"The formation of different languages and of distinct species, and the proofs that both have been developed through a gradual process, are curiously parallel...."
—Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man 1871
—Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man 1871
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
"Korzybski's Legacy: What Is It? How Do We Carry It On?" - presented by Bruce I. Kodish, Author of Korzybski: A Biography, at the 2011 Institute of General Semantics (IGS) Weekend Symposium, "Communicating in the 21st Century", on 10/29/11 at the Princeton Club, New York City
Here are links to the text and audio of the presentation I gave at the Institute of General Semantics (IGS) Symposium - "Communicating in the 21st Century" on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011 at the Princeton Club in New York City.
Marty Levinson, President of the IGS Board of Trustees introduced me to the group. Marty organized a great conference and I want to thank him and the IGS Board for inviting me and being willing to listen even though I had some difficult things to say about the present state of GS and the IGS. I felt nervous delivering this talk and you'll probably tell when you hear it. But I consider it one of the most important presentations I've ever made, and a valuable one for someone who wants to get a running start as to what Korzybski and his work are about.
Here's the opening paragraph:
Korzybski’s legacy: what ‘is’ it? How do we carry it on? In the way that I’m using the term legacy here, as “a thing handed down by a predecessor,” Korzybski’s legacy has a number of related aspects. Partly, it consists of tangible objects: artifacts and archives left behind. Partly it consists of the Institute of General Semantics itself. However, mainly today I want to focus on what Korzybski taught, the legacy of the wide-ranging system of formulations, known as GS (‘general semantics’). Korzybski advised that when you study someone’s work “…read not only what you read, but study the author.”[1] In other words, do your best to get inside his or her head, find out what problems they tackled, what questions they asked, what they wanted to say. I’ve studied the author and I want to share with you some of what I’ve learned about Korzybski’s work. What constitutes the core of what he taught, his legacy? How has it come down to the present? What opportunities exist for us now to carry it on?
I want to thank my friend Heron Stone of Gendo for his help in editing the audio recording and getting it up on the Gendo podcast, which I heartily suggest that you subscribe to. He's the closest thing to an internet Socrates I've met.
Here's the audio link of Gendo Podcast 689
Here's a link to the pdf of the edited and augmented text
Marty Levinson, President of the IGS Board of Trustees introduced me to the group. Marty organized a great conference and I want to thank him and the IGS Board for inviting me and being willing to listen even though I had some difficult things to say about the present state of GS and the IGS. I felt nervous delivering this talk and you'll probably tell when you hear it. But I consider it one of the most important presentations I've ever made, and a valuable one for someone who wants to get a running start as to what Korzybski and his work are about.
Here's the opening paragraph:
Korzybski’s legacy: what ‘is’ it? How do we carry it on? In the way that I’m using the term legacy here, as “a thing handed down by a predecessor,” Korzybski’s legacy has a number of related aspects. Partly, it consists of tangible objects: artifacts and archives left behind. Partly it consists of the Institute of General Semantics itself. However, mainly today I want to focus on what Korzybski taught, the legacy of the wide-ranging system of formulations, known as GS (‘general semantics’). Korzybski advised that when you study someone’s work “…read not only what you read, but study the author.”[1] In other words, do your best to get inside his or her head, find out what problems they tackled, what questions they asked, what they wanted to say. I’ve studied the author and I want to share with you some of what I’ve learned about Korzybski’s work. What constitutes the core of what he taught, his legacy? How has it come down to the present? What opportunities exist for us now to carry it on?
[1] Korzybski: A Biography, p. 8
I want to thank my friend Heron Stone of Gendo for his help in editing the audio recording and getting it up on the Gendo podcast, which I heartily suggest that you subscribe to. He's the closest thing to an internet Socrates I've met.
Here's the audio link of Gendo Podcast 689
Here's a link to the pdf of the edited and augmented text
Thursday, November 10, 2011
"Acceptance Speech" by Bruce Kodish on receiving the 2011 S. I. Hayakawa Book Prize from the Institute of General Semantics for Korzybski: A Biography
It seemed like just a few days after Steve Jobs died that his biography came out. It took 61 year for Alfred Korzybski's. Why did it take so long? Interesting question, I'm not going to answer now. But if you wonder why I wrote Korzybski: A Biography, I thought it had been long enough.
