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On Alfred Korzybski Alfred Korzybski (1879-1950)

Ho w is it that humans have pro gressed so rapidly in science, mathematics, and engineering, yet we co ntinue to exhibit behavio rs that result in misunderstanding, suspicio n, bigo try,hatred, and even vio lence in o ur dealings with o ther peo ple and with o ther cultures?

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Ho me The General Semantics Learning Center

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Alfred Ko rzybski pursued this questio n as an engineer, military o fficer, and extrao rdinary o bserver o f human behavio r. He survived the ho rrific battlegro unds o f Wo rld War I and wo ndered why humans co uld pro gress and advance in so me areas, but no t in o thers. He theo rized that the attitudes and metho do lo gies respo nsible fo r advancements in engineering, the sciences, and mathematics co uld be applied to the daily affairs o f individuals, and ultimately cultures. He called this new field general semantics and intro duced it as a practical, teachable system in his 19 33 bo o k, Science and Sanity . Be lo w, f ind bio graphical inf o rm at io n abo ut Alf re d Ko rzybksi including pe rso nal acco unt s, his o e uvre , his o bit uary, what o t he rs have said abo ut him , as we ll as audio and vide o . Alfred Ko rzybski (Pho to by Kenneth Keyes. Used with permissio n fro m the Institute o f General Semantics.)

The General Semantics Learning Center On Alfred Ko rzybski

Biography of Alfred Korzybski

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Bo rn 3 July 18 79 in Warsaw, Po land. Died 1 March 19 50 in Sharo n, Co nnecticut.

At o utbreak o f Wo rld War I (age 35), vo lunteered fo r service in the Seco nd Russian Army; assigned to General Staff Intelligence Department. Sustained hip injury when his ho rse was sho t o ut fro m under him, as well as surviving a leg wo und and internal injuries. In December 19 15, assigned to Camp Petawawa testing gro unds in Canada to o bserve new artillery tests. After co llapse o f the Russian army and the revo lutio n o f 19 17, jo ined the French-Po lish army fo r the duratio n o f the war. Also assisted the U.S. go vernment by lecturing o n behalf o f the war effo rt to sell Liberty Bo nds. In 19 19 , met and married Mira Edgerly, an acco mplished po rtrait painter.

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In 19 21, co mpleted and published Manhood of Humanity . Devised the Structural Differential mo del (o riginally called the Anthro po meter) and applied fo r U.S. patent in 19 23. Presented and published Time-Binding: The General Theory in 19 24 to the Internatio nal Mathematical Co ngress in To ro nto . Under guidance o f Dr. William Alanso n White, spent two years o bserving and studying mental illnesses and treatments at St. Elizabeths Ho spital in Washingto n, D.C. Co mpleted and published his seco nd bo o k in Octo ber 19 33, Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics (o riginally titled Time-Binding, The General Theory: An Introduction to Humanology). Fro m 19 34-19 37, traveled aro und the co untry giving public and private seminars based o n the metho do lo gy o f general semantics as fo rmulated and discussed in Science and Sanity . So me o f the mo re significant seminar venues included Harvard University, Williams Co llege in Califo rnia, Olivet Co llege in Michigan, the Barsto w Scho o l fo r Girls in Kansas City, and several co nducted in Lo s Angeles. In August 19 38 , after sefcuring initial funding fro m Co rnelius Crane (Chicago ) and Frances Sto ne Dewing (Massachusetts), fo unded the Institute o f General Semantics in Chicago . He was assisted by M. Kendig who resigned as Headmistress o f the Barsto w Scho o l to mo ve to Chicago and beco me the Institutes first Educatio n Directo r. Began regular schedule o f delivering seminars at the Institute and vario us universities thro ugho ut the co untry. With the Institute, mo ved to Lakeville (Lime Ro ck), Co nnecticut, in April 19 46 fo llo wing the po stwar ho using sho rtage in Chicago . Co ntinued his exhaustive schedule o f seminars until his death o n 1 March 19 50 . His final paper, The Ro le o f Language in the Perceptual Pro cesses was published as a chapter in Perception: An Approach to Personality , edited by Ro bert R. Blake and Glenn V. Ramsey in 19 51.

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Account s of Alfred Korzybski

Read Alfred Habdank Skarbek Ko rzybski: A Bio graphical Sketch by Ko rzybskis lo ng-time literary secretary and executrix Charlo tte Schuchardt Read. Read A Memo ir: Alfred Ko rzybski by Ko rzybskis lo ng-time asso ciate and IGS Educatio n Directo r M. Kendig.

Published Works

The fo llo wing are the published wo rks o f Alfred Ko rzybski: Manhood of Humanity Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics Olivet College Lectures Collected Writings Click here to purchase wo rks by Alfred Ko rzybski fro m the IGS Sto re.

Audio & Video

Kenneth S. Keyes, Jr.a student

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o f Alfred Ko rzybski and o ne might call a do cumentarian o f the manfilmed Alfred Ko rzybski in 19 44 at the Institute o f General Semantics in Chicago , Illino is, and in 19 47 in Warm Springs, Geo rgia (9 :23).

A sho rt video with Ko rzybski explaining the pro cess o f abstracting using his Structural Differential mo del (2:50 ).

