Australian General Semantics Society
"Applications of general-semantics”
A hands on day. Lots of exercises and activities.
Led by David Hewson
1) Identification
a) Vertical identification of different abstraction
levels. This included: Reification (identifying abstract
concepts/formulations with concrete objects that do not exist) and
Fact-Inference confusion.
b) Horizontal identification. Where one treats A1
as identical to A2 . Examples of this error discussed were: racism,
sexism, ageism, etc.
2) Projection
(seeing
properties as projected out there, that you have made up in your nervous
system.)
i.e.
projection ignores the observer-observed process.
3) Either/Or thinking.
i.e. how it is easier to think in black
and white polarised terms than in shades of grey. And how the
Availability bias helps make this happen.
4) IFD disease.
I stands
for Idealised goals. This is where someone has goals that are: Highly
vague, highly valued and have a high aspiration level (i.e. little chance
of success.) For example: If someone, who wants to promote an
organisation and get new members but does say whether they want 1, 5, 15, 50,
100 or 500 new members. And they don't say how they are going to get
them or what they will do, if they get them. So there is little way of
knowing if they have failed or succeeded. Then their goal is very
vague. The person also highly values the goal and may, for example, even
faint at the thought of not achieving it. And finally, the goal of
getting even 5 new members may be very high for them, (i.e. they have little
chance of success, if for example, they have managed to recruit no one
new members over the last 5 years.) The idealisation has elements of
Either/Or thinking in it. e.g.Either you succeed Or you fail. If
you fail you then may identify yourself as a failure. So identification
and projection errors can occur here also.
The F stands
for Frustration. The idealist gets frustrated at not meeting their ideal
goals. They may even lash out then at others, for not achieving
their goal for them.
The D stands
for Demoralisation. The idealist finally reacts to heaps of frustration
at not getting his/her ideal goals by becoming demoralised.
5) We covered a problem
solving process that may help realistically with problems and so avoid
IFD:
a) Five step change method:
i) Define the problem in clear concrete terms.
(1) One
needs to overcome denial first. I.e.
you have to become aware that you have a problem.
(2) Vague
problem statements need to become extensional and concrete.
(3) Can the
problem be solved or must some hassle be lived with. E.g. alcohol in society.
ii) Examine the solutions attempted so far. What hasn't it worked and how it
failed. E.g prohibition. Or how it maintains the situation. I.e. the old solution may now cause or
exacerbate the problem. E.g. Organised crime during the prohibition era.
iii) Define the change to be achieved in clear concrete terms. Effective
goals are:
(1) Specific.
Concrete in terms of what change is to be made.
(2) Attainable.
I.e. You can do them within the time frame.
(3) Forgiving
(less than perfect or ideal).
iv) Formulate a plan to implement this change and include:
(1) What do
you control that can lead to the change desired?
(2) What
problem elements are making it hard for you to escape the problem and change?
v) Implement the plan and learn from the results,
adjusting the plan appropriately. Don't
give up the plan at the first obstacle. Reward yourself for partial
sucesses.
Gavan served up a delicious lunch of: Steak, salad, a baked potato and tomato dish, along with bread and a delicious desert. This was enjoyed by all.
The next meeting is on
April Sun 9th at Gavan's
Seeking "Unmediated Truth" -
"Fiction" in the Pursuit of "Fact" ?
What is "The Truth" - If you cannot "know thyself", how can you "know the World"?
Is it true that "Not all that counts, can be counted, and not all that can be counted, counts"?
Can we teach "truth" by devices of "fiction"?
Led by Robert James
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