Reality Reconstruction

How Specifically Do You Know This?

The Milton Model is likely the most persuasive set of language patterns every designed, and can go a long ways in drastically increasing your influence and charisma in almost any situation.

But like with any tool, these can be misused. They were designed to be used in a therapy setting, where the listener was there explicitly to get rid of some kind of emotional problem. So they were very open to listening to the words of a powerful therapist to induce positive personal change.

But what happens when you are on the receiving end of these, and you feel as though you are being persuaded against your will? What happens when you are somewhat interested in buying product, but you really haven’t made up your mind yet? Is there a way to defend against them so you don’t go home with a product (or person) that you otherwise wouldn’t have?

Yes there is. The antidote to the Milton Model is the Meta Model. The Meta Model asks for specifics where the Milton Model is vague.

The Meta Model is a fantastic tool to get clarity in any situation where there is vagueness, but in this post we’ll look at it solely as an antidote for the Milton Model.

Anytime you hear a vague statement, there is something left out according to:

Who
When
How
Why
What
Which
Where

So all you need to do is to ask for specifics along these lines. Let’s go through some examples, along the lines of “dollar cost averaging is the best way to make money in the stock market.”

Milton Model:

Many people believe that dollar cost averaging is the best way to make money in the stock market.

Meta Model:

Which people? How did they come to that conclusion? What other methods did they try?

Milton Model:

It has been proven for many years that dollar cost averaging is the best way to make money in the stock market.

Meta Model:

Proven how? By what methods? Proven by who? Against what standards? How many years?

Milton Model:

You can make money with dollar cost averaging.

Meta Model:

How much money? How long will it take? Has anyone ever lost money using dollar cost averaging?

Milton Model:

The more you study dollar cost averaging, the easier you’ll make money.

Meta Model:

Is there any other way to make money other than dollar cost averaging?
Has anyone made money in dollar cost averaging without studying?
Has anyone studied dollar cost averaging and lost money?

The basic structure of the Meta Model is to pinpoint whatever is vague, or whatever is left out, and ask for specifics. A fantastic way to get used to doing this is listen to any political speech, or read any Op/Ed piece in the newspaper or online, and see how many vague statement there are.

A vague statement, a statement that doesn’t specify the why, how, who, when, etc, is usually referred to a Meta Model violation. You’ll soon find that politicians, marketers, preachers, and persuaders or all kinds make their living through Meta Model violations.

Just be careful, though. While the Meta Model is a fantastic tool for uncovering specific information, it can be incredibly confrontational. Use caution when using it, and try not to use it on your friends. Only on salespeople you’d like to go away in hurry.

To see how antagonistic this is, go to any online forum where religion or politics is being discussed, and call out any Meta Model violations you see, from both sides of the argument. You’ll soon be the most hated member of the forum.

Most often, people use vague language not because they are consciously using the Milton Model for persuasion and influence, but because they really aren’t sure how to back up their opinions with facts or information. So when you use the Meta Model, most people will take it as a personal attack.

However, in other situations, when having an argument with a close friend or partner, the Meta Model, when used with kindness and compassion can be a great tool to find out what the problems or issues really are, so you can work through them and improve your relationship.

More information on how to use it in a positive light will be treated in a different post.

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