My friend Robert P. Pula, extraordinary scholar and teacher of korzybskian general-semantics and a former Executive Director of the Institute of General Semantics, had been working on a biography of Korzybski for many years. After he died unexpectedly in early 2004, I felt impelled 'to pick up the torch'. What Korzybski and his co-workers developed and taught was not entirely written down but had an oral and tacit dimension received through personal contact and handed down in often unspoken and even un-speakable, i.e., silent and non-verbal, ways. As a long-time close friend and co-worker of Charlotte Schuchardt Read—Korzybski's confidential secretary and literary assistant—I wanted to convey the feel of Korzybski and his work that I had gotten from her (and others) which I feared might otherwise get lost.
I first encountered Korzybski's work in the early 1960s around the age of 13. I've studied it most of my life and worked at the Institute of General Semantics on its education and publication staffs for several decades in its post-Korzybski but still quite korzybskian heyday in the latter half of the 20th Century. I pursued and obtained a doctoral degree in Applied Epistemology/'General Semantics'. I spent seven years researching and writing Korzybski: A Biography. In all that time, I've managed to learn something. So don't be intimidated by the size of my book (694 pages including endnotes, bibliography and index): If you want to get to the core of what Korzybski taught, then I think that all of my time will save you a great deal of your own time. Besides, I did my best to make it a good read.
To conclude: I want to thank Marty Levinson [President of the IGS Board of Trustees], Jackie Rudig [IGS Vice-President] and the entire Institute Board of Trustees for giving me this award and for the opportunity to be here with all of you. Let's celebrate Korzybski here, his work, all of those who've carried it on and built upon it up to the present. And let's celebrate the Institute of General Semantics, which had its 73rd anniversary this year. Let's do it!
—Bruce I. Kodish,
October 28, 2011
My friend Robert P. Pula, extraordinary scholar and teacher of korzybskian general-semantics and a former Executive Director of the Institute of General Semantics, had been working on a biography of Korzybski for many years. After he died unexpectedly in early 2004, I felt impelled 'to pick up the torch'. What Korzybski and his co-workers developed and taught was not entirely written down but had an oral and tacit dimension received through personal contact and handed down in often unspoken and even un-speakable, i.e., silent and non-verbal, ways. As a long-time close friend and co-worker of Charlotte Schuchardt Read—Korzybski's confidential secretary and literary assistant—I wanted to convey the feel of Korzybski and his work that I had gotten from her (and others) which I feared might otherwise get lost.
I first encountered Korzybski's work in the early 1960s around the age of 13. I've studied it most of my life and worked at the Institute of General Semantics on its education and publication staffs for several decades in its post-Korzybski but still quite korzybskian heyday in the latter half of the 20th Century. I pursued and obtained a doctoral degree in Applied Epistemology/'General Semantics'. I spent seven years researching and writing Korzybski: A Biography. In all that time, I've managed to learn something. So don't be intimidated by the size of my book (694 pages including endnotes, bibliography and index): If you want to get to the core of what Korzybski taught, then I think that all of my time will save you a great deal of your own time. Besides, I did my best to make it a good read.
To conclude: I want to thank Marty Levinson [President of the IGS Board of Trustees], Jackie Rudig [IGS Vice-President] and the entire Institute Board of Trustees for giving me this award and for the opportunity to be here with all of you. Let's celebrate Korzybski here, his work, all of those who've carried it on and built upon it up to the present. And let's celebrate the Institute of General Semantics, which had its 73rd anniversary this year. Let's do it!
—Bruce I. Kodish,
October 28, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Institute of General Semantics 2011 Conference (Initial Post-Conference Debriefing)
I'm reserving today and perhaps the rest of the week for DDD. I don't mean that I'll be spending my time watching episodes of "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" (although I'll probably do that too); I mean I'll be Downloading (my rather chock-full cranium), Debriefing myself after a mega-busy, mega-stressful weekend in NYC at the IGS conference (lot's of input, lots of challenges, but not a lot of sleep), and Decompressing (just chilling, relaxing and 'vegging out') which often doesn't come easily to me.
First of all, kudos to IGS President Martin Levinson and his program committee for putting together a great conference at the Princeton Club. I counted about 40 people on Saturday and somewhat fewer on Sunday (there seemed like somewhat more people at the Friday night banquet which featured awards and Sherry Turkle's Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture). The high quality of audience and presenters made up for the smallish crowd. I'll be blogging on korzybskifiles.blogspot.com about stuff related to the conference and my award, including providing a copy of my presentation on "Korzybski's Legacy...", as well as discussing Sherry Turkle's talk and some of the main themes that seemed to emerge from the different presentations, as well as links and discussions about some of the interesting people I met at the conference.
