Before I start wasting my time delving into the descent of man as a starting point, to what extent do people think evolutionary thinking can inform NLP? I would appreciate it if only people who believe that if we evolved, then the ability to have the basic building blocks of experience must have evolved from evolutionary pressures also to engage with this question. My intention for that is because I simply cannot (and will not) accept that evolution stops with anatomy, the brain has to have evolved along with the accompanying processes we are capable of (if we accept evolution). Or if you feel you have to argue with that point read Pinkers "blank slate" then we can discuss that one

I ponder this question because I came across some Darwin quotes that I feel really encompass NLP:

• "I love fools' experiments. I am always making them." I distinctly remember from my practitioner training Grinder telling us you can't watch trees grow, I know I have tried it. The quote to me sounds like up time tasks merely to see if it works...
• "If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin." If I can take the liberty of extending the definition of "poor" to be anyone not rich with life then the institutions causing sin are the ones NLP frequently criticise
• "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change." A biological argument for the very foundation of NLP and one that suggests this is what we are built to do, or at least the most apt species on the planet to do it
• "The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts." Go meta?

If I am off the mark I won't be offended if you point out how. I do not want to waste valuable time constantly updating my knowledge and experience of NLP...

Surely updating our knowledge and experience is part and parcel of our evoloution.

Of course it is, and the starting point is having the biological basis to achieve that function in the first place - which must have evolutionary roots. Satir Famously said the strongest instinct is to keep things familiar. Our evolutionary course hasn't intended for us to achieve what we have and in many ways our evolution causes us many many mental health problems. Can evolutionary thinking help us find out further what we can achieve and what natural processes are unhealthy for us so we can change? like a condom protecting us from disease

It could, but it's still up to us to figure out how. It's one of fields I'm interested in.

Is this thread arguing that NLP is more evolved for natural selection? I'm a darwinian, and find that premise intriguing!