Alfred Korzybski's

magnum opus,

Science and Sanity

in French Translation!

Patrick Hug's translation of the Sixth Edition of Science and Sanity features updated illustrations and diagrams, and a new index, and is available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook editions from the IGS store and other online booksellers.

Newly published by the Institute of General Semantics:

Not A, Not Be, &c by Lance Strate

Available in paperback and ebook editions from the IGS store and other online booksellers.

Not A, Not Be, &c is not just another collection of essays on general semantics. Not that it is not exactly that, a collection of essays on general semantics specifically, and on what Neil Postman described as general semantics writ large, aka media ecology. This colorful collection of essays, complete with illustrations and indexes, cover topics related to human communication and the human condition, the contrast between alphabetic and electronic cultures, a new tree of life model, understanding different types of symbolic form (i.e., words, images, and numbers), problems and possibilities regarding the copula and conjunctions, the nature of imagination, and coping with and changing the world we live in.

Not A, Not Be, &c is a wonderful intellectual playground. Strate crafts complex systems of ideas into a delightful landscape that will be a joy for any curious mind to roam. ‒Lera Boroditsky, Professor of Cognitive Science, University of California San Diego

In this cryptically titled collection of essays, Strate shows how word play is a serious matter, maps are creative as much as accurate, and logic is often misleading. Despite the initially opaque title, the writing is clear and the argument compelling, demonstrating how language and media are central to the human condition. The book explains and extends upon the insights of Korzybski and general semantics and McLuhan and media ecology, tracing their influence and showing their contemporary relevance. ‒Chris Chesher, Senior Lecturer in Digital Cultures, University of Sydney

Not A, Not Be, &c invites you to rethink the very constructs that shape our understanding of existence, communication, and human potential. Strate challenges conventional thinking, guiding readers through a nuanced examination of symbolic communication, the limitations of language, and the profound impact of our conceptual frameworks on reality. ‒Heather Maloney-Stassen, Founding Dean, College of Arts, Sciences, & Education, Daemen University

Lance Strate reveals the relevance of general semantics for readers familiar with and new to the field and identifies its link with media ecology. Along the way, Strate establishes how the non-Aristotelian character of general semantics suits the speed and connectivity of our “E” world. The pages are packed with references to ancient wisdoms, scholarly insights, adages of public intellectuals, and pertinent practices of cultural icons—we meet Popeye indexed alongside Plato, Lady Gaga next to Alfred Korzybski himself. The text unsettles conventions, applying the disruptive energy of general semantics to show there is always more: etc. or “&c.” Once you read this book, you won’t hear the phrase “it is what it is” the same way—schooled by Strate to adopt Korzybski’s perspective where nothing is definitive, and more is resident and forthcoming. ‒Jaqueline McLeod Rogers, Professor & Chair, Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Communications, University of Winnipeg

Lance Strate is without a doubt our foremost thinker and writer about general semantics and media ecology, and how these two thought systems are so wholly interconnected and overlapping. In this bold collection of essays, he again seeks to move our understanding a great leap forward with respect to what we know about both systems, and with his extensions of what Korzybski, McLuhan, Postman, Bateson, Ong, and so many others, as his giants, have taught us. With each superbly written chapter, he reminds us how his endeavor is nothing more and nothing less than understanding the nature of our human experience as the languaging and symbol-making species. ‒Thom Gencarelli, Professor of Communication, Sound & Media Arts, Manhattan University

Table of Contents: About the Author; Prolegomenon (Not Not An Introduction); Acknowledgements; Index of Proper Names; Subject Index; References; Part 1 Not A; Chapter 1 If Not A, Then E; Chapter 2 Word, Image, Number; Part 2 Not Be; Chapter 3 It Is What It Isn't; Chapter 4 Figments of a Fragment, or Fragments of a Figment; Part 3 &c; Chapter 5 So You Want to Change the World? A Hitchhiker's Guide to Subversive Thinking; Chapter 6 The And

The twenty-seventh episode of Semantic Reactions, the official podcast of the Institute of General Semantics, is now available for your listening pleasure. Our November 2024 episode departs from our usual format as IGS President Lance Strate shares the Balvant Parekh Memorial Lecture that he recently delivered in India for the Balvant Parekh Centre for General Semantics and other Human Sciences. The lecture, entitled "The Message, the Meaning, and the Medium," ties together general semantics, behaviorism, information theory and cybernetics, and media ecology. You can access Episode 27 via our host site, and it is also available through most major podcast platforms, also on YouTube, and below:

The 4th edition of Alfred Korzybski's most accessible book on general semantics, General Semantics Seminar 1937: Olivet College Lectures, is now available for purchase in the traditional softcover version, and in a searchable electronic (epub) format, via the IGS store and most major online booksellers. 

The new edition includes a new foreword and a newly added index by IGS Vice-President Corey Anton.

