To the IGS YouTube account, we have added nearly all of the videos of presentations from the 66th Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture and its subsequent 2-Day General Semantics Symposium, sponsored by the Institute of General Semantics, and co-sponsored by the Media Ecology Association and the New York Society for General Semantics.

The entire event was held at the Princeton Club in New York City, October 26-28, 2018.

The videos are compiled into a sequential playlist that mirrors the sequence of events from the weekend.

As of publication, not all videos are available as we await consent from the presenters. As presenters consent, we will release more videos in the playlist.

Watch individual entries from the playlist »

Dominic Heffer is a trustee of the Institute of General Semantics and an artist based in the United Kingdom.

Throughout December, his recent work "Meta/Semantic/Painting" will be shown on Big Screen Leeds, Millenium Square, in Leeds city centre.

The work was initially made for the 2018 General Semantics Symposium in New York City.

The work shows the developing structures of three paintings through a series of animated thought processes that emerge into "final" images. Ideas such as Alfred Korzybski's map/territory analogy and Gregory Bateson's research into denotative communication, inform the work.

You can see the full length film at https://ideasinthevoid.com/2018-meta-semantic-painting/.

Below are some representative images from the work.

Institute of General Semantics president Martin H. Levinson was recently interviewed on using general semantics for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The interview is part of a two-part series by Mike Kim on general semantics and managing war trauma.

• Part 1: Manage War Trauma Using General Semantics: An Interview with Dr. Martin H. Levinson
• Part 2: How to Apply General Semantics: Using the technology of the Self on the Veteran Readjustment Journey

The series appears on the website The Mindful Word.

 

The Institute of General Semantics is pleased to announce the release of the revised second edition of Practical Fairy Tales for Everyday Living by Martin H. Levinson.

In Practical Fairy Tales for Everyday Living, fanciful characters that one can identify with battle personal problems, mishaps, and mayhem.

None of them are guaranteed a happily-ever-after, but by applying the fundamentals of general semantics -- a communications-based self-help system -- they are better able to evaluate and understand everyday conundrums to successfully vanquish challenging situations.

While these twenty-four stories may not be true in the literal sense, G.K. Chesterton observed that, "Fairy tales are more than true not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten."

• Click here to purchase Practical Fairy Tales for Everyday Living from the IGS Store.

Our long-awaited double issue 74:1-2 (2017) of ETC: A Review of General Semantics is in the mail and is now available for download from the IGS Store in searchable PDF format.

• Click here to download ETC 74:1-2 from the IGS Store.

Table of Contents Preview

"etcetera" by e e cummings

"Science and Values" by Edward L. Thorndike

"People in Quandaries: And Why They Are There" by Wendell Johnson

"The Relation of Habitual Thought and Behavior to Language" by Benjamin Lee Whorf

"Adolph Hitler and Words" by F. K. Richter

"General Semantics: An Introductory Lecture" by S. I. Hayakawa

"Release of Atomic Energy" by Alfred Korzybski

"A Suggested Improvement in Semantic Usage" by A. H. Maslow

"Probability as a Guide in Life" by Rudolf Carnap

"Alfred Korzybski July 3, 1879 - March 1, 1950 Biographical Summary" by Anatol Rapoport

"On the Varieties of Research in General Semantics" by Irving J. Lee

"Lineal and Nonlineal Codifications of Reality" by Dorothy Lee

"Obiter Dicta: The Nylon War" by David Riesman

"Communication: Its Blocking and Its Facilitation" by Carl R. Rogers

"Recent Contributions to the Mathematical Theory of Communication" by Warren Weaver

