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  • 30 Dec 2014 5:10 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)
    Newly published from the Institute of General Semantics is The Communication Panacea: Pediatrics and General Semantics, a book by IGS Trustee Eva Berger, Ph.D., and Isaac Berger, M.D.

    The book is now available from the IGS Store.

    About the Book

    The Communication Panacea: Pediatrics and General Semantics by Eva and Isaac Berger provides a most interesting and relevant examination of the profound, and often dangerous, influences that human communication practices have on health outcomes. The book, firmly grounded in the theory of General Semantics, describes the power of language use in shaping interpretations of reality and responses to health care. While grounded in relevant theory, this book is not a dry academic treatise. It provides vivid analyses of real health care cases, demonstrating how communication influences both the delivery of care and responses to health care. The book suggests best communication strategies for health care providers and consumers to achieve desired health outcomes. The authors encourage strategic use of communication that empowers consumers to take charge of their health, that promotes cooperation in the delivery of care, and that facilitates informed health decision-making. I recommend this fascinating book for health care providers, consumers, and policy makers to help them utilize communication to enhance the quality and effectiveness of health care.

    -- Gary L. Kreps
    University Distinguished Professor
    Director of the Center for Health and Risk Communication
    George Mason University

    Writing in the tradition of Neil Postman, Ivan Illich, and Susan Sontag, this collaboration between a doctor of philosophy and a doctor of medicine combines an innovative theoretical approach with the stories of eight patients shared not as "case-studies," but as key-moments to show how vital it is to change our mentality and our language when addressing the idea of illness itself.

    -- Lance Strate
    Professor of Communication and Media Studies
    Fordham University

    The Communication Panacea fills a major gap in the study of the modern doctor-patient relationship, applying the principles of General Semantics to the too often uncanny communicative processes affecting the way patients perceive their illness, as well as their response to it. The idea of a "personalized semantic medicine," brilliantly and rigorously discussed in this book, is suggested as a truly convincing strategy to regain focus on the patient within (and in spite of) the increasingly complex medical (corporate-like) environment.

    Berger and Berger combine a substantial innovative theoretical approach with the stories of eight patients shared not as "case-studies," but as key-moments to show how vital it is to change our mentality (as well as our language) when addressing the idea of illness itself. They challenge us to think of medicine as art and not as war; a linguistic and a conceptual shift which could impove the quality of many patients and doctor[s] alike.

    -- Elena Lamberti
    Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures
    University of Bologna

    About the Authors

    Eva Berger

    Eva Berger is a Professor of Communication at the School of Media Studies of COMAS (College of Management Academic Studies) in Israel where she was Dean (2006-2012). Dr. Berger is member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute of General Semantics (since 2009) and of ETC.: A Review of General Semantics (since 2008). She is member of the Editorial Board of Giluy Daat: A Multidisciplinary Journal on Education, Society and Culture (since 2011) and was member of the Editorial Board of EME: Explorations in Media Ecology (2005-2014). She has held many public positions and is active in numerous organizations in Israel: She was member of the search committee for candidates for the position of Chair of the Council for Cable and Satellite Communications (appointed in 2013 by the Minister of Communication); Chair of the Board of Women in the Picture (an organization for the advancement of women in the visual arts); member of the Israel Press Council (2011-2013) and of the Israeli Film Board (2000-2006). She is member of the board of IPI (Israel Peace Initiative, since 2011). Eva is periodically invited as guest commentator on Israel's newspapers and public and private radio and television stations; she is the author of programs for the teaching of media in Israel's high schools; and has published numerous academic articles and book chapters on varying topics including war photojournalism; advertising; language, metaphor and narrative; and media and technology. Eva is married and has two sons.

    Isaac Berger

    Isaac Berger studied medicine at UNAM--National University of Mexico in Mexico City (1955-1961). He did his internship as well as his residency in Pediatrics at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago and was research fellow in neonatology there. In 1965, he returned to his country of origin -- Mexico -- where along with his private practice throughout the years, he was instructor of postgraduate courses in Pediatrics at Juarez Hospital; assistant lecturer in Pediatrics at UNAM (National University of Mexico); lecturer in Pediatrics at the School of Nursing as well as at the residency program of American British Cowdray Hospital in Mexico City; and he taught neonatology at Hospital Infantil Privado where he was physician in charge of Medical Education. In 1977 Dr. Berger moved with his family to Israel where he became Head of the Pediatric Outpatient Department of Meir General Hospital in the city of Kfar Saba, and later Head of Pediatric Ambulatory Services (including Emergency Room, Clinics, Day Hospital Unit, and Child Development Unit). Isaac coauthored numerous articles and chapters in books. He retired from the hospital in 2003 and aside from his still active private practice he is medical advisor to a large child development center in Israel. Isaac is married and has five daughters and nine grandchildren.

