e-Prime & General Semantics
Fri 26 Apr 2013, 9:05 am
Some helpful articles on e-Prime and General Semantics
E-Prime
The Problem
Certain expressions which involve identity and attributes lead us to confusion in our thinking. This sometimes arises because of the verb 'to be.' For example:
- I am depressed
- Who am I?
- He is a criminal
- It is clear that we should take action.
Read more of this excellent essay by Ken Ward of trans4mind.com e-prime
On this site
Toward Understanding e-Prime
Guest Post by Robert Anton Wilson
http://www.nobeliefs.com/eprime.htm
E-PRIME, abolishing all forms of the verb "to be," has its roots in the field of general semantics, as presented by Alfred Korzybski in his 1933 book, Science and Sanity. Korzybski pointed out the pitfalls associated with, and produced by, two usages of "to be": identity and predication. His student D. David Bourland, Jr., observed that even linguistically sensitive people do not seem able to avoid identity and predication uses of "to be" if they continue to use the verb at all.
Read the rest of this article e-Prime
A little bit complex, but excellent "mini-course on
General Semantics
In the 1930s a Polish Count, Alfred Korzybski, wrote a book called "Science and Sanity" which has had a tremendous influence on the Self Development movement ever since. It has been said that if Korzybski had had the communication skills of some of the great names of this century, such as Hubbard of Scientology, or Bandler and Grinder of NLP, then he would have been the great guru. Rather sad, in one way, is that few would pick up Science and Sanity to read, but would pick up many copies of his ideas.
Explore the entire essay on trans4mind.com General Semantics
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