Turtles All the Way Down: Prerequisites to Personal Genius [Paperback]

John Grinder (Author), Judith DeLozier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 19, 1995

Rich with humor and metaphors from other cultures and disciplines, Turtles develops the characteristics common to the geniuses whose patterning formed the initial body of NLP techniques. You will learn how these skills are readily available for cultivating your own personal genius in a way that is respectful of the power of the unconscious.

This book is the documentary, with added notes and stories, of Grinder/Delozier's five day seminar called "Prerequisites To Personal Genius". John Grinder and Judith Delozier get their participants to think about the structure of thinking; how our thought patterns become our beliefs about reality. The limitations of those thought patterns can be overcome, however, when a person is able to expand his/her perceptual filters and model "geniuses" -- this is the process which has been shown in the lives of people such as Einstein, Milton Erickson, and Gregory Bateson.

Throughout the book, the authors challenge you to reexamine the structures of your "mind" and the ways that all parts can be integrated in an internal dance.

Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: Grinder, DeLozier & Associates. (September 19, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555520227
• ISBN-13: 978-1555520229
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #902,104 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Make that 3 1/2 Stars..., October 12, 2000

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J. (Englewood, CO, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Turtles All the Way Down: Prerequisites to Personal Genius (Paperback)

Had I known beforehand this was a transcription of a 5 day seminar, I probably would not have purchased the book. With that said, I'm glad its now part of my library. The 3 1/2 stars is only due to fact that this type of book is the kind that is best suited for a detailed Table of Contents and/or index. There is no index here, and the contents page is limited to what day of the seminar they were in.

The content is excellent however. To quote the back of the book: "Rich with humor and metaphors from other cultures and disciplines, 'Turtles All the Way Down' develops the characteristics common to the geniuses whose patterning formed the initial body of NLP techniques. ... You will learn how the skills of genius are readily available for cultivating your own personal excellence in a way that is respectful of the power of the unconscious."

One thing I especially liked was the liberal use of ideas and quotes from (most notably) Carlos Castenada, and Gregory Bateson among others, to add to the understanding of the material. In one section when discussing the Incompleteness Theorem for Representation; Grinder goes from Gregory Bateson, to Kurt Godel, to Ken Kesey, Neal Cassady and finally Monty Python's Flying Circus to discuss the concept. Lets just say its not been a boring read.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impeccable Internal Organizational Patterning, February 19, 2002

By 

David J. Xanatos "Dave 'willing to travel for... (MA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Turtles All the Way Down: Prerequisites to Personal Genius (Paperback)

Turtles is a book for people already exposed in some degree to the basic tenets of NLP. It is not "about" NLP, but how to create logical structures and frameworks within yourself to employ these (and other) tools in a most effective and ecological manner. A great deal of emphasis is placed on applying the right energy to the right "logical level". Often, people are making the right move in a situation, but applying that move to the wrong logical level. This book is about identifying logical levels and having an internal structure that allows you to interface at the right time at the right logical level with the right change- the minimum effort that makes the maximum difference. Grinder is a master storyteller given his exceptional background, and he winds the teachings around interesting and compelling stories from his and other fascinating folks' experiences. Worth the read even if you never learned anything about NLP. Grinder's a cool dude! :)

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An insider's view, November 22, 2008

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Christian Hart (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Turtles All the Way Down: Prerequisites to Personal Genius (Paperback)

My name is Christian Hart and I was one of the original participants in the seminar 'Prerequisites to Personal Genius' over 20 years ago, of which this book is primarily a transcript. I offer this review for what it might provide, but I must acknowledge that I cannot review the book objectively because I was there--I remember the actual experience. Thus, my review may or may not be useful to someone who does not have that background. That said.... The experience was profound for me and profoundly affected my life. To be more specific, I returned to college after having left it several years before as a C or B average student. When I returned, I was a straight-A student. I graduated and went to grad school at UCLA where I obtained my Ph.D. in psychology. During the seminar itself, while doing one of the consciousness exercises, I experienced the classic "mystical experience." That is, during the few moments it lasted, I felt that I understood the nature of the universe, including the classic epiphany "All is One." (A funny outcome of the latter: you can never litter anywhere as it would be like throwing garbage on your living room floor.) These examples are just a few I can describe briefly. I don't pretend to understand everything that John and Judith were doing in the seminar--I was quite young at the time--but I do believe that it altered my life for the better. I think that if from reading this book you could get a fraction of what I got, the price would be repaid many, many times over.