    Purchase the Book

    Click here to purchase The Communication Panacea in the IGS Store.
  • 11 Nov 2014 5:08 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Newly published from the Institute of General Semantics is A Continuing Education Guide to Teaching General Semantics, a 56-page book by IGS President Martin H. Levinson, Ph.D.

    The book is now available from the IGS Store.

    About the Book

    Debuting at the 62nd Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture in October 2014 as a gift to registrants, the 56-page book A Continuing Education Guide to Teaching General Semantics offers guidance for teachers interested in creating a continuing education course for students of general semantics.

    General semantics (GS) is a process-oriented, problem-solving system that trains individuals to make their language and thinking more relative to objective reality in order to better evaluate and understand the world. Its ideas and formulations have been taught in numerous college courses throughout the world. Over the years, many articles on the benefits of GS have appeared in the General Semantics Bulletin and ETC: A Review of General Semantics and more than 150 doctoral and master's degree theses have demonstrated its efficacy. General semantics is clearly a highly useful methodology with a wide range of applicability in diverse areas of human endeavor.

    This guide contains twelve continuing education lessons in general semantics. Each lesson includes an Introduction (for the teacher) of the basic GS ideas to be presented, a Motivation to begin the lesson, and Suggested Activities for students. Lessons can be combined or abbreviated depending on the time constraints of the course and wishes of the instructor.

    About the Author

    Martin H. Levinson, Ph.D., is the President of the Institute of General Semantics, Vice President of the New York Society for General Semantics, and book editor of ETC: A Review of General Semantics. He is the author of four books and numerous articles on general semantics.

    Purchase the Book

    Click here to purchase A Continuing Education Guide to Teaching General Semantics in the IGS Store.
  • 1 Nov 2014 5:07 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Volume 71, Number 2 (April 2014), of the Institute of General Semantics's quarterly journal ETC: A Review of General Semantics has been mailed and is now available for download from the IGS Store in searchable PDF format.

    Table of Contents Preview

    • "Media Literacy as an Ethical Obligation: A General Semantics Approach" by Lance Strate
    • "'Living History' as the 'Real Thing': A Comparative Analysis of the Modern Mountain Man Rendezvous, Renaissance Fairs, and Civil War Reenactments" by Patrick McCarthy
    • "Political Catchwords: Linguistic Maps That Shape Politics and Governance" by Martin H. Levinson
    • "The Next Generation: An Analysis of Autism through Media Representation" by Alexandria Prochnow
    • Perspectives:
      "The Challenges Facing General Semantics" by Ben Hauck
    • Metaphors in Action:
      "Convergence" by Raymond Gozzi, Jr.
    • "Interview with IGS President Martin H. Levinson" by Edward Tywoniak
    • Probes:
      "Vitalism in Ivie" by Peter Zhang
    • From the Vault:
      "Towards a Theory of Protest" by Kenneth E. Boulding
      "Korzybski's Quest" by Gerald Haslam
      "Our Computational Culture: From Descartes to the Computer" by Berg R. Dreyer
      "Fanaticism: The Panhuman Disorder" by Margaret Mead
    • Poems:
      "Surroundings" by Ross Jackson
      "A Persistent Lack of Gravity" by Ross Jackson
      "Syllogism" by Jane Blanchard
      "Resolution" by Jane Blanchard
      "Erasure" by Jane Blanchard
    • Plus a Letter from the Editor and News and Notes.

    Cover Art

    The cover of ETC 71:2 is from a painting by Tana Lehr titled Any Road.

  • 31 Oct 2014 5:07 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Professor Isabel Caro Gabalda of the University of Valencia in Spain has published El Uso del Leguaje en Psicoterpia Cognitiva (2014), a volume on cognitive psychology that is based on general semantics.

    Professor Caro Gabalda dedicates the book to her former colleagues at the International Society for General Semantics and the Institute of General Semantics, specifically Sanford I. Berman, Mary Morain, Patricia G. Maynard, Robert U. Redpath, William Exton, Jr., and Charlotte Schuchardt-Read.

    In the copy she sent to IGS, Professor Caro Gabalda penned on the flyleaf "To all my colleagues at the Institute of General Semantics for the support of my interest in general semantics." She has clearly turned that interest into an important book containing practical uses for GS.