The book consists of a transcription made from lectures given at Alfred Korzybski's seminar in general semantics at Olivet College in 1937. This is Korzybski "caught live." The text retains much of the warm, anecdotal flavor of his platform manner, with minimal editing. The text includes 14 lectures given to college students on general semantics theory, backgrounds, and applications. 

The twenty-sixth episode of Semantic Reactions, the official podcast of the Institute of General Semantics, is now available for your listening pleasure. Our October 2024 episode features IGS Trustees Eva Berger, Corey Anton, and Lance Strate taking part a controversial discussion on some of the most recent developments in artificial intelligence and language models and their implications for the future, as well as their connections to general semantics. You can access Episode 26 via our host site, and it is also available through most major podcast platforms, also on YouTube, and below:

The twenty-fifth episode of Semantic Reactions, the official podcast of the Institute of General Semantics, is now available for your listening pleasure. Our September 2024 episode features an interview with author, New York Law School professor, and former president of the American Civil Liberties Union, Nadine Strossen, conducted by IGS trustees Lance Strate and Susan Drucker. Their conversation centers on legal issues such as free speech in the context of contemporary American politics and culture. 

You can access Episode 25 via our host site, and it is also available through most major podcast platforms, also on YouTube, and below:

The twenty-fourth episode of Semantic Reactions, the official podcast of the Institute of General Semantics, is now available for your listening pleasure. Our August 2024 episode features Corey Anton and Thom Gencarelli discussing general semantics and politics, based on the recent special issues of the IGS’s quarterly journal, ETC: A Review of General Semantics. In conversation with Lance Strate, they talk about Corey Anton’s role as guest editor working together with Thom Gencarelli as ETC editor in chief, and their plans for publishing an anthology based on the two issues. Naturally enough, they also cover  Alfred Korzybski’s historical development of time-binding and how general semantics has been and could be applied to politics. They also had much to say about contemporary American politics, media and technology, and the current presidential election campaign. 

You can access Episode 24 via our host site, and it is also available through most major podcast platforms, also on YouTube, and below:

The twenty-third episode of Semantic Reactions, the official podcast of the Institute of General Semantics, is now available for your listening pleasure. Our July 2024 episode departs from our usual format, and instead features a series of short take interviews conducted in conjunction with the IGS's summer seminar entitled, Navigating the Now: A Guide to Recognizing What is Going On, which was held at the October Gallery in London, England, on July 25th to 27th, 2024. Over the course of the three days, Lance Strate recorded the ruminations and evaluations from the other faculty who were leading the seminar, Mary Lahman, Dom Heffer, Nora Bateson, and Peggy Cassidy. The episode also includes responses from some of the students and participants in the seminar, reflecting on what they learned and experienced.

You can access Episode 23 via our host site, and it is also available through most major podcast platforms, also on YouTube, and below:

At the recent annual meeting of the Media Ecology Association hosted by Daemon University in Amherst, New York on June 6th to 9th, three members of the Board of Trustees of the Institute of General Semantics were honored for their contributions and achievements: Corey Anton, Susan Drucker, and Thom Gencarelli. The awards ceremony was hosted by IGS President Lance Strate, assisted by MEA Vice-President Heather Stassen.

Thom Gencarelli was presented with the MEA's 2024 Edmund S. Carpenter Award for Career Achievement in Editing in recognition of his service as editor of the IGS journal ETC: A Review of General Semantics.

Susan Drucker was presented with the MEA's 2024 Christine L. Nystrom Award for Career Achievement in Service in recognition of his contributions to the IGS, the MEA, and as a founder and leader of the Urban Communication Foundation. 

And Corey Anton was presented with one of the MEA's highest honors, the MEA's 2024 Walter J. Ong Award for Career Achievement in Scholarship.

We join with our friends and colleagues in the MEA in congratulating our hardworking and talented trustees, Thom Gencarelli, Susan Drucker, and Corey Anton. And we also want to express our appreciation to the Media Ecology Association for their recognition.

The twenty-second episode of Semantic Reactions, the official podcast of the Institute of General Semantics, is now available for your listening pleasure. Our June 2024 episode was recorded at a local radio station in the city of Gold Coast in Australia, and features Australian media personality and researcher, Renée Peterson. Renée has spent over two decades as a media industry professional in Australia and the US, as a radio and television producer, writer, and on-air broadcaster, and is currently completing her doctoral degree at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. She joins IGS trustees Lance Strate, Thom Gencarelli, and Laura Trujillo-Liñán, who were in Australia for the annual meeting of the International Communication Association (the IGS is an ICA affiliate organization). Their conversation centers on the role of radio, along with sound recording and newer forms of digital media, in Australia, the United States, and Mexico, as well as on celebrities, influencers, and more recent developments in digital media. They also talk about language, dialects, and not surprisingly, general semantics.

You can access Episode 22 via our host site, and it is also available through most major podcast platforms, also on YouTube, and below: