Monday, November 24, 2003

General Semantics The term general semantics originated with Alfred Korzybski in 1933 as the name for a general theory of evaluation, which in application turned out to be an empirical science, giving methods for general human adjustment in our private, public, and professional lives. His study has led ultimately to the formulation of a new system, with general semantics as its modus operandi. This theory was first presented in his Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-aristotelian Systems and General Semantics. ... Though the main facts of history are known, solutions of human problems have been blocked by pre-scientific, mythological, metaphysical dogmas which have prevented and continue to prevent the possibility of tracing fundamental errors. Clearly a solution required the formulation of a general system, based on physico-mathematical methods of order, relation, etc., which would make possible proper evaluations and therefore predictability. The first step was to revise the primitive outlook that regarded humans as merely biological organisms on the level of animals rather than as more complex psycho-biological organisms which produce their own socio-cultural environments, sciences, civilizations, etc. Even the most 'intelligent' ape never achieved that. The next step was a methodological integration of what was already known, and the production of general teachable formulations to handle the increasingly numerous and complex factors in human psycho-biological inter-relationships today. To cope with such problems required a consideration of neuro-linguistic and neuro-semantic environments as environment. The word semantics was introduced into linguistic literature by Michel Bréal, translated from the French in 1897. It is derived from the Greek semainein ("to mean, to signify") and Bréal stressed meaning on the verbal level. Lady Welby, a contemporary, introduced a theory of Significs, a more organismal evaluation of Bréal's "meaning." Korzybski, in 1933, called his theory "general semantics" because it deals with the nervous reactions of the human organism-as-a-whole-in-environments, and is much more general and organismally fundamental than the "meanings" of words as such, or Significs. It is called "non-aristotelian" because, although it includes the still prevailing aristotelian system as a special case, it is a wider, more general formulation to fit the world and 'human nature' as we know it today rather than as Aristotle knew it c. 350 BC. The aristotelian assumptions influenced the euclidean system, and both underlie the later newtonian system. The first non-aristotelian system takes into account newly discovered complexities in all fields, and parallels and is interdependent methodologically with the new non-euclidean and non-newtonian developments in mathematics and mathematical physics, which made possible even the release of nuclear energy, as in the atomic bombs. This revised and broadened general outlook makes necessary profound revisions in educational methods, requires de-departmentalization of education, etc., which could be accomplished only after the exact sciences and general human orientations had been unified through an adequate methodological synthesis. Such unification, since it was based on modern scientific methods (physico-mathematical) and the foundations of mathematics incorporated simple workable, elementary techniques which could be applied in any human endeavor, and even to the education of small children.  (11/24/03) When the Means become the Ends Jonathan Steele writes: Terrorism is a technique. It is not an ideology or a political philosophy, let alone an enemy state. Our leaders' failure to understand that point emerged immediately after September 11 2001 when they reacted to the attacks in New York and Washington by confusing the hunt for the perpetrators with the Afghan "state" that allegedly "harboured" them. The Taliban ran avicious regime, but Afghanistan was a disastrously failed state and its nominal leader, Mullah Omar, had no control over al-Qaida. By the same token the "war" on terror should have remained what it initially was, a metaphor like the "war" on drugs. But instead of being harmless linguistic exaggeration to describe a broad campaign encompassing a range of political, economic and police counter-measures, it was narrowed down to real war and nothing else. The slippery slope that began with Afghanistan quickly led to the invasion of Iraq, a symbolic and political enormity whose psychological impact Bush and Blair have not yet grasped. When Ariel Sharon, then a middle-aged general, wanted to send Israeli tanks into Cairo in October 1973, it was the arch-realist Henry Kissinger who realised how devastating the emotional effect would be in the Arab world, and stopped him. For a new generation of Arabs, the sight of American tanks in Baghdad is just as humiliating. Osama bin Laden's claim that having US forces at airbases close to the Islamic holy places in Saudi Arabia is a desecration appealed only to a few Muslims, but the daily television pictures of US troops in the heart of an Arab capital, and not just patrolling but using lethal force to back up an administration of occupiers, inflames a much larger audience. ... In the long history of terrorism, al-Qaida has provided two novelties. One is its global reach, marked by willingness to strike targets in many countries. The other is its use of suicide attacks as a weapon of first, rather than last, resort. Under the broad heading of terrorism as