    You may purchase the book from the following link: http://www.edesclee.com/products.php/ISBN9788433027368

  • 12 Jun 2014 5:36 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Volume 71, Number 1 (January 2014), of the Institute of General Semantics's quarterly journal ETC: A Review of General Semantics has been mailed and is now available for download from the IGS Store in searchable PDF format.

    Table of Contents Preview

    • "The Cult/Ure of Personality" by Thom Gencarelli
    • "A Time to Keep Silence, and a Time to Speak" by Michael Moore
    • "Ten Common Blocks to Clear Thinking with General Semantics Correctives" by Martin H. Levinson
    • "[P] etc." by Dominic Heffer
    • "Ten Cautionary GS Lessons from World War I" by Martin H. Levinson
    • "Indexing, Dating, Etc., in Higher Education" by Gary H. Mayer
    • "Awareness and Action: A General Semantics Approach to Effective Language Behavior (Part 4) -- Inference-Observation Confusion: Distinguishing between Observation and Inference)" by Mary P. Lahman
    • "Perspective: Some Thoughts on Current and Future Directions for GS" by Martin H. Levinson
    • Probes:
      "Aristotle's Fourfold Causality, Tetralemma, and Emergence" by Ben Zhang and Bill Guschwan
    • From the Vault:
      "The Narrow-Gauge, Broad-Band Medium" by Ben Bakdikian
      "The Ambiguity of Perception" by Gary Gumpert
    • "Wading in the Shadows" by Barry Liss
    • "Et Cetera" by Catherine Zickgraf
    • "Surroundings" by Ross Jackson
    • Plus News and Notes.

    Cover Art

    The cover of ETC 71:1 is from a painting by Nicole Wilson titled The Dreamer.

  • 27 Mar 2014 5:34 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Volume 70, Number 4 (October 2013), of the Institute of General Semantics's quarterly journal ETC: A Review of General Semantics has been mailed and is now available for download from the IGS Store in searchable PDF format.

    Table of Contents Preview

    • "Alethic Relativism and Faultless Disagreement: Weighing in on the Puzzle from a General Semantics Perspective" by John Engle
    • "On the Benefits of Sticking to Certain Principles: A Response to Lloyd Moran's 'How Pseudo-Scientists Get Away with It'" by Tim Lyons
    • "What Is Mathematics and Why Does It Matter" by Carmen M. Latterell and Janelle L. Wilson
    • "The Largest Whale Penis in the Jungle and Other Big Things: Toward Simpler Messages" by Mark Hickson III
    • "The Real Consequences of Imaginary Sex Acts" by Brent Lunceford
    • "An Inconvenient Booth: Mistaking Symbol for Both Map and Territory" by Jan Lukas Buterman
    • "Awareness and Action: A General Semantics Approach to Effective Language Behavior (Part 3) -- Allness: Discovering It Is Not Possible to Know Everything about Anything" by Mary P. Lahman
    • 75th Anniversary Reprint:
      "Laws of the Media" by Marshall McLuhan
      "Television: The New State Religion?" by George Gerbner
      "The Information Environment" by Neil Postman
    • Plus Book Reviews and Dates and Indexes.

    Cover Art

    The cover of ETC 70:4 is from a painting by British artist Dominic Heffer titled "Painting etc. 2."

  • 30 Dec 2013 5:33 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Volume 70, Number 3 (July 2013), of the Institute of General Semantics's quarterly journal ETC: A Review of General Semantics has been mailed and is now available for download from the IGS Store in searchable PDF format.

    Table of Contents Preview

    • "On Semantics and General Semantics: Re-Defining the Former to Understand the Latter" by Ben Hauck
    • "The Science and Sanity of Listening" by Benjamin J. Cline
    • "Awareness and Action: A General Semantics Approach to Effective Language Behavior (Part 2) - Abstraction: Exploring Why the Map Is Not the Territory" by Mary P. Lahman
    • "Loose Lips: Broadcast and Socially Mediated Political Rhetoric and the Sinking of the 2012 Senatorial Campaigns of Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock" by Jefferson Spurlock
    • "The Textbook Writer" by Joseph A. DeVito
    • Metaphors in Action:
      "Reality Is Boring, Media Are Magnetic" by Raymond Gozzi, Jr.
    • 75th Anniversary Reprint:
      "Remembering Don Hayakawa" by Alan R. Hayakawa
      "The Empty Eye" by S. I. Hayakawa and Alan R. Hayakawa
      "Whatever I Call It, It Is" by Neil Postman
      "New Hope for the Technological Society: An Interview with Jacques Ellul" by Berta Sichel
      "Perspectives on Our Age: Jacques Ellul Speaks on His Life and Work, by Jacques Ellul. Edited by William H. Vandenburg; translated by Joachim Neugroschel. New York: The Seabury Press, 1981" by Terrance P. Moran
      "Media Tribes: Making Sense of Popular Culture, the Mass Media, and Everyday Life in America" by Arthur Asa Berger
      "The Electronic Imagination: Requiem for a Narrative" by Brian Donahue
    • "For the Nonce (Excerpt)" by Phillip Dow
    • Plus Book Reviews and Dates and Indexes.