I probably know more about the history of the Institute of General Semantics (IGS) and its varying historical and ongoing challenges/problems than anyone else alive—having had a continuous working association with the organization since 1979 up to the present, and having studied its history in depth (Korzybski: A Biography qualifies, among other things, as a comprehensive history of the first, pivotal 12 years of the IGS during Korzybski's lifetime). Although it's been quite a while since my wife Susan and I have had any significant involvement with the operation or policies of the IGS, the leadership of the Institute-2011 seemed willing at this juncture to hear some constructive suggestions and criticisms which I provided both privately and publicly to them. The Institute has had major organizational challenges over the last few years and I commend the leadership and those interested members of its governing board of trustees who demonstrated their openness to begin to deal with difficulties in a constructive way.
I deeply appreciate the great honor they have bestowed upon me: their major book prize for Korzybski: A Biography. I experienced their appreciation of the book as deeply genuine. It also honors them because it demonstrates their desire to reconnect to the korzybskian tradition which for various reasons has gotten lost at the Institute (once the major bearer of that tradition) over the last 10 or so very difficult years. That provided a major theme of my public presentation to the group, Korzybski's Legacy: What Is It? How Do We Carry It On, which happily seemed very well received by the audience—including the Institute leadership, who appear to want to go forward in a productive and positive way.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Meet Bruce Kodish in New York City, Oct. 28-30 at this Extra Special IGS Annual Event
The Institute of General Semantics (IGS) will continue a long tradition by hosting the 59th annual Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture (AKML) and Symposium in New York City at the Princeton Club in Manhattan from October 28 to 30. (That's just a little more than a week from now—oh my.) It starts off Friday Evening, Oct. 28 with a cocktail hour followed by a banquet dinner and then what looks like a very interesting talk by famed anthropologist of digital electronic life and the Internet, Sherry Turkle, author of the new book Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. Besides the speaker and the other interesting people attending, I will be there getting the 2011 IGS Book Prize for Korzybski: A Biography.
Mr. B. K. Parekh will receive the prestigious J. Talbot Winchell Award for his exceptional service in furthering the field of GS.
Then on Saturday, Oct. 29 and Sunday, Oct. 30, the Institute and its co-sponsors will host the symposium at the Princeton Club, "Communicating in the 21st Century." Have a good look at the tentative program and you'll see a variety of fascinating titles and presenters. Kudos to IGS President Martin H. Levinson and the other program planners for putting together such an impressive lineup of speakers.
In my presentation on Saturday afternoon: "Korzybski's Legacy: What Is It? How Do We Carry It On", I intend to entertain and enlighten as I present what I consider the core of what Korzybski developed and taught. My presentation will end with a Q&A session. I think this could serve as a good lead-up to the final session on Sunday—scheduled from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm—An Audience Round-Table Discussion on the Direction and Future of GS moderated by Marty Levinson. You'll have a chance 'to put your two-cents in' (or more) on the future of GS. I feel excited—to say the least. I'd love to meet any of my Korzybski Files readers, FaceBook friends, and Twitter followers and anyone else reading this who lives in the New York City Area.
Here's a link to register for all or some of the the AKML weekend events. You'll get a big bang for your buck with the $15 dollar fee for the combined AKML and Symposium (minus the dinner). Come on out if you can, for all or some of the proceedings.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Korzybski Files Meets Gendo
Korzybski Files Meets Gendo?
No, unlike Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman or King Kong Meets Godzilla, it's not a bad horror movie.
Rather, gendo is the name that its originator, Heron Stone, came up with for the approach he put together for "language rehab" for "brain-damaged language monkeys," i.e., you and me. Now, you see a connection, don't you?
Heron, who considers himself a "brain-damaged language monkey" too, encourages people to recognize what he calls the "five stupidities of the English language." You can hear his podcasts of internet conversations with fellow earthlings from around the planet at gendo - a way of language.
He considers Alfred Korzybski, a great influence and also runs a once a week Science and Sanity discussion group, which he records and also podcasts. I had never heard of him or gendo before, so felt pleasantly surprised when he recently contacted me (he had just bought Korzybski: A Biography). We have had a few discussions on Skype, including the following—which became gendo podcast 662—in preparation for me participating in his Science and Sanity group, later that week.