a political and military instrument, suicide bombing is a sub-category, a technique within a technique. ... The shock this week is that Bush and Blair not only still believe that war is the way to deal with terrorists but that even when faced by the escalation of Istanbul they think victory is possible. The real issue is how to control risk. Anti-western extremism will never be eradicated, but it can be reduced by a combination of measures, primarily political. (11/24/03) Danger of Driftnets BBC Nature & Politics -- Turtles, dolphins and sharks are among the unintended victims of Mediterranean fishing fleets, the World Wide Fund for Nature warns. Driftnets which hang beneath the water and trap anything which happens to swim into them are to blame, it says. It believes that in some parts of the sea so many dolphins are killed that their survival in the region is threatened. The conservationists want the European Union to act to ban such fishing nets. The WWF has published a report, Biodiversity Impact Of The Moroccan Driftnet Fleet In The Alboran Sea. Driftnet fishing was banned by the EU from 1 January 2002, while the UN adopted a moratorium on large driftnets ten years earlier. The report says the nets used in the Mediterranean are anywhere from seven kilometres (4.75 miles) long to twice that size. It also says the Moroccan driftnet fleet, with 177 boats, is "the most lethal for Mediterranean marine biodiversity". The WWF estimates the accidental annual catch of striped and short-beaked common dolphins in the Alboran Sea, in the south-west Mediterranean, is 3-4,000. The dolphins were included on the Red List of Threatened Species published on 18 November by IUCN-The World Conservation Union. The WWF says that the catch figure is more than 10% of the area's dolphin population. (11/24/03) Nature Versus Wind Power? BBC Nature & Politics -- Plans for six wind turbines in West Norfolk have been scrapped after protests from wildlife conservation groups and villagers. Ecotricity, the country's leading green energy supplier, said it was withdrawing plans to build the turbines at Sedgeford. Two months ago villagers in Shipdham won their two-year battle to stop Ecotricity building two 100-metre turbines in the village. On Friday the company said it was dropping the Sedgeford wind farm plan because of concerns about the possible effect on nature conservation areas in the Wash and on the Norfolk coast. Ecotricity's managing director Dale Vince said: "We've talked to our partner the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, together with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and English Nature and taken on board their comments on the potential interference with breeding grounds. "As a company we are committed to conserving the environment. "Developing renewable energy production is crucial to addressing the threat from climate change, but we will not do this at the expense of wildlife." He said despite the fact that it was a good site for wind energy production, managers were convinced that withdrawing the planning application, submitted to King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council, was the right thing to do. Conservation organisations have welcomed the move. (11/24/03) Crop Failure Threatens Birds and Bees BBC Nature -- The failure of the winter oilseed rape crop may force some of the country's best-loved birds and bees to starve. Naturalists say that rape seeds form a vital part of the diet of linnets, turtle doves and reed buntings, while bees rely on winter rape's pollen. The dry autumn has drastically reduced the oilseed rape crop this year, leaving fields brown and barren. Rape oil has been used in the UK since medieval times but the bright yellow crop was introduced in the 1970s. Many people living in the countryside say the crop is unattractive and causes hay-fever. But winter rape oil pollen is relied on by bees, especially bumble bees, early in the year. Rape also has small seeds similar to the weed seeds that sustained many birds before the advent of intensive farming. Across a swathe of England's most fertile land, from the Channel to the Wash, farmers are reporting brown fields where there should be sturdy green rape plants. The exceptionally dry autumn meant tens of thousands of seeds have failed to germinate, leaving thin pickings for wildlife next year. (11/24/03) Stopping Oil in the Lofoten Islands BBC Nature & Politics -- The Lofoten Islands, within the Arctic Circle, should be a no-go area for the oil industry, the World Wide Fund for Nature warns. Oil drilling could be catastrophic to whales and other wildlife, it says. Oslo is due to make a decision next month on whether to let oil companies exploit the area. "WWF wants to see this unique area protected by the Norwegian Government, not destroyed by them," the group says. The Lofoten islands are a large group of islands off the North West coast of Norway. They are home to the world's largest cod and herring stocks, shoals of sperm and killer whales and extensive sea bird colonies. The waters also contain the world's biggest cold water coral reef, which was discovered and protected only last year. "The marine environment of the Lofoten Islands is one of the most wildlife-rich areas in the world," says Dr Simon Walmsley, senior marine policy officer for WWF-UK. "Oil drilling there would destroy this unique cold water habitat, and it will not even provide a significant number of new jobs. This is not acceptable."  (11/24/03) 5:35:29 AM

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