A GENERAL-SEMANTICS GLOSSARY: Pula's Guide for the Perplexed.Since the publication of Science and Sanity Reasonable understanding; sound mind; possessing mental faculties that are capable of distinguishing right from wrong so as to bear legal responsibility for one's actions. SANITY, med. jur. The state of a person who has a sound understanding; the reverse of insanity. almost 70 years ago, general semantics gen·er·al semantics n. (used with a sing. verb) A discipline developed by Alfred Korzybski that proposes to improve human behavioral responses through a more critical use of words and symbols. students and teachers could have benefited from a book of clear but rigorous explanations of general semantics formulations and terminology. Robert Pula Pula (p  `lä), Ital. Pola, city (1991 pop. 62,378), W Croatia, on the Adriatic and at the southern tip of the Istrian peninsula. , former lead lecturer at the Institute of
General Semantics The Institute of General Semantics is a not-for-profit corporation established in 1938 by Alfred Korzybski, located in Fort Worth, Texas. Its membership roles include members from 30 different countries. , is eminently qualified as the author of this book.
abstracting A most useful thing to do when first encountering the term abstracting as used in general-semantics is to divest To deprive or take away. Divest is usually used in reference to the relinquishment of authority, power, property, or title. If, for example, an individual is disinherited, he or she is divested of the right to inherit money. yourself of your accustomed reactions to the term as used in the culture-at-large. In Korzybski's system, abstracting represents so much more than and so much that is different from what it does in everyday (and legal, philosophical, and aesthetic) vocabularies, that clinging to those usages may block you from appreciating what Korzybski intended. So, pause, take at least one deep, clarifying breath, and try to wipe the slate clean: rasa the tabula. (A General-Semantics Glossary, p.9) Just some of the formulations discussed in Pula's new guide: * Abstracting * Elementalism / Non-Elementalism * Extensional Orientation as Orientation * Extensional Devices: Indexing & Dating * over/under-Defined Terms * Extensional Devices Applied * General Uncertainty * General-Semantics, Structure * Higher Order Functions * I.F.D. Disease * Identity / Non-Identity * Korzybski's Structural Differential The Structural differential is a physical chart or three-dimensional model illustrating the abstracting processes of the human nervous system. In one form, it looks like a pegboard with tags. Created by Alfred Korzybski, and awarded a U.S. with Variations * Multiordinality of Terms * Neuro-Linguistic Feedback * Process, Time-binding * Semantic Reaction * Validity and Truth " Every serious student of general semantics should read this book. Pula's Glossary is a very important contribution to general semantics." |
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