Subscribe To Mental Game Blog Updates
|
For now I'll presuppose you know what presuppositions are...
Presuppositions are often the most unconscious part of communication and so they're difficult to be fully conscious of. In the dictionary it is described like this: To believe or suppose in advance. Ahhh, so where are we going with this you ask? To the depths of your inner game... yes, presuppositions are very powerful assets to an effective mental game! Let's begin our conversation on presuppositions with a little riddle. Riddles are built on presuppositions and noticing them is step one. You will learn to apply them in your golf game consciously at first and then through practice they will return where they belong: unconscious. This way you can experience mastery and simply enjoy the benefits of having consciously installed the learning. Solve This Riddle3 men walk into a motel looking for a room to share. The hotel clerk tells them it's $30. So they split it 3 ways and pay $10 each. A little later the clerk tells the bellboy to return $5 to the 3 men as he mistakenly overcharged them for the room. The bellboy is confused as to how to divide the $5 evenly amongst the 3 men so he decides to return only $3 and give them $1 each. He pockets $2 for himself. So since the bellboy returned $1 to each man it means they only paid $9 each. $9 paid by each of the 3 men = $27. If the bellboy only kept $2 that makes $29. Where did the other dollar go?! Did You Solve it Yet?This is an example of presuppositions in action. They are the most unconscious part of the riddle, or any riddle for that matter. Spend a few moments pondering this then come back when you're ready... Back so soon...ok, whether you solved it or not is not important. Unless of course you hate to be left hanging. Once you understand how to identify them you will have the key to most every riddle you come across and a very subtle, yet powerful mental game process you can use every time you play golf. In the above example the presupposition is in the last sentence: "Since the bellboy returned $1 to each man this means that they only paid $9 each..... and the last part "....where did the "other" dollar go?" Now why does the fact that the bellboy returned only $1 to each man "mean they only paid $9 each..." !? There is no truth to that statement. Yet this is what holds the riddle together. As well, there is no "other dollar". It was merely suggested to you and your unconscious automatically accepts it. Unless your conscious mind catches it first. Without the implication these presuppositions create there is no riddle. Look at it again and think clearly through that sentence and the solution will appear. The Solution to the Riddle...Ok, for those of you who can't stand to be left hanging I'll explain it. Each man paid $10. The hotel clerk returned $5. $30 minus $5 = $25. $25 divided by 3 = $8.3333 cents. Add the $1 the bellboy returned to each of them and that makes $9.3333. This is what they each paid for the room. Multiply this by 3 and you get $28. The bellboy kept $2 which makes $30. Bottom line: Just because they originally paid $10 and only $3 was returned did not mean they each paid $9. And there was no "other" dollar. Presuppositions are embedded in virtually every conversation you have. They are the unconscious compass that directs your attention in a specific direction. Did you catch the one in the headline above? It is a presuppositional phrase. In the headline I asked "Did you solve the riddle yet?" This presupposes you "can" solve it. The word "yet" implies it is solvable, we just don't know when!
|