Editing General semantics (section)

{{Short description|School of thought on cognition and problem-solving}}
{{For|semantics in general|Semantics}}
{{Distinguish|Generative semantics}}

{{Undue weight|date=May 2023}}
'''General semantics''' is a [[school of thought]] that incorporates [[philosophy|philosophic]] and [[science|scientific]] aspects. Although it does not stand on its own as a separate [[list of schools of philosophy|school of philosophy]], a separate [[science]], or an [[academic discipline]], it describes itself as a scientifically [[empiricism|empirical]] approach to [[cognition]] and [[problem solving]]. It has been described by nonproponents as a [[self-help]] system, and it has been criticized as having [[pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] aspects, but it has also been favorably viewed by various scientists as a useful set of [[analysis|analytical]] tools albeit not its own science.

General semantics is concerned with how [[phenomenon|phenomena]] (observable events) translate to [[perception]]s, how they are further modified by the [[name]]s and [[labelling|labels]] we apply to them, and how we might gain a measure of control over our own cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses. Proponents characterize general semantics as an antidote to certain kinds of [[Delusion|delusional thought]] patterns in which incomplete and possibly warped mental constructs are projected onto the world and treated as reality itself. Accurate [[map–territory relation]]s are a central theme.

After partial launches under the names ''human engineering'' and ''humanology'',<ref>{{cite book |author=Korzybski, Alfred |title=Time-Binding: The General Theory. Two Papers 1924–1926 |publisher=Institute of General Semantics |location=Lakeville, CT |year=1974 |pages=(5), 54}}</ref> Polish-American originator [[Alfred Korzybski]]<ref name="kodish1">{{cite book |author=Kodish, Bruce I. |title=Korzybski: A Biography |publisher=Extensional Publishing |location=Pasadena, CA |year=2011 |page=257 |isbn=978-0-9700664-0-4}}</ref> (1879–1950) fully launched the program as ''general semantics'' in 1933 with the publication of ''[[Science and Sanity]]: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics''.

In ''Science and Sanity'', general semantics is presented as both a theoretical and a practical system whose adoption can reliably alter human behavior in the direction of greater sanity. In the 1947 preface to the third edition of ''Science and Sanity'', Korzybski wrote: "We ''need not'' blind ourselves with the old dogma that 'human nature cannot be changed', for we find that it ''can be changed''."<ref name="korzybski1">{{cite book |author=Korzybski, Alfred |title=Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics |edition=5th |publisher=Institute of General Semantics |location=Brooklyn, NY |year=1994 |isbn=0-937298-01-8 |page=xxxv}}</ref> While Korzybski considered his program to be empirically based and to strictly follow the scientific method, general semantics has been described as veering into the domain of [[pseudoscience]].<ref name=Gardner/>

Starting around 1940, university English professor [[S.&nbsp;I. Hayakawa]] (1906–1992), speech professor [[Wendell Johnson]], speech professor Irving J. Lee, and others assembled elements of general semantics into a package suitable for incorporation into mainstream communications curricula. The [[Institute of General Semantics]], which Korzybski and co-workers founded in 1938,<ref>Kodish, Bruce I. ''Korzybski: A Biography'', p. 440.</ref> continues today. General semantics as a movement has waned considerably since the 1950s, although many of its ideas live on in other movements, such as [[media literacy]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hoffman |first1=Gregg |title=Media literacy and general semantics |journal=ETC: A Review of General Semantics |date=April 2004 |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=29–31 |jstor=42580191 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42580191 |access-date=5 August 2022}}</ref> [[neuro-linguistic programming]]<ref>Linder-Pelz, S. and Hall, L.M., 2007. The theoretical roots of NLP-based coaching. The Coaching Psychologist, 3(1), pp. 12–17.</ref><ref>Wmediaitkowski, Tomasz. "A review of research findings on neuro-linguistic programming". Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice (2011)</ref> and [[rational emotive behavior therapy]].<ref>Ellis, Albert. "General Semantics and Rational-Emotive Therapy". ''General Semantics Bulletin,'' 1993, Number 58. Institute of General Semantics, Englewood, NJ. pp. 12–28.</ref>