A SIMPLE DEFINITION OF GENERAL SEMANTICS
Ben Hauck · ETC.: A Review of General Semantics · 2008
[A] number of isolated facts does not produce a science any more than a heap of bricks produces a house. The isolated facts must be put in order and brought into mutual structural relations in the form of some theory. Then, only, do we have a science, something to start from, to analyze, ponder on, criticize, and improve. --Alfred Korzybski Science & Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics (1) The term, 'semantic reaction' will be used as covering both semantic reflexes and states. In the present work, we are interested in [semantic reactions], from a psychophysiological, theoretical and experimental point of view, which include the corresponding states. --Alfred Korzybski Science & Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics (2) FOR A NUMBER OF DECADES and perhaps for all of its life, general semantics has suffered from an identity crisis. People have long had difficulty defining the term general semantics for others. Of those people who have settled on definitions, many of their definitions are too vague, too general, or just plain awkward. The bulk of these definitions is of the awkward sort, more like descriptions than definitions (3), leading to a hazy image of general semantics and a difficulty in categorizing it in the grand scheme of fields. Because of awkward definitions, people learning of general semantics for the first time can't relate to it, so they don't become interested in it. Long overdue is a simple definition of the term general semantics that people can relate to instantly upon hearing. Providing such a definition will not only provide clarity to the meaning of the term, but it will also provide a clear focus for nearly everyone involved in the endeavor of general semantics. A simple definition of the term general semantics will also imply an organization and framework for many of its associated ideas. Definitions of General Semantics and of Other Endeavors Definitions for the term general semantics have been historically awkward. It is not uncommon to read definitions that employ strings of hyphenated words and puzzling terminology. These definitions may map the territory of general semantics well, though from a marketing perspective, they create perceptions of general semantics as something alien and impenetrable. Taken collectively, these troublesome definitions paint a picture of general semantics as something to which few people can relate. Some examples of definitions (or phraseology regarded as definitions (4)) that have appeared over the years for the term general semantics include: * General semantics [...] is a new extensional discipline which explains and trains us how to use our nervous systems most efficiently. (5) * General semantics is the study of relations between symbol systems and nervous systems as expressed in behavior. (6) * General semantics is an up-to-date epistemology. (7) * General semantics may be regarded as a systematic attempt to formulate the general method of science in such a way that it might be applied not only in a few restricted areas of human experience, but generally in daily life. (8) * General semantics is (1) the study or correction of human responses to symbols, symbol systems, sign systems, and sign situations, (2) a study of how a human nervous system works and ought to work, (3) an educational theory whose aim is to study the evaluational processes of human beings, and (4) ultimately a nonverbal discipline of silence, of dissolving away the encrusted verbalizations and abstractions, dogmas and creeds which envelop most of us like layers of barnacles. (9) * General semantics is a general theory of evaluation based on modern scientific knowledge, the postulates of Einsteinian physics, etc. It represents a methodological synthesis of trends in the Western world that evolved during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and are now increasingly becoming a part of our new world reorientation. …