Search

These days hostility and frustration are rampant in political discussions, as people try to persuade others of the Tightness of their views and the wrongness of opinions held by those […]

On August 16, 1920, while living in New York City, Alfred Korzybski wrote a letter to Cassius Keyser, a professor of mathematics at Columbia University who appreciated the philosophical importance [...]

In 2002, I published a book titled The Drug Problem: A New View Using the General Semantics Approach (Praeger) that contained a chapter which used the general semantics dating technique [...]

Berger, E. (2022). Context blindness: Digital technology and the next stage of human evolution. Peter Lang. Political scientists have been quite unaware of the effects of media anywhere at any [...]

In 1934, Allen Walker Read, an etymologist, English professor, and good friend of the Institute of General Semantics, published a 15-page groundbreaking article on taboo language titled 'An Obscenity Symbol' [...]

Reacting to the terrible slaughter of World War I, Alfred Korzybski felt impelled to offer a vision for a peaceful and more civilized world. In 1921, he presented that vision in 'Manhood of Humanity: The Science and Art of Human Engineering,' a book that shows how the energies and capacities of human beings can be channeled for the advancement of the human condition. This article summarizes Korzybski s vision presented in 'Manhood of Humanity,' discusses the impetus for that work, and explores the need and value of some of the ideas presented in 'Manhood of Humanity' a hundred years after its publication. Keywords: general semantics, manhood of humanity, childhood of humanity, time-binding, Korzybski's Vision: A Manhood of Humanity Reacting to the terrible slaughter of World War I (WWI), Alfred Korzybski felt impelled to offer a vision for a peaceful and more civilized [...]

Korzybski, A. (2023). Science and sanity: An introduction to non-Aristotelian systems and general semantics, 6th ed. Institute of General Semantics. Science and Sanity, the foundational text of general semantics, was […]

The article discusses how applying principles from general semantics can enhance political discourse, focusing on the importance of active listening, minimizing expectations, and avoiding either-or thinking to foster constructive conversations. It highlights techniques such as distinguishing between facts and inferences, recognizing the dynamic nature of existence, and understanding the subjective nature of language to promote respectful and political discussions amidst societal division.

Winchester, S. (2023). Knowing what we know: The transmission of knowledge from ancient wisdom to modern magic. HarperCollins. Simon Winchester operationally defines knowledge as 'information that gives pleasure, arouses curiosity, […]

Since the U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, a number of critics have accused the United States of forsaking a tradition of cooperative diplomacy by overthrowing foreign governments. But America [...]

This article considers the understandings of space and place amongst a group of disaffected students within an institution that had been in a state of flux over a number of years. The article explores ways in which students are positioned by institutions into specific spaces, ways in which they use those spaces to challenge authority and ways in which they appropriate both space and place to assert new, and often playful, identities. The authors consider the meanings of the spatial behaviour of students through notions of space and place as developed by Doreen Massey, with reference to a Foucauldian understanding of power. In some ways, the students might be perceived as being marginalised, victims of a hierarchical environment in which their status is low. Yet they also emerge as active agents, forging new interpretations of their surroundings and robust group identities, and reinforcing in-group relationships through spatial behaviour.

A lfred Korzybski was pacing back and forth in his office. He often paced. Ever since the end of World War I, when he had journeyed to America from Russia and become a private investigator in Brooklyn, pacing was something he did to clear his head when he was on a case. I should say when he was on the case because there was only one case he was interested in working on. When people called to hire him to obtain evidence for a divorce they were thinking of getting or track down a missing loved one he always declined their offers. He had bigger fish to fry., Korzybski, who had been raised on a large estate in Poland and came from a family of aristocrats, had seen loads of action with the Russian army during the war. [...]

A lfred Korzybski, the author of Science and Sanity and the originator of general semantics (GS), valued more than just the language of science and math. He had a great respect for the arts and, in fact, was married to the distinguished portrait painter, Mira Edgerly. As for poetry, he wrote the following in Science and Sanity as part of his discussion of Multiordinality:'... it is well known that many scientists, particularly the creative ones, like poetry. Moreover, poetry conveys in a few sentences more of lasting values than a whole volume of scientific analysis.' (1), This article, which surveys 3.000 years of Western poetry, aims to provide some ideas of where poetry has been and where it is going using the GS device of dating [...]

The impetus for this critique came from an email I received from Mike Plugh, the president of the New York Society for General Semantics, who in response to a request for a presentation idea that could be used for a General Semantics (GS) panel talk said: ''Unity' has been the keyword bounced about during the rocky transfer of power from the Trump administration to the Biden administration. Competing definitions of the word operate across the political spectrum, some aspirational and others derisive. How does the idea of unity map onto a territory so fragmented and volatile? From a general semantics perspective, how united have the United States been historically, and what is a more reasonable map for a peaceful and prosperous future?', This article will examine how united the United States has been historically using the GS device of dating--attaching dates to our evaluations to remind us that change occurs over time. [...]

