Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics

by Alfred Korzybski

The original work by Alfred Korzybski introducing the field of general semantics. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0937298018
• ISBN13: 9780937298015
• Release Date: April 1995
• Publisher: Institute of General Semantics
• Length: 806 Pages
• Weight: 2.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

What happened?

So, I read the selections from Science and Sanity, and I realize, damn this book is amazing. One would be wise to ask, What is the importance of generalities, or in other words, how important is a general understanding of the position mankind is in at this-very-moment(1933). Of the information and knowledge, the engineering, history, and science, which influences every moment of our day, from when we wake till when we sleep. Korzybski accumulated a large amount of information for the developement of a system, which not only gives a general outline of the evolution of science and math, up to 1933, but still holds weight to this very day. General semantics, does not refer to the semantics of words, but of our thoughts, and the nature of the logic which we adhere to today, mostly of Aristotlian propositions. He outlines and differentiates from his system the older, outdated Aristotlian system. This of course, he acknowledges as being a loose generalization of his system. His system takes the revolutionary ideas of great mathemeticians, scientists, philosophers, psychiatrists, and anthropologists, to name a few, and accumulates the knowledge to form a concept he refered to as 'time-binding' or the function of passing information learned in ones lifetime to one's kin, more efficiently. My understanding of the system at this point is still amateur at best, but the potential is damn near infinite. Criticism of the system comes mainly from those who haven't taken the time to apply the principles, and not just ponder them. The genius behind the system is in the application. He utilizes techniques I don't even think were fully understood at the time of writing the book. The use of visualization and non-identification alone in application creates an inner revolution of unspeakable precident, increasing memorization ability, organization of thought, temper reactions to words and memories, and numerous other benefits that can only be experienced.

Through the Prism

I would first like to say that I read this book at the age of 17 and understood it rather easily; so for me, it was not a difficult book. I would describe it as densely packed, but not particularly difficult. The author has specific instructions on how to read the book -- and even what to do if you don't understand something -- and so if you follow these instructions, you should do fine. One of the fundamental notions presented in Science and Sanity is that we always see the world through the altering prism of our nervous system; that is, we never experience the world directly, but only through the lense of our 'abstractions' (our individual nervous system's responses to the world). When we talk or think, the world is further altered (abstracted) by the language or words we use in dealing with our nervous system's responses. And because in words we can talk or think about the words and thoughts we have used previously, our abstractions can build on previous abstractions, and extend into many orders or iterations. Therefore, because our thoughts and our words are abstractions from what we are thinking or talking about, and because we don't experience the world directly (but only through the prism of our individual nervous systems), there exists an unavoidable element of uncertainty in even our best statements. They are "from our point of view" so to speak, not "the way it is." I think you can see from this discussion that Korzybski was trying to generalize Einstein's and Heisenberg's notions of relativity and uncertainty (in science) to the whole of life in its myriad aspects (and create a system to train us in that attitude). Not only is "beauty in the eye of the beholder," everything is in the eye of the beholder. This does not mean that all abstractions from different people are of equal value in Korzybski's system (though all are relative or somewhat uncertain). He values most the abstractions that have the highest predictive value; the ones that seem to fit the 'facts' of our world the best. And thus his quest to impart the attitudes and values of science in our everyday reactions; for instance, the attitude that says, "I don't know, let's see," one of his favorite expressions. Now, if you find the previous discussion interesting, then I would recommend the book. If you do not find it interesting, then I would not recommend it. But regardless of my recommendation, I would point out that everything I have said here is just a reflection of my individual abstractions or reactions to Science and Sanity; they are not "it." Note that no two reviews (abstractions of the book) at this site are even close to being identical, and some are wildly different. So, in this case, the best use of the "I don't know, let's see" response (if that is an attitude that you would like to cultivate in your life) would be to get the book and see for yourself (make you own abstractions).

