Changing Thinking, Changing Feeling
A Conscious Time-Binding Practice in Emotional Re-Mapping
SCIENCE AND SANITYCONSCIOUS TIME-BINDING PRINCIPLE-TOOLS
* abstracting * conscious abstracting * consciousness of abstracting * consciousness of projecting * a let’s try, let’s see—experimental-heuristic-theoretical approach * non-identity * difference fundamental * non-allness * some * time-binding * conscious time-binding * time-binding excellence * general theory of sanity * theory of values * general theory of evaluation * structure the only content of knowledge * investigate mechanism—from why? to how? * multidimensional order * multidimensional structure * order-structure-function-relationships * map not territory it is map of * map also map of map maker * up-to-date epistemology * visualization * words, situations, objects, by themselves do not mean—we give meanings * it’s as if… it’s like * multimeaning* multiordinality * word not thing-process-situation we use it to represent * over/under defined terms * intensional/extensional orientation * general principle of uncertainty * general theory of psychotherapy * self-conscious self-reflexiveness * neurosemantic relaxation * organism-as-a-whole-in-environments * using our nervous systems most efficiently * making our unconscious more conscious * to-me-ness * neuro-linguistic feedback * observing our observing* thinking about our thinking * evaluating our evaluations * judging our judgments * semantic reaction * delayed reaction * high conditionality * flexibility * adjustment * non-elementalism * thinking-feeling * intellect-emotion * neurosemantic feedback * neuro-semantic-neurolinguistic environment * signal-symbol reaction * silence on object level * from one to two-valued either/or.....to infinite-valued non-aristotelian time-binding standards-order of evaluating-abstracting * diversity * infinite-valued maximum probability * dating * indexing, chain indexing * distinguishing levels of abstracting: event….object.…label.…description….inference..… generalization, speculation, etc. * process orientation * absolute individuality * generalized mathematics * generalized science * scientific method * complementarity * statistics * probability * frequency, rhythms, maxima-minima* generalized algebra * asymmetric relationship * least action* action-reaction * inertia* entropy * momentum * time-space * field * fractal * relative invariance under transformation, this is somewhat like that, structural similarity * sets * semantics of the calculus: differentiation-integration, limits, variable * functions * arithmetic progression, geometric progression * system function* infinite valued causality * forms of representation* frame of reference * continuum—mapping * higher order abstraction
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Changing Thinking, Changing Feeling: A Conscious Time-Binding Practice in Emotional Re-Mapping | JVS | timebinder / 6.16.2025
“We can, self-consciously, map, structure, and explore a ‘relationship’ territory in many more ways than our usual spontaneous—but reflexive reactions.” — Milton Dawes
Our emotions are not fixed facts but living processes, shaped by how we map, interpret, and evaluate the world. What we feel emerges not solely from “out there,” but from our ways of being—our beliefs, meanings, memories, values, expectations, and moment-to-moment judgments.
As conscious time-binders, we have the capacity—and responsibility—to observe our observing, think about our thinking, and feel into our feeling. This guide offers a semantic map for emotional restructuring. Through it, we invite expanded awareness, greater flexibility, and a more consciously directed evolution of feeling through evaluative re-mapping.
Foundational Insight
Premises for Practice:
A feeling is a way of responding, not a fixed object
Thinking and feeling are not separate elements, but interwoven processes (non-elementalism)
Every emotion is a reflection of evaluations, often hidden and automatic
By examining these evaluations, we open a door to semantic awareness and new potential responses
Structural Transformation Practice
We take common emotional states and re-map them using General Semantics tools:
Non-identity (this is not that)
Non-allness (I do not know all about this)
Dating/Indexing (this feeling-now is not the same as feeling-then)
Order of abstraction awareness
Probabilistic language and infinite-valued causality
Visualization, to-me-ness, and self-reflexiveness
Core Method: The Emotional Mapping Expansion
Step 1: Catch Yourself in the Act
Pause (consciousness of abstracting)
Label what you’re feeling (dating and indexing)
Notice this is YOUR mapping of the situation (to-me-ness)
Step 2: Expand Your Mapping Options For any emotional response, practice creating multiple alternative mappings
Step 3: Apply General Semantics Tools Use the full toolkit to transform your emotional territory
Emotional Mapping Examples
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1. Emotion: Disappointed
> “Things didn’t go how I wanted. I feel let down.”
Automatic Mapping: “Things should be different than they are.”
GS-Based Reframe:
“This disappointment reflects an expectation—possibly unspoken or unrealistic.”
“What I expected may not have been communicated or shared.”
