trash@oliveb.UUCP (Tom Repa) (08/29/87)
in article <141@snark.UUCP>, eric@snark.UUCP (Eric S. Raymond) says: >Xref: oliveb sci.lang:1236 rec.arts.sf-lovers:6588 >In <1629@watcgl.waterloo.edu >, kdmoen@watcgl.waterloo.edu (Doug Moen) writes: >> (eg, his references to the discredited theory of General Semantics). > I *strongly* recommend to Mr. Moen and others interested in linguistics, > psychology or simply getting the best use out of one's cognitive equipment > that they forget the stench of Van Vogt and Hubbard and investigate General > Semantics *itself*. I had the good fortune to be exposed to GS in my early > teens fifteen years or so ago, and believe it has done more to help me use my > mind effectively than any other single part of my background (not excluding > my major in theoretical mathematics and minor in philosophy!). > -- > Eric S. Raymond > UUCP: {{seismo,ihnp4,rutgers}!cbmvax,sdcrdcf!burdvax,vu-vlsi}!snark!eric > Post: 22 South Warren Avenue, Malvern, PA 19355 Phone: (215)-296-5718 All right, I'll bite. How about some good references for me to read up on General Semantics? Clearly I can look up the authors own works, but are there any others? I think Heinlein mentions GS in one of his old books, but I didn't know it was a real theory. Tom Repa(trash@oliven)
smith@COS.COM (Steve Smith) (09/01/87)
In article <4063@oliveb.UUCP> trash@oliveb.UUCP (Tom Repa) writes: > All right, I'll bite. How about some good references for >me to read up on General Semantics? For an excellent college level textbook in General Semantics, see "Language in Thought and Action" by S. I. Hayakawa. There are four editions; my own favorite is the third. Incidentally, this is the funniest "textbook" that I've ever run across. The "original source" is "Science and Sanity" by Alfred Korzybski. It is tough going, first because Korzybski tries very hard to follow his own prescriptions (which gets tedious) and because he uses some rather dated examples. We've learned just a bit about the brain since 1948... At one time, there was a journal called "Etc." devoted to General Semantics. The few copies that I've seen have not been impressive. As to General Semantics being "discredited", let's just say that a system that purports to train people to recognize and counteract the claims of virtually any variety of snake oil salesmen tends to attract criticism. As long as you confine your analyses to things like Pepsi commercials, you're OK, but when you do a shred job on Karl Marx or Ayn Rand (perfectly justified in both cases, by the way), you should hear the screams! Anyway, get ahold of the Hayakawa book. Do the "applications" (much more fun than excercises). Have fun watching what the snake oil salesmen are trying to do to you (and ignoring them). -- __ -- Steve / / \ / "Truth is stranger than S. G. Smith I \ O | _ O \ I fiction because fiction smith@cos.com / \__/ / has to make sense."
eric@snark.UUCP (Eric S. Raymond) (09/01/87)
In article <4063@oliveb.UUCP>, trash@oliveb.UUCP (Tom Repa) writes: > All right, I'll bite. How about some good references for > me to read up on General Semantics? The definitive work is _Science_and_Sanity_, by Alfred Korzybski. Unfortunately, Korzybski's milk language was not English and the writing is *really* tough to plow through. I only ever saw a copy once; I don't think it's in print. My exposure was through via a book called _People_In_Quandaries_ lent to me by my grandfather, who was a friend of L. Ron Hubbard's around the time the man was founding Dianetics. Grand-dad left Hubbard's group for all the obvious reasons, but maintained an interest in GS. Unfortunately, I returned the book to him so long ago that I no longer remember the author's name. I have heard recommended a book called _The_Tyranny_Of_Words_, by a gentleman with the name of (William P.?) (Stuart P.?) Chase. Sessue Hayakawa, the maverick U.S. congresscritter from Hawaii, is a dedicated booster of GS; I think he's written a popular treatment or two. There is an "Institute for General Semantics" that publishes a lively and interesting journal called _Etc._; you can look it up in your library's international directory of organizations (ask for it in the Reference section). I'm sorry these aren't more detailed. Can anyone with more recent contact with the GS mainstream fill in the gaps? -- Eric S. Raymond UUCP: {{seismo,ihnp4,rutgers}!cbmvax,sdcrdcf!burdvax,vu-vlsi}!snark!eric Post: 22 South Warren Avenue, Malvern, PA 19355 Phone: (215)-296-5718
arnold@mucs.UX.CS.MAN.AC.UK (Toby Howard) (09/04/87)
I didn't see the original posting, so apologies if this is old hat. Martin Gardner devotes a chapter of his 'Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science' (Dover) to Count Alfred Habdank Skarbek Korzybski and his General Semantics. Gardner is guardedly skeptical, and mentions that the Count regarded himself to be one of the world's greatest living thinkers, regarding his "Science and Sanity" as the third book of `an immortal trilogy', the others being Aristotle's 'Organon' and Bacon's 'Novum Organon'. Interestingly, Gardner reports that the Institute of General Semantics was founded in 1938 with funds provided by a Chicago manufacturer of bathroom equipment, and that the good Count always wore Army-type khakis, and was in many was the `dynamic leader' type so often associated with cults. I can recommend Gardner's book as a welcome antidote to `fringe science' and pseudo-science in general. Although last updated in 1957, much is still relevant. Please use the address below for replies. - Toby Howard - Computer Graphics Unit, Department of Computer Science Manchester University, England, M13 9PL. Phone: 061 273 7121 x5429/5406 Janet: thoward@uk.ac.man.cs.cgu ARPA: thoward%cgu.cs.man.ac.uk@cs.ucl.ac.uk
bill@ut-ngp.UUCP (Bill Jefferys) (09/04/87)
In article <147@snark.UUCP> eric@snark.UUCP (Eric S. Raymond) writes:
=Sessue Hayakawa, the maverick U.S. congresscritter from Hawaii, is a dedicated
=booster of GS; I think he's written a popular treatment or two.
=
Minor nits:
Sessue Hayakawa was a movie actor.
S (for Samuel, I think) I. Hayakawa is the author of
Language in Thought and Action, a classical
introduction to practical semantics and an
excellent book. He is a former U.S. Senator
from California.
Bill Jefferys