General Semantics, Part 1

What is General Semantics? Funny question, that.

Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics by Alfred Korzybski first published in 1933, with a few updates over the years. I first read it back in the 80's. Then again in the 90's. I have another copy on the way so I can read it again (or at least have it as a reference). This book probably influenced the way I think, talk, and view the world more than any other book that I can think of right now. I've learned to modify my speech a bit since I first read the book, but it still comes through, I believe.

Enough of that personal crap for a bit, on to the Arcane stuff. If I had to summarize the general ideas behind GS, I would say this: It presents a system by which one can learn to realize what is abstract and what is concrete. It describes how language influences our thoughts, and how we are bound by abstractions. It tells us that the world we think we know doesn't really exist, but that we have models of it, and these models have limitations. Models are useful, but so is the knowledge that we only have models and that we know what the limitations of those models are. And that our nervous system has limits as well, which further influence our views. And then there are all of the interactions between all of the levels of abstractions. And then there are multivalued words, which turn out to be pretty much useless. And then there are words that can create shocks to ones nervous system and therefore prevent correct processing. It is a long book, so there are many more Ands than I can do in what I am calling Part 1.

Probably the most important phrase, one that I believe sums up GS: The map is not the territory. Alfred Korzybski coined this one and I think it works well.

Another important point, there is no "is" of equality. A is not A - another great GS quote (sometimes called Null-A). And the basis of what I consider to be funny about the first line of this blog. When you see a truck on the road, it is important not to say "That is a truck", but rather "That is called a truck" or "That is being used as a truck". It might sound odd, but it really can open doors to thoughts not otherwise experienced. I read an article claiming that raising ones child this way from the start can be one of the best ways to get these GS ideas ingrain in one. I don't know, I think I adapted to it fairly well.

My view of the world, my view of what people say to me, and my view of what I think of the world, are all based on what I learned from GS. Most of my humor comes from GS-based observations. If you know me in the real world, you probably notice some GS in me. And you might now notice some in my posts.

I was going to try and make this a funny post, but it turned out mostly to be an explanation - laying down the ground work for future conversations, and showing how the past posts tie together.

What's a 4 letter word for a woman that ends in "unt"? You probably say it a lot more than you think... And it really does describe some women very well. Why, I do not believe our society would be what it is today with this word and concept.

The Edward

PS aunt