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Viliam_Bur comments on Open Thread, September 23-29, 2013 - Less Wrong Discussion

5 Post author: Mestroyer 24 September 2013 01:25AM

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Comment author: Viliam_Bur 25 September 2013 12:23:24PM *  8 points [-]

Anyone here familiar enough with General Semantics and willing to write an article about it? Preferably not just a few slogans, but also some examples of how to use it in real life.

I have heard it mentioned a few times, and it sounds to me a bit LessWrongish, but I admit I am too lazy now to read a whole book about it (and I heard that Korzybski is difficult to read, which also does not encourage me).

Comment author: ChristianKl 01 October 2013 12:04:04AM 0 points [-]

I just started rereading Science and Sanity and maybe the project will develop into a lesswrong post.

When it comes to Korzybski being difficult to read I think it's because the idea he advocates are complex.

As he writes himself:

For those other readers who insist on translating the new terms with new structural implications into their old habitual language, and choose to retain the old terms with old structural implications and old semanatic relations this work will not appear simple.

It's a bit like learning a foreign language in a foreign language. In some sense that seems necessary. A lot of dumb down elements of General Semantics made it into popular culture but the core seems to be intrinsicly hard.

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