In this issue.

OUR COVER for this issue presents the "Nine Ages of Man," a bronze sculpture by Randolph W. Johnston. The artist's comments on the work reveal his perception of the process nature of human existence, on both the individual and the species levels. Details of the piece illustrate Tracking How We Change: Conrad's Insights on "Dating" Ourselves by David Maas, which draws parallels between the development of characters in a short story by Joseph Conrad and Korzybski's recommendations on the use of dates and indexes.

Gordon Livingston updates a familiar metaphor in If the Map Doesn't Agree with the Ground, the Map is Wrong. the first chapter in his new book, Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart: Thirty True Things You Need to Know Now. He suggests we can reduce future relationship disturbances by not only looking for a mate who seems to suit our wants, but also avoiding "the people your mother warned you about." From a different angle, Nora Miller paints her image of a healthy emotional relationship in an updated version of How Do I Love Thee?

How much of what we "know" comes from our interpretation of events, and what roles do our bodies and habits play? In his "Metaphors in Action" column, Ray Gozzi takes on Uninvolved Involvement and other "oxymetaphors" and wonders about our habit of empathizing with figures on TV. In our Calling Out the Symbol Rulers feature, Nora Miller and Gregg Hoffmann offer complementary views on a recent example of the extremes to which such empathizing can go in Uncertainty and Death and Symbolism and the Terri Schiavo Case. The three other articles in the Symbol Rulers section integrate three topics--Asperger's Syndrome, general semantics, and Maslow's theory of self-actualization--into a coordinated quilt. Charles Coursey writes about his son Asher in Asperger's Syndrome Could Be a Character-Builder, IGS member Kate Gladstone writes about her own Asperger's condition in response to Coursey's commentary, and Harry Weinberg relates Maslow's theories to Korzybski's. Do those 'afflicted' with Asperger's Syndrome have a head start toward extensionality and self-actualization?

Three articles from three different real-world applications discuss the value of general semantics in the world of work. Martin Levinson describes the many ways in which he improved his department's operations by Using General Semantics to Enhance Organizational Leadership. In Whole Language or Phonics: Improving Language Instruction through General Semantics, teachers Melanie Brooks and Jeffrey Brooks show how we can use general semantics to overcome weakness in both the controversial whole language teaching method, and the more popular phonics teaching method. And in his "Words on the Line," Philip Vassallo relates his experiences with apologies in The Art of Apology.

Korzybski's "Happiness Formula" implies that minimal expectations and maximum motivation combine to provide the most satisfaction we can hope for from our endeavors. Others have elaborated or refined this notion, including Robert Pula, Wendell Johnson, and Harry Weinberg. The IFD Disease and the "Happiness Formula" presents several excerpts from these great thinkers on how we can apply ourselves to understanding the nature of contentment and the methods for achieving it.