“This disappointment is not me. It is a response I can revise.”
Expanded Mapping Alternatives:
1. This is information about what I value
2. This is an opportunity to practice flexibility
3. My expectations may need updating
4. This situation is teaching me something
5. I can go well with things as they are
6. This disappointment reveals my attachment patterns
Conscious Reframe:
> “I feel disappointment, and I notice it as a signal—pointing me toward a gap between expectation and reality. I can use this signal as an opportunity to understand my inner maps, and to time-bind more creatively moving forward.”
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2. Emotion: Anxiou> “Something bad might happen. I can’t stop worrying.”
Automatic Mapping: “Something bad might happen.”
GS-Based Reframe:
“My nervous system is responding to uncertainty.”
“I’m projecting future scenarios based on limited data.”
“This anxiety at time_1 is not identical to past anxieties.”
Expanded Mapping Alternatives:
1. My nervous system is alerting me to pay attention
2. This energy can be channeled into preparation
3. I’m caring deeply about the outcome
4. This is my mind trying to control the future
5. I can use this as motivation for helpful action
6. This feeling will pass like all feelings do
“As If” Technique Applications:
As if I were a scientist studying the anxiety
As if this energy were fuel for constructive action
As if I were viewing this from 10 years in the future
Conscious Reframe:
> “This anxious energy tells me I care about something important. Instead of fighting the feeling, I can channel this caring into present-moment preparation and acceptance of uncertainty.”
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3. Emotion: Judgmental
> “They’re wrong. I can’t believe they did that.”
Automatic Mapping: “Someone/something is wrong and should change.”
GS-Based Reframe:
“This reflects values I’m bringing into this moment.”
“Do I have enough data to justify this judgment?”
“My judgment says more about me than about them.” (to-me-ness)
Multiple Perspectives Method:
My perspectiveTheir perspective
Observer perspective
Systems perspective
Expanded Mapping Alternatives:
1. One of my values is being challenged
2. This person has different priorities
3. I have energy for constructive action
4. This shows me what matters to me
5. There’s information here about my expectations
6. This is a chance to practice compassion
Conscious Reframe:
> “This judgment tells me what matters to me. If I slow down and explore it, I might find layers of fear, values, or assumptions beneath. Let me get curious about those—and others’ perspectives.”
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4. Emotion: Ashamed
> “I feel ashamed as to how I acted.”
Automatic Mapping: “I am bad/wrong because of what I did.”
GS-Based Reframe:
“Shame often arises from internalized judgments.”
“I am not identical with my past behavior.”
“Shame can be a guidepost—or an inherited script.”
Process Orientation:
Shame is dynamic, not fixed
Behavior is something I did, not something I am
Values are evolving guidelines
Conscious Reframe:
> “This feeling of shame reveals a tension between who I was and who I aspire to be. I can hold that tension consciously, learn from it, and re-structure the next version of me.”
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Practice Activity: Re-Mapping Journal
Choose any recent emotional experience and explore:
1. Name the feeling as a verb/adverb (e.g., “I am feeling confusedly”)
2. Describe the situation with extensional awareness (who, what, when, where)
3. Identify expectations, values, assumptions, or beliefs
4. Use GS tools to reframe
5. Create multiple mappings
6. Apply advanced techniques
7. Re-express as a conscious statement of possibility
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Daily Time-Binding Integration
Morning Intention: “Today I will catch myself in automatic emotional mappings and consciously explore alternative ways of structuring my experiences.”
Evening Reflection: “What emotional territories did I explore today? How did expanding my mappings change my experience? What did I learn that I can share with others?”
Ongoing Awareness:
Watch for either/or emotional thinking
Practice infinite-valued emotional responses
Remember: feelings are processes, not permanent states
Apply dating and indexing to emotional responses
Conscious Time-Binding Questions:
1. How does this emotional mapping serve my growth?
2. What can I learn from this feeling to share with others?
3. How might expanding my emotional mapping help future generations?
4. What patterns am I ready to evolve beyond?
5. How can I use this awareness to contribute to human understanding?
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Closing Integration
Our emotional responses are not final verdicts. They are fluid indicators of how we are presently mapping reality. The power of conscious time-binding lies in our capacity to go beyond automaticity—to use each emotional signal as a doorway to restructure, re-value, and re-create.
> You are not your emotions—you are the conscious mapper of your emotional territories.
Through conscious abstracting, we transform reaction into reflection, and reflection into intentional, conscious time-binding action. By doing so, we don’t just navigate emotion—we evolve it. In expanding how we feel, we expand what it means to be human.
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