Our 57th Anniversary
 

Verbal Level

November, 2003

 therapy  for  the  sane:

getting  the  emery

out  of  the  lubricant

lou  marinoff,  PhD

assoc.  professor  of  philosophy, city college of new york

 founding  President, american  philosophical Practioners  association

Thursday, November 13, 7 PM

Albert Ellis Institute

45 East 65^th Street

NYSGS  Members Free

Non-members $5

     Professor Lou Marinoff’s first book, Plato, Not Prozac!,drew on the wisdom of the great philosophers to solve our everyday problems, launching a movement that restored philosophy to where it once was: useful in all walks of life.  Now, in The Big Questions, he takes the concept to the next level, applying centuries of philosophy and great literature to answer central questions of modern existence.

     Urging us not to accept victimhood as the product of modern life, Professor Marinoff uses specific case studies from his counseling practice to show how wisdom from the great thinkers can help us define our own philosophy, and thereby reclaim our sense of wellbeing.  He asks and answers questions that go to the heart of the human condition, like How do we know what is right?  How can we cope with change?  Why can’t we all get along? And, most centrally, How can we use the centuries of wisdom that have come before us to answer these questions and feel at ease in the world?

     Accessible, entertaining and profoundly useful, Dr. Marinoff, in discussing The Big Questions, mixes wisdom from the great thinkers with specific case studies to illuminate how a shift in perspective can truly be life changing.

     Dr. Marinoff was the 2001 Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecturer.

something  from  nothing:

seeking a sense of self

lance  strate,  PhD

Assoc. professor of communication and media studies, fordham university,

president, media ecology association

Thursday, December 18, 7 PM

Albert Ellis Institute

45 East 65^th Street

NYSGS Members Free

Nonmembers $5

      How is our sense of self affected by our postliterate, electronic culture?

      While we can modify ourselves to meet the demands of our changing communication environment, we can also transform our environment to make it more favorable for our survival and prosperity.  Professor Lance Strate points out that this process is called ecology.  Using technologies and symbolic forms, this process is called media ecology. 

     In developing a sense of self we struggle to find a balance between self and other.  Not born with a sense of self, Dr. Strate has said, we construct one with the raw material of body and brain, and by means of human communication in a human society. 

     The self we take for granted is a product of this struggle, and then we continue to transform ourselves hopefully toward an integrated self.

     Dr. Strate has the lead article in the current issue of ETC., the journal of the International Society for General Semantics.  Copies will be available at the meeting.

 in  memorium

     Neil Postman, our former Board member and colleague, died October 5.  He was a widely known and highly respected teacher, author and editor.  Dr. Postman taught at N Y U for over 40 years, and taught a highly popular course on T V. 

    He founded the Department of Culture and Communication, coined the term “Media Ecology” and was a pioneer in the field.  Among his more than 20 books, he wrote Teaching as a Subversive Activity, Teaching as a Conserving Activity, The Disappearance of Childhood, Amusing  Ourselves to Death, and Building a Bridge to the 18^th Century. 

     Dr. Postman was editor of ETC., the publication of the International Society for General Semantics, for over a decade, and was an Alfred Korzybski Memorial Speaker in 1974.

   He was a brilliant lecturer, a knowledgeable editor, a respected critic of our culture, and his wisdom and friendliness will be missed.

PRESENTS

THE TWELFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON GENERAL SEMANTICS

    Outside, Halloween and the two=valued choice of trick-or-treat, inside, the opportunity to relate with over 70 fellow G.S. enthusiasts, from France, in one direction, to Australia, in another, and to Argentina too. 

    Outside, entertainment and games of chance, what Neil Postman called Amazing Ourselves to Death; inside, concern over our planet and all her natural wonders.

    Thirty representatives gave a broad spectrum, including: "On Time-Binding as an Instrument of Peace," "From the Unconscious to the Conscious," "On Belief Systems," "Challenging Culturally Expected Ways of Thinking," "Ramifications of Julian Jaynes' Theory of Consciousness for Traditional General Semantics."

    NYSGS was represented by Hal Fiedler; Allen Flagg speaking on "Dreams, Nightmares and Non-Violence," Martin Levinson speaking on "A G.S. Approach to Reducing Student Alienation," and his book The Drug Problem:  A New View Using the General Semantics Approach; Katherine Liepe-Levinson's workshop "Toward a Civil Society."  Irene Ross-Mayper and Nan Wright.

    The Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecturer was Dr. Sanford Berman, demonstrating how to communicate the excitement of learning and using G.S.  Dr. Berman studied with Irving J. Lee, has authored and edited G.S. books, and has funded university chairs in G.S.

    Prior to the Conference, the Institute of General Semantics held a five-day seminar-workshop, with a teaching staff of Laura Bertone, Milton Dawes, Bruce Kodish, Susan Presby Kodish, Jeff Mordkowitz and Steve Stockdale.

    To commemorate the proceedings of the Conference and to acknowledge the 60th anniversary of ETC., the journal of the International Society for General Semantics, the 65th anniversary of the Institute of General Semantics and the 70th anniversary of Alfred Korzybski's Science and Sanity, a CD-ROM was prepared with a wealth of materials:

• Conference papers and presentations.

• G.S. Sampler, a collection of almost 100 articles, exercises, examples, tutorials, quotes ad short overviews of G.S. compiled by Steve Stockdale,

• Milton Dawes collection of forty articles on his observations and applications of G.S.,

• Selections by the Kodishes, thirteen articles by Susan Presby Kodish an Bruce Kodish, including two chapters from his new book Dare to Inquire,

• Time Bindings Newsletter, three issues published by the Institue of G.S.

• Early G.S. Conference Papers, the complete papers from the First and Second American Congress on G.S., 1935 and 1041,

• Selections from ETC., the compete contents of three historically important issues, Vol.1, No.1, (1943), Vol. 22, No.4 (The Psychedelic Experience 1965), Vol. 34, No.1 (Roots of Fanaticism, 1977), and over 200 selected articles from 1943-2003),

• Selections from General Semantics Bulletin, two compete issues (Numbers 1-2 and 3_ plus over 80 selected articles and

• Photos from the Archives, over 750 photos of individuals, groups and events that document 65 years of the Institute of General Semantics.

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