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| What Is Going OnMarchMomentum |
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| Videos from the 2025 Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture and the Discourse, Dialogue and Democracy Symposium are now available online. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, the AKML itself was not recorded, along with a few of the other presentations. Most of the weekend is available, however, via the IGS YouTube channel. |
| Discourse, Dialogue, and Democracy 2An Online SymposiumApril 25, 2026Call for Papers and ProposalsThe Institute of General Semantics invites submissions for its Discourse, Dialogue, and Democracy Symposium 2, to be held online via Zoom on Saturday, April 25th.Our April 19th, 2025 online symposium sponsored by the IGS, Communication, Consciousness, & Culture Symposium 2, featured 24 presentations from Australia, Asia, Europe, and South and North America. This year we again continue the theme from this past October’s in-person symposium accompanying our annual Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture in New York City.We welcome presentations on topics related to general semantics, including language and symbolic communication, meaning and perception, epistemology and evaluation, etc.; on topics related to media ecology, including representation and reality, technology and environments, art and awareness, etc.; and topics related to cybernetics and systems theory, etc.Please send all submissions and queries to IGS President Lance Strate at president@generalsemantics.org by March 8th, 2026. |
| Free Online Lecture SeriesfeaturingDr. Martin H. LevinsonPractical Fairy Tales for Everyday Living:General Semantics Fables to Improve Your Thinking and Communicating AbilitiesMay 4th-25th |
| For More Information and To Register Click Here |
| London CallingThe IGS Summer Seminar Returns to the UKOur 2026 Summer Seminar will return to London, England, the site of our highly successful 2024 seminar. The theme this year will be:Meaning in Motion: How Words Become Worldsand will be held at the Century Club (61-63 Shaftesbury Ave., London, W1D6LQ, UK) on July 14th to 17th. The fee will be $300 for members, $350 for non-members, which will include breakfast and lunch for the 4 days. Course instructors include Mary Lahman, Lance Strate, Nora Bateson, Dom Heffer, Peggy Cassidy, and Thom Gencarelli. |
| For More Information and To Register Click Here |
| Podcast UpdateOur January episode features IGS trustees Corey Anton, Susan Drucker, Thom Gencarelli, and Lance Strate discussing politics in the United States in light of recent events in Minneapolis. Their conversation deals with the concerns brought on by the current media and semantic environment, the use of cell phone cameras and video recordings, the introduction of deep fakes, information overload and image culture, and the importance of language. Our February episode features award-winning Canadian documentarian Kevin McMahon, the director of approximately 30 films, including McLuhan’s Wake (2002). In conversation with Lance Strate, he discusses his career as a journalist and filmmaker, the practice of making documentaries, the idea of nonfiction film, and media scholars Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman. |
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| You can listen to all of our podcast episodes via our host site, and they are also available through most major podcast platforms, so please subscribe. Additionally, they can be accessed via our YouTube channel. |
| ETC UpdateThe fourth issue of volume 82 has been published and mailed out, and ETC editor Thom Gencarelli reports that the first issue of volume 83 will be distributed in the near future to all of our members in good standing for 2026. For now, here are the main contents of the next issue:COVER ART: Stephen Roxborough, The Mechanical Ghost of Man Ray Dressing; Letter from the Editor; Lance Strate, Listening as Abstracting: A General Semantics Perspective; Mauro Ventola and Lisanna Gessi, Saying Nothingness: General Semantics for Ontoanalysis: Martin H. Levinson, Color Me Sane; Fabiola Ballarati Chechetto, No Maps! Becoming Ruins/Dust. Possible Cartographies?; Grace Foley, A New Ireland: Nationalism and Digital Identity in the 21st Century; Martin H. Levinson, Things Change; David Hewson, Communications as a Reflexive System 2025; Olek Netzer, An Intellectual in the WWF Ring: A Passage from the Human Thinking System: User’s Manual; Paul Clark, Reclaiming Our Democracy and Humanity; Martin H. Levinson, When the Signal Came Through; BOOK REVIEWS: Fastis, S. (2025). Unabridged: The thrill of (and threat to) the modern dictionary. Atlantic Monthly Press.; Rishi, R. (2025). Pāṇini’s perfect rule: A modern solution to an ancient problem in Sanskrit grammar. Harvard University Press. (Review by Deepa Mishra). |