In this conversation we talk about gendo, Korzybski: A Biography, and various and sundry GS and non-aristotelian related topics. You can listen to or download the file of our discussion here: #662 - 1-on-1 with Bruce Kodish. #665 features the Science and Sanity group discussion that I participated in that next Sunday. Enjoy!
Also check out Heron's website gendo.net and search iTunes for the Science and Sanity podcast.
No, unlike Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman or King Kong Meets Godzilla, it's not a bad horror movie.
Rather, gendo is the name that its originator, Heron Stone, came up with for the approach he put together for "language rehab" for "brain-damaged language monkeys," i.e., you and me. Now, you see a connection, don't you?
Heron, who considers himself a "brain-damaged language monkey" too, encourages people to recognize what he calls the "five stupidities of the English language." You can hear his podcasts of internet conversations with fellow earthlings from around the planet at gendo - a way of language.
He considers Alfred Korzybski, a great influence and also runs a once a week Science and Sanity discussion group, which he records and also podcasts. I had never heard of him or gendo before, so felt pleasantly surprised when he recently contacted me (he had just bought Korzybski: A Biography). We have had a few discussions on Skype, including the following—which became gendo podcast 662—in preparation for me participating in his Science and Sanity group, later that week.
In this conversation we talk about gendo, Korzybski: A Biography, and various and sundry GS and non-aristotelian related topics. You can listen to or download the file of our discussion here: #662 - 1-on-1 with Bruce Kodish. #665 features the Science and Sanity group discussion that I participated in that next Sunday. Enjoy!
Also check out Heron's website gendo.net and search iTunes for the Science and Sanity podcast.
Friday, September 23, 2011
2011 Hayakawa Book Prize To Be Awarded For Korzybski: A Biography
The Institute of General Semantics (IGS) will present me with its 2011 S. I. Hayakawa Book Prize for Korzybski: A Biography at the Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture (AKML) Banquet on Friday, October 28 at the Princeton Club in New York City.
My getting this award may seem ironic, given some of the criticisms I've detailed about Hayakawa in the biography and in past articles (especially "Getting Off of Hayakawa's Ladder," but also "In the Name of Skepticism: Martin Gardner's Misrepresentations of General Semantics," and "Contra Max Black: An Examination of Critiques of General-Semantics," ) published in the General Semantics Bulletin.
Nonetheless, I've never denied Hayakawa's talents as a writer, editor and teacher. His elaboration of Korzybski's work, however attenuated much of it has seemed to me, has no doubt had some good effects. Here's an account of Hayakawa's influence on one person.
The Institute began giving the Hayakawa Prize in 2009 and I feel honored to have my name added to those of the two previous winners and their truly excellent books:
Laura Bertone
Bob Eddy
My getting this award may seem ironic, given some of the criticisms I've detailed about Hayakawa in the biography and in past articles (especially "Getting Off of Hayakawa's Ladder," but also "In the Name of Skepticism: Martin Gardner's Misrepresentations of General Semantics," and "Contra Max Black: An Examination of Critiques of General-Semantics," ) published in the General Semantics Bulletin.
Nonetheless, I've never denied Hayakawa's talents as a writer, editor and teacher. His elaboration of Korzybski's work, however attenuated much of it has seemed to me, has no doubt had some good effects. Here's an account of Hayakawa's influence on one person.
The Institute began giving the Hayakawa Prize in 2009 and I feel honored to have my name added to those of the two previous winners and their truly excellent books:
2009
Hidden Side of Babel: Unveiling Cognition, Intelligence and Sense. (Buenos Aries: Evolución, 2006.)Bob Eddy
2010
Graymanship: The Management of Organizational Imperfection. (Lake Mary, FL: GIST Publishing Co., 2010.)
I'll attend the AKML Banquet to receive the prize and look forward to hearing Sherry Turkle, who as the 59th Annual Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecturer will be presenting material from her latest book, Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. Turkle has done important research which actually provides corroborating data for one of Korzybski's earliest predictions: that the rapid growth of technology and associated socio-cultural changes would increasingly challenge human abilities to cope and to relate to one another (elaborated in his 1921 Manhood of Humanity).
A two-day symposium entitled "Communicating in the 21st Century" will follow. I'll speak on Saturday, October 29 on "Korzybski's Legacy: What Is It? How Do We Carry It On?"
I make an effort to keep minimum expectations about everything that I can and definitely do expect to have an interesting time
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)