Finer Distinctions of the Question Structure

There are many developing questions within Emergent Knowledge and to remember them all specifically may be a little difficult. So, after careful deliberation I have dissected each type of question into a separate class and each part of the question into a subset.

Classes

• What
• Who
• Where
• How
• When

Subsets

For all of the classes above there are some definite question subsets that can be integrated within them. As an example the question:

• “What do you know?”

‘What’ is setting the client up to go and search for an answer. ‘do’ is a conditional statement. ‘you’ is a (pro)noun and specifies the source of the knowledge. ‘know’ is eliciting the new information that emerges once the question is asked.

We could therefore change the conditional/modal statement from ‘do’ to ‘don’t’ or any of the other major conditionals:

The (pro)noun should be referenced purely as a noun, since this could be relating to a space, person, object or even a clients gestures or behavioural cues:

Once we accept the variety within the (pro)noun variable, we also need to reference the clients attention somewhat, i.e. is the facilitator asking for information from ‘this’ cosmology or ‘that’ cosmology, or just the (pro)noun itself?

I call this subset the Directors:

With this collection of subsets within the question, the question can now be shown as:

• “What [conditional] [director] [noun] know?”

And although, it is not the clearest sentence in this form, it does generate a multitude of question sets:

• “What could that you know?”
• “What does that know?”
• “What should this person know?”
• “What must that space know?”

Be aware that the director questions will either keep your client associated into their cosmology or take them out, so if they are regressed and associated and you suddenly ask, a ‘that’ question, they will have to dissociate from their current experience, to answer the latest question.

In the standard question sets from David with Emergent Knowledge, the conditional ‘does’ is used predominantly, although I have discovered that opening up the conditionals to include these larger sets, can allow large parts of the clients world to open up.

We are now in a position to look again upon the existing ‘Clean Language’ questions with this alternative insight.

• “How old [conditional] [director] [noun] be?”
• “What [conditional] [director] [noun] be wearing?”
• “What [conditional] [director] [noun] want to have happen?”
• “[conditional] [director] [noun] have a size or shape?”
• “Where [conditional] [director] [noun] come from?”

The source of this information [conditional], [director] and [noun] are provided from distinct areas:

• [noun] is given by the client
• [director] is usually given by the client – however the facilitator holds the responsibility to manage the association/dissociation of the client when using these questions
• [conditional] is provided by the developing map of the clients landscape as well as the facilitators knowledge and experience

Sometimes we are looking to take a client back into their past worlds, therefore a time function is required to accommodate this, including the future:

• “What kind of [noun] [time] [director] [noun] before [noun] [time] [director] [noun]?”

This sentence leads us onto several constructions that we already touched upon in this work:

• “What kind of you were you before you were this you?”
• “What kind of problem was this problem before it was this problem?”

With respect to a clients body / observer position, there is a 3-dimensional world and information is accessible in all areas of it, to elicit this information the following ‘spatial’ subset has being devised:

• “What [conditional] be [spatial] [director] [noun]?”
• “Who [conditional] be [spatial] [director] [noun]?”

Thus allowing the following questions to emerge:

• “What is in front of you?”
• “What could be below the table?”
• “What is inside the white jug?”
• “What is outside of that room?”
• “Who is around you?”

Our experience in any moment in time is made up of millions of bit of information, see Psyche-Scape Perceptions for a list of usual and unusual senses/perceptions (note that this is not a complete list and is by no means true for everyone, however many people express some or most of these senses during this work). A helpful list to get started however is:

• “What [conditional] [director] [noun] be [perception]?”
• “Whereabouts in [director] [noun] is [director] [perception]?”

Therefore:

• “What could that you be feeling?” – ‘happiness’
• “Whereabouts in that you is that ‘happiness’?