    Cover Art

    The cover of ETC 70:3 is from a painting titled "Earth" by Nicole Wilson.

  • 18 Oct 2013 5:31 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Volume 70, Number 2 (April 2013), of the Institute of General Semantics's quarterly journal ETC: A Review of General Semantics is arriving in the mail and is now available for download from the IGS Store in searchable PDF format.

    Table of Contents Preview

    • "Midlevel Abstracting: An Underserved Zone of General Semantics" by Richard Fiordo
    • "General Semantics: Understanding Korzybski's Formulations" by Mary P. Lahman
    • "This Old Sole" by Michael Moore
    • "General Semantics and Effective Communication" by Geetha Bhasker
    • "How Just Is Our Justice System?" by Frank J. Scardilli
    • "Diasporic Creativity as a Non-Aristotelian Form of Communication" by Deepa Mishra
    • "A Glossary: Usage Abbreviations of Mobile Phone SMS" by Thotapally Anjaneyulu
    • Metaphors in Action:
      "Watching Television Is Like ..." by Raymond Gozzi, Jr.
    • Probes:
      "Food as a Social Medium and a Medium of Culture" by Peter Zhang
    • 75th Anniversary Reprint:
      "The Brotherhood of Doctrines" by Alfred Korzybski
      "People in Quandaries: And Why They Are There" by Wendell Johnson
      "Semantics, General Semantics: An Attempt at Definition" by S. I. Hayakawa
      "etcetera" by e.e. cummings
    • Poems:
      "I Know Not ..." by Shipra R. Upadhyay
      "She and He" by Darlyne Ibarra
      "Criss-cross" by Steven Jacobson
      "Homeward" by Steven Jacobson
      "The American Flag" by Danny P. Barbare
      "Janitor's Winter Poem" by Danny P. Barbare
      "Sustenance" by Jane Blanchard
      "Hold Out" by Jane Blanchard
      "Coupling" by Jane Blanchard
    • Plus Book Reviews and News and Notes.

    Cover Art

    The cover of ETC 70:2 is from a painting titled "Mr. Neuro Semantic" by Dom Heffer.

  • 14 Sep 2013 5:28 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    The scope of the study and research of general semantics in India has been expanded through the opening of a Nodal Centre of Balvant Parekh Centre for General Semantics at Smt Chandibai Himathmal Mansukhani College, Mumbai.

    The Centre was inaugurated on September 11, 2013, and it started functioning immediately thereafter. As a starting point, the Centre plans to institute certificate courses for both undergraduate and graduate students on various principles of general semantics.

    In addition, the Centre shall conduct other academic programs from time to time on various aspects of general semantics.

  • 30 Jun 2013 5:27 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    To Be or Not: An E-Prime Anthology, the original compendium of essays edited by D. David Bourland, Jr., and Paul Dennithorne Johnston on the form of English without "be verbs," is now available as a PDF ebook for download from the IGS Store.

    About the Book

    Examine the verbs of the "to be" family and you find a startling underlying assumption.  The words bebeeniswasamwere, etc., have their logical basis in the idea that things stay the same.  The notion of identity -- a thing's absolute sameness with a similar thing or with itself over time -- has confused and corrupted thinking since the days of Aristotle.

    Life means change: growth, learning, metamorphosis, decay.  Even the apparently changless earth changes, as moving plates push up mountains or split continents apart.  Today we often experience rapid social and technological change.  Yet our daily language has at its foundation the assumption that things don't change, an assumption that helps us focus and therefore "understand," but also leads us astray when we act as if things haven't changed, and they have.  How can we deal with this "two-edged sword" that both helps and hinders us in our daily lives?

    E-Prime, a variant of English that eliminates the verbs of the "to be" family, makes us aware of the problem, and offers one solution.

    Some of the benefits: lively, concise writing and speaking; clearer, more critical thinking; better communication, evaluation and decision-making.

    Purchase the Book

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