Beyond the matter of language and art, mirror neurons influence the fundamental way in which we feel about and interact with other people. Specifically, there are many implications for professional coaching regarding the social neurobiology of mirror neurons. What do mirror neurons have to do with the formation of empathy (both in the client and coach)?
To what extent does an effective coach “understand” her client in part because some of her own neurons are firing in ways that mirror the experiences and actions of her client? Are there ways in which effective coaches help a client acquire a new skill set by observing other people (and even the coach herself) provide leadership, solve problems, make decisions, etc.? And is this skill set acquisition based at least in part on the activation of mirror neurons in the client?
Polystasis as a Self-Organizing, Emergent System
As we expand on the model of polystasis, it is important to remind ourselves that our brain has no central operating system. Like many complex and dynamic biological systems, our brain is a “self-organizing system” that is led not by some leading part but rather from the interactions between parts of the system that exist side-by-side (the “neighborhood effect”).
Just as a flock of birds or swarm of fish move in a remarkably coordinated manner as a result of each bird’s or fish’s immediate reaction to the bird or fish right next to them, so we find that human systems also move in a remarkably powerful and coordinated manner because each participant in this system tends to immediately react to the movement of the person next to them.
Furthermore, it seems that surprising reconfigurations of a system often occur as this self-organizing system becomes more complex (often when an additional element is added to the system). Called Emergence, this reconfiguration is represented in the simple (but surprising) emergence of water from the combination of two gases (hydrogen and oxygen), as well as in the profound reconfiguration of various lifeless chemicals, some hot water and other yet-unknown elements to produce something that we call life.
I propose that Polystasis operates as a self-organizing system and that Emotions provide a tagging function that enables us to quickly anticipate that something is about to be good or bad, strong or weak, or active or passive. Our somatic and psychosocial templates provide us with internal models that help guide our actions in response to environmental conditions, while our dynamic polystatic-based feedback process enables us to quickly and frequently recombine the components based on altering baselines and shifting anticipations.
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