I first read Korzybski back when I was in High school and I placed him in the same category as Ayn Rand. Smart but deeply flawed somewhere and I wasn’t about to waste my time finding out where.

Non sequitur: I didn’t know you know Parker Posey. I ran into her at Canal Jeans back in ’01, I think. She’s much cuter in person.

FurthUr Quitse Non: Seeing as the weekends tend to be light on the Boinging, perhaps that’d be an ideal time for BB to afford you an ongoing soapbox, leaving the rest of the week to undiluted Motherboing (and their guests).

Of course White was the author of an oft-anthologized essay, “The Symbol,” which argues that the origin of language lies in the employment of the innate and unique human ability to create and bestow meaning for things and events that cannot be perceived with the senses (“symboling”); or, as he put it, “trafficking in non-sensory meaning.” He seemed mildly insulted that Count Korzybski didn’t know of it.

I had a friend who went a bit mad while reading S&S and used the book as metaphor to his mania. He got better.

…my symbolic communication has been out of control for quite a while. Recently, I had come to the conclusion that it was colluding with the semantic environment, conspiring against me on some level.

They conspire in the night. It’s called dreaming.

The new interactivity is turning out to be a highly addictive pastime. I’ve triggered some OCD reaction that prevents me from looking away from boingboing. I’m trying to snap out of it!

I know, I’ll drink to sublimate the need to boingboing! Time for Margellas… This round goes out to Timothy Leary, and to you, too, Rushkoff!

Could you point me towards any good links for more discussion on the subject?

And I’ve enjoyed your stay at Boing Boing, hopefully you’ll be back soon. I have your website bookmarked “Technology, Media, and Popular Culture,” are a few of my favorite things.

However it gave me new insights into language and how it is used even today. For that I am gratefull to both Van Vogt and Korzybski

Nico

http://drvitelli.typepad.com/providentia/2008/03/after-count-alf.html

For others seeking more info, links and an overview of g.s.:
http://www.generalsemantics.org/index.php/discov/gsemantics/overview.html

For one key read in the area, checkout S. I. Hayakawa’s classic book Language in Thought and Action:
http://www.amazon.com/Language-Thought-Action-S-Hayakawa/dp/0156482401/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1223249015&sr=8-1

For a clever test of your ability to notice assumptions:
http://www.dh.id.au/InfTest1.htm

BTW – I have enjoyed Rushkoff’s guest bloggership immensely. Come back soon. :)

The head of the the Institute says there will be conference transcriptions on their site.

As for exactly what that description paragraph means, I’m not totally sure. General semantics doesn’t mean “a more general semantic,” though. General semantics, to me, is itself a lens on reality. It’s an effort to see through the way that language contains presuppositions and generalizations that can distort our perceptions and screw with our logic.

I think I’m talking about the same kinds of things I’ve been talking about here. Less currency and all that, and more about biases of media, possibilities for seeing many things in an open source way. But I’ve got three or four talks to do before then, plus this giant trip to Korea, so I haven’t had time to think about it yet.