| New Books Available We are pleased to announce the publication of the French translation of the 4th edition of Alfred Korzybski‘s General Semantics Seminar 1937: Olivet College Lectures, courtesy of Patrick Hug. |
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| Séminaire de Sémantique Générale 1937: Conférences à Olivet College is available in paperback and epub editions from the IGS Store, and other online booksellers.******************************* Also Recently PublishedGeneral Semantics and Politics, edited by Corey Anton and Thom Gencarelli. This collection provides vital analytic tools for understanding the contemporary world of politics. It brings together essays that span a wide range of concerns, including the underpinnings of democracy, the challenges of media bias and the two-party system, the difficulties in thinking about money and inequality, the struggle against polarization, how to deal with conspiracy theories, and, along the way, provides ample resources for engaging in fair and rational dialogue. Essential reading for anyone interested in general semantics, the contemporary world of politics, and/or the connection between them. Contributors include Thom Gencarelli; Corey Anton; Lance Strate; Chris Mayer; Martin H. Levinson; Etai Eshet and Eva Berger; Susan Drucker and Gary Gumpert; Joshua Clements;Jermaine Martinez; Ryan P. McCullough; Roy F. Fox;Jefferson Spurlock. |
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| The Unspeakable Level: Korzybski’s Razor and Other Ways of Revealing, the latest bookby IGS Trustee Christopher Mayer, uses Korzybski‘s general semantics to explore various ways of revealing the swirl of events our language cannot capture. The unspeakable level is Korzybski’s term for that swirl of events language cannot fully capture. It is all that ‘is.’ Our abstractions-names, descriptions, etc.-often hide and obscure this unspeakable level. In this volume, the author looks at various ways to get behind these abstractions. Korzybski’s Razor is one such tool, which knocks many lofty sounding terms off their pedestals. Another chapter explores the nature of polarities, drawing on insights from Meister Eckhart, Pseudo-Dionysius, Carl Jung and many others. Subsequent chapters, through the lens of Korzybski’s general semantics, explore various ways of revealing; insights from dreams, Indian sages, Hermes Trismegistus, Christian mystics, Gurdjieff, alchemy, tarot and more. This brisk volume boldly pushes you to explore the boundaries of language, reach that unspeakable level and see the world with fresh eyes. |
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| *******************************Also published earlier this year: Sensible Thinking 3: The Adventure Continues by Martin H. Levinson. And coming up later this year:a collection of satirical writing by Marleen S. Barr entitled Doomsday Scenarioa new collection edited by Lance Strate and Bini Babu Sudha, entitled, Modeling Our Ways of Knowing: Examining and Evaluating the Structural Differentialan English version of IGS Fellow Isabel Caro Gabalda‘s Cómo Asumir La Incertidumbre: Una Perspectiva Psicoterapéutica translated by Orli Berger Kadima collection of satirical writing by Martin H. Levinson, entitled Dinner at the Woke Street Café: Satirical Food for Thoughtetc.All of our publications are available via major online outlets and the Institute of General Semantic Store (IGS members in good standing are eligible for a 15% discount on our offerings. Email us for the discount code.) |
| Ted Chiang to Deliver the 2026Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture |
| The 74th annual Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture will take place on October 2nd, 2026, followed by a symposium on October 3rd and 4th. This year’s symposium theme will be Language, Listening, Literacy, and Algorithms. A call for papers and proposals will be issued at a later date.Ted Chiang is an American science fiction writer. His work has won four Nebula awards, four Hugo awards, six Locus awards, and the PEN Malamud Award. His novella “Story of Your Life” was the basis of the film Arrival (2016). His most recent short story collection, Exhalation (Knopf, 2019), was listed as one of the Top Ten Books of 2019 by The New York Times, and included in President Barack Obama’s 2019 reading list. In 2023, he was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in AI.For more information, see our 2026 AKML and Symposium event page. |
