep, unconscious process that occurs automatically and continuously. Our judgments are shaped by our beliefs, experiences, and cultural background, and they influence how we interpret and respond to the world around us.
This level highlights the importance of understanding that our reactions to events or objects are not just based on their inherent qualities but also on the personal meanings and values we attach to them. By becoming aware of our judgments, we can better understand our behaviors and, if necessary, reframe our perspectives to align with our goals and well-being.