"Metalogue: Daddy, How Much Do You Know?" by Gregory Bateson

"Background to Kinesics" by Ray L. Birdwhistell

"Toward a Humanistic Psychology" by A. H. Maslow

"'Never Have So Few Owed So Much to So Many'" by Newton N. Minow

"The Erewhonians and the Open Society" by Karl R. Popper

"Go Slow" by Langston Hughes

"Towards a Theory of Protest" by Kenneth E. Boulding

"The Backlash Blues" by Langston Hughes

"The Ambiguous Mirror: The Reflective-Projective Theory of Broadcasting and Mass Communication" by Lee Loevinger

"Crises in Communication: A Plea for Awareness and Response" by Nicholas Johnson

"Not Since Babel" by Edmund Carpenter

"The Limits of My Media" by Terence P. Moran

"What I Think Korzybski Thought--and What I Think about It" by Anatol Rapoport

Plus Letter from the Editor.

Cover Art

The title of this double issue's cover photograph is "Manhood of Humanity," by photographer Stephen Shore. Marty Levinson, President of the Institute of General Semantics, saw Stephen's photographs on display at a show dedicated to him at the Museum of Modern Art in late 2017, and was surprised to see this photo -- which as you will note, in the top half, includes the inset from Korzybski’s book. At Marty's request, Stephen has given the Institute permission to use the photo for the cover of ETC. As Marty wrote: "I think it’s a real paean to time-binding."

The Institute of General Semantics is proud to announce Thom Gencarelli, Ph.D., as the new editor of our quarterly journal ETC: A Review of General Semantics.

Dr. Gencarelli's first issue as an editor will be ETC 74:1-2, a double issue retrospective of the journal as it turns 75 years old.  The double issue will be shipping late October 2018.

Editor Biography

Thom Gencarelli received his Ph.D. from the Media Ecology program at New York University in 1993 where, as a student of Neil Postman, he was first introduced to Alfred Korzybski’s work and the principles of General Semantics.  Thom is currently Professor and the founding Chair of the Communication Department at Manhattan College in Riverdale, New York.  He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute of General Semantics since 2008 and is a Past President of the Media Ecology Association, the New York State Communication Association, and the New Jersey Communication Association (twice).  His research interests include general semantics, media ecology, new media developments and their consequence, media literacy/media education, and popular media and culture (with an emphasis on popular music).  He is, most recently, co-editor (with Brian Cogan) of the anthology Baby Boomers and Popular Culture: An Inquiry into America’s Most Powerful Generation (ABC-Clio/ Praeger, 2014), and he has been writing a book about language acquisition and cognitive development (which he hopes to finally finish once he steps down as department chair in 2019).  In 2013, he received the Christine L. Nystrom Award for Outstanding Career Achievement in Service to the Field of Media Ecology from the Media Ecology Association and, in 2016, received the John F. Wilson Fellowship Award for Scholarship and Service from the New York State Communication Association.  Thom is also a songwriter, musician, and producer, and has released two album-length works with his ensemble bluerace, World is Ready and Beautiful Sky.  The group’s third album, Mistral, will be out this year.

Learn More about ETC

ETC: A Review of General Semantics was founded in 1943 by the International Society for General Semantics. ISGS merged with the Institute of General Semantics in 2003. Since that time, the Institute has published the journal.

Subscription information for ETC: A Review of General Semantics »

Our long-awaited issue 73:4 (October 2016) of ETC: A Review of General Semantics is in the mail and is now available for download from the IGS Store in searchable PDF format.

• Click here to download ETC 73:4 from the IGS Store.

Table of Contents Preview

"'She's a Little Different': Autism-Spectrum Disorders in Primetime TV Dramas" by Phillip S. Poe and Maxwell C. Moseley

"Biases in Making Choices" by Joe DeVito

"The Transmission Model of Communication: Toward a Multidisciplinary Explication" by Zachary S. Sapienza, Aaron S. Veenstra, Kestas Kirtiklis, and Steve S. Giannino

"The Meaning of Graffiti: An Interpretation" by Daniel D. Gross and Timothy D. Gross

"How to Develop Your Thinking Ability Using General Semantics" by Martin H. Levinson