Clear thinking is a mode of human cognition that tends to make foresight as accurate as hindsight. With it we can more effectively solve problems of everyday living and spare ourselves needless suffering and time delays in coping with challenging situations and realizing our goals. Sadly, there can be blocks to clear thinking in the form of cognitive biases--systematic errors in thinking that affect the decisions and judgments we make. This article shows how general semantics (GS) can help to mitigate 10 of those biases. (1), Ten Cognitive Biases with General Semantics Correctives 1. Confirmation Bias What the human being is best at doing is interpreting all new information so that their prior conclusions remain intact. [...]

Declercq, D. (2021). Satire, comedy and mental health: Coping with the limits of critique. Emerald. What is satire? What can it do or not do? Why should we care about [...]

I do the New York Times crossword puzzle on a regular basis. I find it a good mental workout, and when I complete a puzzle, I feel a sense of [...]

Satire involves holding up human vice or folly to ridicule, ideally with the hope of shaming individuals, organizations, and society into improved behavior. Its literary use dates back to the [...]

This article is a position paper drawing on the findings of several studies into attachment-aware approaches in schools and other settings. In seeking to promote pedagogical positions that place greater emphasis on the emotional landscape of students, the authors locate this in an historical perspective. They outline the ways in which educationalists have come to separate the "learning" being from the "feeling" being, to the extent of evolving separate discourses on behaviour and wellbeing. On the contrary, the authors contend that these elements are intertwined, a reality that needs to be understood at policy level for 'outcomes' to change radically. They frame their argument in the light of conclusions drawn from studies in which they were involved of attachment-awareness and emotion-coaching approaches (2011-2017). The authors' position is further informed by research exploring attitudes of excluded youngsters towards education (2015-2016), and also in light of the wider international literature around progressive education.

Albrecht, R., & Tabone, C. (2020). The arts and play as educational media in the digital age. Peter Lang Publishers. I read The Arts and Play as Educational Media in [...]

Nachmanovitch, S. (2019). The art of is: Improvising as a way of life. New World Library. What do the cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the former governor of California Jerry Brown, and […]

Vaidyanathan, S. (2021). Antisocial media: How Facebook disconnects us and undermines democracy. Oxford University Press (reprint edition). The problem with Facebook is Facebook. So argues Siva Vaidyanathan in this meticulously [...]

Mayer, C. (2022). Dear fellow time-binder: Letters on general semantics. Institute of General Semantics. The idea of using letters to instruct has a long tradition dating back from Seneca's letters [...]

Linan, L. T. (2022). Formal cause in Marshall McLuhans thinking: An Aristotelian perspective. Institute of General Semantics. Alfred Korzybski termed GS 'non-Aristotelian,' meaning going beyond Aristotle's traditional 'laws of thought.' [...]

Goodman, P. S. (2022). Davos man: How the billionaires devoured the world. Custom House. The phrase Davos Man was coined in 2004 by Samuel Huntington to describe anyone who regularly [...]

This article focuses on methodological and epistemological issues arising from a research project with two Gypsy communities (2010-2012) in the South West of England. Although the two communities seem to share cultural roots and values, and live within a few miles of each other, they have contrasting experiences within the education system and very different relationships with the surrounding mainstream communities. The article explores difficulties emerging as a consequence of the contrasting positions of the participant communities, the differing research aspirations and practices across the research team, and also the tensions between ethnographic work and participatory action research. It queries the problematic nature of participation, and proposes the concept of the "faux-participant."

'You can kill ten of my men for every one I kill of yours. But even at those odds, you will lose and I will win.' Viet Minh leader Ho [...]

America's Response to Drugs (The Nineteenth Century)--An Era of Wide Availability and Little Regulation This article will use the general semantics technique of dating (attaching dates to our evaluations as [...]

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a psychology professor at the University of Chicago and author of the best-selling book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (2008), spent five years interviewing a selected group [...]

When World War I erupted, Alfred Korzybski, a Polish engineer from an aristocratic family, volunteered for service with the Russian army. There he witnessed the devastating effects of all the [...]

This article draws on data gathered between 2014 and 2015 through interviews with youngsters and staff, and supplemented by research that took place over a two-year period (2012-14) at a school for excluded youngsters in Devon, UK. The research explored the views of students and staff about reasons for being in alternative education settings, the difference in culture between such contexts and those provided by mainstream schools, and feelings about reintegration. Noting that reintegration is more successful with primary school students than at secondary level, the authors consider staff preoccupations around the issue of timing, and identify potential "windows of opportunity". They also discuss the way in which centres for excluded children can construct environments that operate in the manner of an extended family. This, they argue, creates a conundrum for those working with excluded youngsters: the very elements put in place to create a supportive environment for such youngsters are liable to militate against targets for reintegration back into mainstream schools. The authors conclude that, rather than suggesting problems with such alternative settings, this highlights the need for change in mainstream schools.

Suri, Jeremi. The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America's Highest Office. New York: Basic Books, 2017. In his book The Impossible Presidency, University of Texas, History Professor Jeremy [...]