Frequently Asked Questions About General Semantics

1. What is general semantics?




There are as many different ways to answer this question as there are to respond to, "What is psychology?" or "What is behavior?" In fact, there are so many they've been collected into a compendium of definitions, available here.

Here is one: "General Semantics" refers to a general system of evaluation - that is to say, a systematic methodology for individuals to use in understanding how they relate to the world around them, how they react to this world, how they react to their reactions, and how they adjust their behavior accordingly. You could also say that general semantics is concerned with the continual processes related to how we perceive what goes on, how our nervous systems construct those perceptions into some kind of cognitive experience, how we evaluate or respond to the experiences, and then how we communicate our experiences.

General Semantics was introduced by Alfred Korzybski in his 1933 book, Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics.




2. What is the difference between semantics and general semantics?




Semantics typically refers to the field of study that is concerned primarily with how symbols (language) relate to their referents in the 'real' non-verbal world. Included in this study would be the consistency of words to referents as well as the logical validity of statements.

General Semantics goes beyond semantics in that it includes the at-the-moment responses and interactions of the individual humans who participate in a communicative process. General Semantics truly represents an interdisciplinary methodology that invokes not only semantics but linguistics, grammar, behavioral sciences, physiology, etc. Alfred Korzybski explained:In revising semantics, I am adding the word General, and also have enlarged the meaning in the sense that it turns out to be a general theory of values; evaluation. ... In our seminars we investigate the factors of evaluation."




3. Is it similar to any other disciplines or practices I might be familiar with?




Because general semantics pertains to matters of general evaluation, one can make a case that it 'belongs' in any (or every) discipline. However, since it entered university classrooms in the 1930s, it has been taught primarily in the Departments of Speech, English, Language Arts, Communication or Journalism.It has roots in psychology, biology, mathematics, anthropology, sociology, education and other social science and scientific fields. If you are interested in self-improvement, self-help, critical thinking, critical inquiry, communication theory, educational psychology or even science fiction, you probably have run across some overlap with general semantics.Specifically, Korzybski's General Semantics was a significant influence in:



• Dr. Albert Ellis's Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) approach to psychotherapy;


• Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) as first written about by Richard Bandler and John Grinder;


• Speech and Language education through educators such as S.I. Hayakawa (San Francisco State), Wendell Johnson (U. of Iowa), Irving J. Lee (Northwestern), Elwood Murray (Denver U.), and dozens of their successors;


• The science fiction writings of Robert A. Heinlein and A.E. van Vogt.





4. What will General Semantics do for me?




Strictly speaking, nothing. However, if you learn some of the principles and then apply them, you might enjoy some of  these noted benefits:



• More effective, accurate, and discriminating communications with others, and with yourself.


• More appropriate and desirable reactions, responses and adjustments to what happens.


• A more accepting, empathetic, inquisitive, open-minded, and straightforward outlook that is less prone to prejudice, stereotyping, and dogmatic generalizations.


• A greater degree of moment-to-moment awareness of your own, and others', different perspectives.


• A better understanding of the background assumptions we bring to a situation.


• A willingness and an ability to make accurate observations and reports.


• A willingness to continuously test, examine, evaluate, and change our assumptions and behavior based on our observations.