New York Times Obituary

A.H. KORZYBSKI, 70, SCIENT IST , IS DEAD

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Fo under o f General Semant ics Inst it ut e Saw Ideas Put t o Use in Many Fields
SHARON, Co nn., March 1 (AP) Alfred Habdank Ko rzybski, scientist and autho r, an early autho rity o n general semantics, died early to day at Sharo n Ho spital at the age o f 70 . Death was due to a co ro nary thro mbo sis, with which he was stricken at his ho me in nearby Salisbury sho rtly after midnight. Surviving is his wido w, Mira Edgerly Ko rzybski o f Chicago , a po rtrait painter, who m he married in 19 19 . A pio neer in semantics, Mr. Ko rzybski fo unded a new scho o l o f psycho lo gicalphilo so phical semantics which he named general semantics. He had hundreds o f fo llo wers thro ugho ut the wo rld and was co nsulted by many scientists and scho lars. Widely credited with having expanded semantics fro m its o rdinary co ncern with o nly the meaning o f wo rds in a new system o f understanding human behavio r, Mr. Ko rzybski held the co nvictio n that in the o ld co nstructio n o f language, yo u canno t talk sense. The scientist co ntended that because o f Aristo telian thinking habits, which he tho ught o utmo ded, men did no t pro perly evaluate the wo rld they talked abo ut and that, in co nsequence, wo rds had lo st their accuracy as expressio ns o f ideas, if ever they had such accuracy. He explained that life was co mpo sed o f no n-verbal facts, each differing fro m ano ther and each fo rever changing. To o o ften, he co ntended, men go t the steps o f their tho ught-speech pro cesses co nfused, so that they spo ke befo re o bserving and then reacted to their o wn remarks as if they were fact itself. As Mr. Ko rzybski explained it, general semantics had to do with living, thinking, speaking and the who le realm o f human experience. His theo ry was put to practical use in the fields o f public, industrial and race relatio ns and everywhere that misunderstanding amo ng peo ple is due to different values and structures o f wo rds. In explaining simply what he meant by misleading wo rds, Mr. Ko rzybski said that to say a ro se is red is a delusio n because the red co lo r was o nly the vibratio n o f light waves. In 19 38 Mr. Ko rzybski fo und the Institute o f General Semantics in Chicago . In 19 46 he mo ved the institute, o f which he was president and the directo r, to Lakeville, Co nn. His bo o k, Manhood of Humanity The Science and Art of Human Engineering , which appeared in 19 21, caused a stir in the intellectual wo rld, as did his seco nd bo o k, Science
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and Sanity, An Intro ductio n to No n-Aristo telian Systems and General Semantics, 19 33. Descended fro m a lo ng line o f engineers, mathematicians and philo so phers, Mr. Ko rzybski, who was bo rn in Po land, was a Co unt befo re his American naturalizatio n. He attended the Warsaw Po lytechnic Institute, managed his familys estate and taught mathematics, physics, French and German in Warsaw befo re Wo rld War I. During that co nflict he was twice wo unded and served o n the Russian General Staff befo re being sent to this co untry and Canada o n a military missio n. In 19 18 he was a recruiting o fficer in the United States and Canada fo r a Po lish-French Army, and a war lecturer fo r o ur Go vernment. Mr. Ko rzyski served, in 19 20 , with the Po lish Co mmissio n to the League o f Natio ns. He had lived in New Yo rk at o ne time.

Click here to access the page o n the New York Times website.

What Others Said

Irving J. Lee
He deepened my awareness o f the human relevance o f all studies. He has to o vividly sho wn that what men say and do is inevitably linked with what they see and with what they assume. Acco mpanying that insight is a new kind o f respect fo r human po tentiality.

J. Samuel Bois
he turns yo ur attentio n to so mething less tangible, so mething that yo u canno t co mpute additively, that yo u canno t demo nstrate to o thers with a brilliant display o f whys and therefo res. He makes yo u co nscio us o f structure, relatio ns and o rder. He helps yo u feel that yo u as a living-thinking-feeling-acting individual are a co nscio us no de o f interrelatedness in a universe that yo u eventually feel thro bbing with yo u, thro ugh yo u, aro und yo u

Douglas M. Kelley
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He existed as a pro cess and pro duced in his lifetime a number o f ink marks presenting to so me degree his basic fo rmulatio ns o f the functio n o f mankind. In this capacity, he was never surpassed. His time-binding theo ry and his subsequent develo pment o f General Semantics as a metho d fo r the achievement o f its maximal functio n severed acro ss o ld lines o f tho ught as do es a clean cleaver thro ugh mo ldy cheese. This cleavage has yielded a resultant new appro ach, which is o nly beginning to be felt in multiple scientific disciplines.

Gut hrie Janssen

[his] was no t the sentimental appro ach, no r the metaphysical, which have had such a lo ng vo gue. Rather it was an engineering appro ach. He began with an o bvio us fact, but o ne so large that it had mo stly been taken fo r granted and never adequately explo red befo re; namely, that humans represent a symbo l-pro ducing, symbo l-using class o f life. In o ther wo rds, the arrangements by which we regulate o ur lives and the relatio nships amo ng us are established thro ugh the functio ning o f o ur symbo l systems. Man has created fo r himself an enviro nment o f symbo ls, and fo r better o r fo r wo rse he has to live with them.

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