A Life-Changing Book

I first read this book over 25 years ago, and it stunned me. Only a fool or the bitterest cynic could come away from this book unchanged. Whether or not you agree with all or even some of its premises and conclusions, Science and Sanity will make you keenly aware of language, psychology, and communication in all aspects of your life. You will realize how little most people know or understand about the deep and complex role language plays at home and on the world stage. This book will give you a different platform to stand on. Yes, it is a difficult book to read, but like another difficult book, Samuel Hahnemann's timeless Organon of the Medical Art, it rewards the patient and thoughtful reader in countless subtle ways over the course of time. I'd rate this book in my top ten books of a lifetime spent reading everything under the sun.

The Most Underestimated Book Of The 20th Century?

In his book, Science and Sanity, Alfred Korzybski succeeds in presenting to his readers a distillation of many seemingly diverse branches of knowledge, including: Anthropology, Biology, Education, Logic, Mathematics, Neurology, Physics, Physiology, Psychiatry, Semantics, etc.Specialists in the above mentioned disciplines may be disappointed or even insulted at Korzybski's general, integrative style. However, Korzybski was mainly concerned about extracting the aspects of the above mentioned disciplines that have the most human value. Korzybski's attitude was definitely NOT "science for science's sake." Instead, he sought to integrate diverse branches of knowledge into a system that would be simple enough to teach to young children, so that each young child would begin life with the knowledge and wisdom that took the human race centuries of labor to achieve. Of course, if this goal could actually be achieved, the progression and survival of the human race would be greatly enhanced!Although Science and Sanity is certainly a difficult book to read and understand, Korzybski's system can be easily taught to young children. The reason for this is that Korzybski summarized his system as a non-verbal diagram. Probably, the wisdom of thousands of books are represented non-verbally on that diagram!It's true that one must know what the different parts of the diagram represent in order to appreciate or understand it; however, Korzybski's system is certainly unique in that one can explain the system to another while referring (pointing) to a diagram. This visual aid, called the Structural Differential, could be used in the education of young children as a way of simply and easily imparting "the wisdom of the ages."Note: Science and Sanity uses some abbreviations throughout the book. There are charts on pages 15 and 16 that explain these. Don't miss those charts, or you'll miss the whole book!

Serious Reading: Attention Span Required!

Like some of the other reviewers, I first read S. I. Hayakawa's classic "Language in Action" (later updated to "Language in Thought and Action") before wondering who Alfred Korzybski was and why Hayakawa spoke so highly of him. Eventually I bought "Science and Sanity" from the Institute for General Semantics and read straight through the book in two days. I am over 50 years old, so I learned to read and write well during my high school years, largely because I didn't watch much television. I had no trouble reading korzybski's book quickly, in spite of its rather large size. The TV generation, though, may just not have the attention span for a book such as this. Too bad for them! Korzybski warns the reader early in the book that it contains serious material, and so it does. I found his treatment of "infinity" and "variables" alone worth the effort of reading the book. His material on Ivan Pavlov gave me new information on the contributions of that neglected genius. His treatment of Bertrand Russell's "propositional function" and "theory of types" inspired me to actually read Russell on these subjects. His principles of general semantics have provided me with a useful framework for analyzing early Buddhist psychology, the theme of my Master's Degree thesis. Korzybski, like Hayakawa and Wendell Johnson, advocates elimination of the "is" of identity and the "is" of predication from our language. Unfortunately, they went on using the verb "to be" in their own writing and this somewhat detracted from the weight their message might otherwise have carried. Still, Korzybski's student, D. David Bourland, Jr., went on to pioneer the use of E-Prime (English without the "is") and I can testify to the worth of following his example. Aristotle's superstitious ghost can now rest in peace.Korzybski could have written better than he did, but then, the value of the book lies in the ideas he proposed and the intelligent men he inspired. That he failed to spoon-feed those suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder, a modern euphemism for too much television, says more about weak readers than it does about his poor (if indeed we can call it that) writing.Read the book once, then read it again, and then start putting general semantics to work in your own reading, writing, and--most importantly--thinking. If you don't do anything else in your life, get rid of the verb "to be" and you will have gotten more from Korzybski than you will ever get from another author. The rest of the book will then just amount to layers of frosting on the cake. Warning, though! Once you do, you will hardly ever again read a book or listen to another person speak without recoiling from the dogmatism they espouse with every use of that malignant little Aristotelian invitation to identification, rationalization, and objectification.