General Semantics

Alfred Korzybski

General semantics is Alfred Vladislavovich Habdank Skarbek Korzybski's attempt to redirect the manner of thought individuals employ in approaching the world. Korzybski was born of Polish nobility, continuing the family occupational tradition in philosophy, engineering, and mathematics. His thinking was influenced by Georg Hegel and Immanuel Kant; by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels' discussions of the struggle of the working class; by Charles Darwin's conclusions; by the new era of electricity led by Michael [Page 439]Faraday, James Maxwell, and Nikola Tesla; and later by others, including Alfred North Whitehead, Bertrand Russell, and Albert Einstein. Initially assigned to the Second Russian Army during the World War I, Korzybski worked in intelligence and was severely injured, later serving on the Polish Commission to the League of Nations. Traveling in America for the U.S. government, he lectured on the importance of Liberty Bonds and of increased production.

Particularly influenced by World War I, Korzybski sought to end the suffering brought about by humans' inhumanity, which contrasted greatly with recent rapid advances in science. He questioned how humans could cooperate so well in the advancement of science, yet fail so badly in international politics and culture. While culture could be transmitted through symbolic communication, animal territoriality remained, and for much of humanity, the advances of science were lost in the insanity of wars. Rejecting religious and philosophical approaches to the problem as metaphysical speculation, Korzybski sought to apply the methods of physics and mathematics to the problems of human interaction for the benefit of humanity. Based on his attempts to apply mathematical methods in psychoanalysis, he studied psychiatry for 2 years at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington under William Alanson White. This work included reading case histories, interviewing patients, attending meetings of the staff and Washington meetings of professional psychiatric societies, and holding occasional discussions of his work with Harry Stack Sullivan.

Following this work and except for his own Institute of General Semantics and the International Society for General Semantics, which merged with the Institute in 2003, Korzybski had no official connection with a formal organization. This may have affected the credibility accorded to his work. Bronislaw Malinowski and Roscoe Pound, among others, were honorary trustees of the Institute. The writings of Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa helped to popularize general semantics. Korzybski taught many seminars and lectured at universities, several offering courses in the subject. He usually incorporated diagrams into his lectures and was visual in his own thinking. Korzybski became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1940. Richard Bandler and John Grinder's Frogs Into Princes: Neuro Linguistic Programming, Albert Ellis's Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, and Aaron Beck's Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders were each directly influenced by Korzybski's work.

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