Is NLP A Pseudoscience?
Author
Damon Cart
Date
Aug 11, 2017
Tags
General tips
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Someone on my list named Derick emailed me a Youtube video of Loy Machedo attempting to shred NLP to pieces calling it a pseudoscience and said that it’s not worth the money to learn NLP.
Don’t know who Loy Machedo is? Really? Seriously?
Neither do I. Well… I suppose I sort of know who he is now.
Before I get into that, you may have noticed that I haven’t been posting as many videos and writing as many emails as I used to. The main reason for that is the Ultimate NLP Practitioner Training I’ve been teaching live and also everything that goes into creating the online version.
It’s a lot of work in other words and I’m having to recruit talent to cover some of the tasks so I can create more content for you. Help is on the way in other words.
This question or accusation comes up from time to time about NLP being a pseudoscience. Is it or isn’t it?
You probably already know my take on it. Would I create a business out of a pseudoscience? Perhaps I’ve been duped all this time too. A man with a tattooed face from the Middle East seems to think so.
Enter Loy Machedo, self-proclaimed number 1 personal branding strategist. He not only claims NLP is a pseudoscience, he claims that he’s read every NLP book, listened to every NLP audio and online program there is and has spent $50,000 on NLP training to become a master practitioner and a NLP Trainer.
He lays into Tony Robbins, which sounded to me more like someone who realizes he will never be as successful as Robbins so he might as well get some attention by bashing him. He also equates fire walking and breaking boards with NLP.
No Loy, that’s Tony’s gig. Fire walking and breaking boards is not NLP. Shouldn’t you know that if you’ve read every NLP book?
Machedo frames the argument and sets himself up to win this argument easily because there’s a very intentional presupposition in his argument that NLP is being promoted as a science.
If I try to defend NLP and say it’s not a pseudoscience I’ve entered his frame, which is a lot like stepping into the ring with him with my hands bound. If I say it isn’t, there’s still the presupposition that it could be or that it is. It’s better to step out of the frame and call out what he’s doing.
NLP is not a science nor is it being promoted as one. Sure, someone somewhere may have called it a science, but I’ve done a lot of NLP training with some of the top trainers in the world including one of the founders and some of the early developers who were there when NLP was being created. Not once did I hear any of them call it a science nor did I see any of them trying to market it as a science.
NLP is not a science.
If NLP isn’t a science and it’s not regarded as a science then it can’t be a pseudoscience.
NLP is a technology, which means NLP was created from a scientific approach and it applies science principles, but it’s not a science like geology or astronomy.
Yoga, Kung Fu, and Mixed Martial Arts are all technologies and they can be extremely effective, but we don’t refer to them as sciences and we especially don’t refer to them as pseudosciences because they’re not regarded as scientific studies.
Here’s the kicker: First of all I don’t believe Machedo’s claim that he’s read every NLP book and taken every audio and online NLP course. Any time someone says they’ve done it all I hear bullshit. But let’s say he did. Let’s say he read and took them all and that he spent $50K on NLP training.
If he’s really that smart and we should listen to him, why did it take so long for him to realize NLP is fake and is just a pseudoscience? You have to ask yourself after he read the third NLP book and NLP still didn’t work, why did he go on to read all of them? Wouldn’t you quit paying for NLP trainings just after only spending $10,000 on NLP training if it didn’t work? Would you really spend $40,000 more just to be sure?
I wouldn’t listen to a person who makes bombastic claims and I wouldn’t listen to someone who spent that many hours of time and effort and $50,000 to finally realize something doesn’t work.
If you would like more of a breakdown of Machedo’s video watch my video shredding Machedo’s video of shredding NLP.
Get shredding!
And thank you Derick for your question. Hope you’re satisfied with my answer.
Damon Cart
Author
Damon Cart is considered to be a natural talent by some of the best NLP trainers in the world. His approach to guiding and teaching students brings to their awareness that they've been doing NLP all of their lives without realizing it and he empowers them with skills and resources to thrive and reach their full potential. With the understanding of how Neuro Linguistic Programs create oneβs experience a person can then take charge of those programs and create the experience and the life they want. By taking this approach into his own rigorous, daily NLP practice Damon has been able to rapidly accelerate his progress in learning, coaching clients and teaching workshops.