| AffiliationsThe 2026 meeting of the Media Ecology Association will take place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on June 25th to 28th. Among other claims to fame, Winnipeg was the hometown of general semantics pioneer S.I. Hayakawa, as well as media ecology maven Marshall McLuhan, and there will be sessions devoted to both of them (Winnipeg is also the birth place of Winnie the Pooh, the name being a reference to the city).The IGS is an affiliate of the National Communication Association, and as such will sponsor programming at the NCA’s annual meeting in New Orleans on November 19th to 22nd, 2026. The NCA’s online portal for submissions is available on their website, and we have provided the text of our call for papers on our own website, just click here. The IGS is also an affiliate of the Eastern Communication Association, and will be involved in several programs at their annual meeting on April 9th to 12th, 2026, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.We are also an affiliate of the International Communication Association, and will host a session at their annual conference being held on June 4th to 8th, 2026 in Capetown, South Africa. |
| In Local NewsIGS Trustee Laura Trujillo-Liñán is forming a new general semantics society in Mexico! For more information about joining and participating, please email her.IGS Trustee and New York Society for General Semantics President Peggy Cassidy is planning the next NYSGS event for March 25th. Sign up on the nysgs.org home page for updates.The recording of the February 21st Australian General Semantics Society session featuring IGS Vice-President Corey Anton speaking on «Comprehending Interpersonal Conflicts: Theory of Mind, Meta-Cognition, and The Perennial Relevance of R. D. Laing» is now available for viewing on YouTube. The Balvant Parekh Centre for General Semantics and Other Human Sciences in India is holding a National Workshop on General Semantics: Language, Cognition, and the Construction of Reality, at Christ College, Rajkot, on March 16th to 18th. For more information, click here. |
| Let Us Hear From You!Do you have news related to local general semantics organizations and programs that you would like to share with us? Are you interested in starting, reviving, or enhancing a local group or society? We would love to hear from you, and to help you in any way that we can. Please feel free to contact us at <president@generalsemantics.org>. |
| Show Off Your Non-Aristotelian Style In Style!We are pleased to introduced a brand new lapel pin based on the IGS logo.Now on sale exclusively via the IGS store for only $10! |
| Other Recent NewsCongratulations to the recipients of the 2025 IGS Prizes and Awards: Gabriel Kennedy (aka Prop Anon) received the Samuel I. Hayakawa Book Prize for Chapel Perilous: The Life and Thought Crimes of Robert Anton Wilson; Grace Foley received the Christine L. Nystrom Prize for Outstanding Graduate Scholarship for «A New Ireland: Nationalism and Digital Identity in the 21st Century»; Steve Stockdale received the Sanford Berman Award in recognition of his continued excellence in teaching general semantics; David Hewson received the J. Talbot Winchell Award in recognition of his indispensable contributions, accomplishments, and time-binding efforts in service to the field of general semantics; and Laura Trujillo-Liñán received the Marjorie Kendig Awardfor outstanding translation. |
| Social Media Reminder: We have an official IGS Group on Facebook. To join, just search for the Institute of General Semantics, and ask to join. And look for InstituteofGS on X(Twitter), Instagram, and YouTube, to find, follow, and subscribe to us! And we are now on Bluesky! Look for @generalsemantics.org! |
| And Re-member-ship!Emails have been going out to renew or join anew. We appreciate and value each and every one of you, and we don’t want you to miss out on everything that we have to offer! So please activate your membership for 2026, and encourage others to join! It is easier than ever to join or renew online, or download our membership form if you would prefer to send a check or otherwise join by mail. IGS membership benefits includeSubscription to our journal ETC: A Review of General SemanticsDiscounts on books and other items at the IGS StoreAccess to the members-only pages of the IGS websiteFree admission for members and their guests to the annual Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture and dinner, and accompanying symposium (and exclusive access to the livestream)Discounts on other events, seminars, and coursesIf you are pleased with our efforts and want to show your support, please do so by joining and renewing your membership. And consider going above and beyond by joining on the Contributor, Supporter, Sponsor, or Time-Binder level. And please keep us in mind for charitable donations. The IGS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation, so your donations are tax deductible. |
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19,190 Institute of General Semantics, March 2026
Blog de Octavio Islas 