ETC.: A Review of General Semantics articles from September 1996

ETC.: A Review of General Semantics archives from September 1996

Fallacies of logic: argumentation cons.
September 22, 1996... Introduction Nowhere, perhaps, can you be more easily conned than during an argument or discussion. You've taken a position on an issue, which you've thoroughly thought through. You have supporting data at your fingertips. You're a quick...

A rhetoric of fitness: persuasion and perspiration.
September 22, 1996... Each spring and summer we pay homage to Sisyphus, the patron of modern fitness routines, by pushing our winter-bodies up an Everest of dumbbells, Nautilus racks, Nike's, Adidas socks, sit-ups, and Fonda tapes. We hope to round the pinnacle and...

Playing the percentages: sex in Connecticut.
September 22, 1996... One should perhaps expect occasional news of sexual oddities from Connecticut, the last state with a law prohibiting the use of contraceptives. (1) It would seem to make sense for strange ideas to emanate from a place where good law enforcement...

Between mush and a hard place: the search for meaning.
September 22, 1996... In Douglas Adams' humorous novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, some hyper-intelligent beings build a giant computer to resolve their arguments about the meaning of life. This computer ponders for seven and a half million years. It then...

Some basic ideas of general semantics.
September 22, 1996... Introduction Definition General semantics can be defined in many ways. But certainly there is emphasis upon applying modern concepts of science to our skills of processing experiences. Improved human relations and better mental health, as...

Making sense: kinesthesia.
September 22, 1996... To know anything well involves knowing ourselves well in relation to whatever else we wish top understand. Where does such knowing begin? At the beginning, perhaps? Here, Leela Zion serves as an able guide to the early stages of a lifelong...

Russell Joyner: in memoriam.(Obituary)
September 22, 1996... Russell Joyner, who had retired as executive director after nearly 30 years with the International Society for General Semantics, including three years as editor of ETC., died on April 12, 1996 at age 71. His life was marked by great contrasts:...

The fast food franchise as metaphor.(Metaphors in Action)
September 22, 1996... The first hot day of the year - sunny, not too humid - summer definitely on the way. I didn't feel like fixing myself the same old boring lunch at home, so I went out to my favorite fast food franchise. A new branch, which served vegetarian subs...

A general semantics glossary. (part 15)
September 22, 1996... function. Throughout his writing and lecturing career Korzybski consistently touted the value of mathematical 'thinking', of evaluating from an internalized mathematical orientation. He did not call for nor did he expect that those who took and...

Using semantic coaching to improve teacher performance.(Training Development)
September 22, 1996... One of the major challenges I face as a teacher trainer is the "balloon goes up/balloon goes down" syndrome exhibited by many novice teachers. They begin their first year of teaching bursting with enthusiasm for their work and filled with...

Big Babies.
September 22, 1996... Michael Kinsley believes that, "Although various procedural explanations are available to explain why" the results of democracy leave most voters noisily dissatisfied (special-interest gridlock, constitutional defects of the separation of powers,...

Adcult USA: The Triumph of Advertising in American Culture.
September 22, 1996... Adcult USA, which is a paean to American advertising, suggests that advertising has been the dominant meaning-making system in American culture; that advertising does not create artificial desire but rather satisfies cravings that were there in...

The Death of Common Sense: How Law Is Suffocating America.
September 22, 1996... "America is drowning in law, legality, bureaucratic process. Abandoning our common sense and individual sense of responsibility, we live in terror of the law, in awe of procedure, at war with one another." So says Philip Howard in The Death of...

Being Digital.
September 22, 1996... Nicholas Negroponte, a columnist for Wired magazine and a founder of MIT's Media Lab, has been called the Thomas Jefferson of the digital revolution. Jefferson advanced the concept of libraries and the right to check out a book free of charge....

The Future of Capitalism.
September 22, 1996... According to MIT professor Lester Thurow, when it comes to catering to the wants and desires of every individual, no matter how trivial those wants seem to others, no system does it even half so well. Capitalism's nineteenth and twentieth century...