"The Spectacle of Analysis: Analytics as Organizational Propaganda" by Ross Jackson

"How 'Dead Verbs' Have Imprisoned the English Language" by Stan Kozikowski

"Seven Myths about Abraham Lincoln" by Martin H. Levinson

"A Lexicon for Social Media: A Proposal" by Daniel D. Gross

The Next Generation:
"On the Behavioral Assessment of Semantics" by Kyle Krantz
"Personal Time-Binding Plan" by Nolan McBride
"Differentiation Failures: Polarization" by Jacob Ray

Poems:
"Visiting the Park" by Danny P. Barbare
"Emily Wrote to Me" by Danny P. Barbare
"Dog Bark Middle Night" by Richard L. Epstein
"A Convocation of Categories" by Martin H. Levinson
"Roses are …" by Martin H. Levinson
"ANA, Log Out" by Lance Strate

Plus Letter from the Editor and Book Reviews.

Cover Art

The photograph used for the cover of ETC 73:4 is by Rick Wise -- the fourth image in a four-part series.  Wise labels his images “Photographic Fiction.” Currently he is working on two different series, Things, everyday objects we pass by without seeing, and Time-Flows, in which time is simultaneously expanded and contracted. He considers all of his work “Dancing with the Eye.”

The Institute of General Semantics is pleased to announce its latest book in the New Non-Aristotelian book series.

The book, Awareness and Action: A Travel Companion by Mary P. Lahman, asks the questions:

• Are you aware of how your words create worlds?
• Are you aware of how your language and listening habits impact interactions in the classroom, at work, and on the road?

Created as a practical guide for learning to communicate well in these contexts, Awareness and Action connects theory with practice.

In Part 1, explore how your senses, previous experiences, and pervading cultural norms filter your perceptions. Once you develop an awareness of the limited details humans use to draw conclusions, you learn to take action with language and listening behaviors that more accurately align with the natural world, not what you infer is happening.

In Part 2, practice the language behaviors that Alfred Korzybski developed to delay responding to automatic thinking processes. Using principles from his theory of general semantics, you will learn how to “go to the territory” — find details in the natural world — so that your words match the experiences they represent. Moreover, you will discover how to apply Korzybski’s formula for happiness: set minimum expectations and practice maximum motivation when interacting with others.

Awareness and Action gives you the tools. Now it’s your turn to “go to the territory” of your own life to find where you can improve your communication skills.

• Click here to purchase Awareness and Action: A Travel Companion from the IGS Store.

The Institute of General Semantics is pleased to announce that one of its most popular books -- People in Quandaries: The Semantics of Personal Adjustment, by Wendell Johnson -- is back in print!

The book is now available in a softcover version, as well as a PDF download from the IGS Store.

About the Book

People in Quandaries deals with the "mechanics" of disappointments, frustrations, and other sources of unhappiness.

It carefully examines how linguistic misevaluations produce our feelings of inadequacy and failure; how our verbal habits can result in false "pictures" of ourselves and our environment; how our unreliable linguistic maps keep us in quandaries.

The book then demonstrates how to recognize and change unrealistic ideals and aspirations; how to improve our ability to cope with the circumstances of an increasingly unpredictable world.

An ideal gift to introduce friends to general semantics!

• Click here to purchase People in Quandaries from the IGS Store.

The Institute of General Semantics recently did a soft relaunch of its online store, and now we are ready to more officially announce its release!

The new IGS Store features many of the same books, ebooks, periodicals, and audio recordings as the past store. You can also purchase IGS memberships and gift memberships as well as request articles from ETC: A Review of General Semantics and the General Semantics Bulletin.

If you had an account with the prior store, you will need to create a new account when ordering.

We will be fine-tuning the IGS Store over the Summer 2018. Should you have any issues with the store, or any feedback on the new store, please reach out the IGS Orders Dept. (aka Customer Service) by email here.

Visit the new IGS Store »