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The reality we manage to get into our heads is
largely that reality which is abstracted through our symbol systems. Time-binding: The uniquely
human ability to build on the accumulated knowledge of others, potentially to
an exponential degree. |
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Australian General Semantics Society Inc. First National Conference 27-29 August 2010 Melbourne "Sense of Purpose and "Living Well" by Robert Welcome back from a lovely Armagh Community afternoon tea! On Saturday evening I was watching something on television (maybe it was an election or something), and someone mentioned "I don't know what Kevin Rudd has to worry about - he doesn't even have to work for a living - he could just live off his wife's riches!" I wondered - It's not just a matter of going to the office every day – he undertakes huge difficulty and stress – he’s clearly purpose-driven ... Why does he do it? The Buddha (the enlightened one ~563-483BC) aas born into a privileged aristocratic life - he could have lived "happily ever after" (excuse the pun) in grace and luxury, but chose a life of what we would consider physical deprivation and intense contemplation, for the wider benefit of mankind - Why did he do it? Charles Wesley (1707-1788) Had a comfortable life pretty-well assured in the privileged sinecure of the Church of England at the time. They have been credited with perhaps preventing an English version of the French Revolution, by the impact of their work on the morale and sense of purpose of the English middle classes. Charles wrote perhaps 8,000 hymns, many of which have been sung more or less continuously for over 200 years. His brother John travelled 250,000 miles on horseback and preached about 40,000 sermons - Why did they do it? Captain Cook (1728-1779) Sometimes, when enthusing over space travel or expressing admiration for people who climb mountains or invent strange things, people say "... but they still can't cure the common cold!". I say "Indeed. And when Captain Cook set off from Britain to observe the Transit of Venus from Tahiti in 1769, there were many poor people living in Britain, who simply wanted to make ends meet. Perhaps his good wife implored his to stay at home and prune the roses." But he was driven by a sense of curiosity and zeal to explore and to serve the Empire, towards ends that could not be imagined at the time. Why did he do it? William Wilberforce (1759-1833) Wealthy, privileged, could have spent his time in chamber-music concerts and fox-hunting. But his home was often full of social reformers, reformed slave traders and radicals as he laboured for 26 years to work through the parliamentary process. (rather like the home of our friend John Bond in Canberra, whose lounge room was the forum for numerous gatherings and introductions of visionary and radical people, to the despair of his poor wife). But why did he do it? Mahatma Ghandi (1869-1948) "My Life is my Message" - One of the heroes of MRA-IofC was in a respected, privileged position as a lawyer in Britain, who could have led a prosperous and comfortable life. He left all of that behind, taking an "initiative of change" (you might say) to bring about huge reforms in South Africa and India. If you ever have a long evening available, have a look at the movie "Ghandi" which we have here. He changed the history of the world! Why did he do it? Mother Teresa (1910-1997) - Convinced by the age of ten that she wanted to be a missionary, and never looked back - Why did she do it? Frank Buchman (1878-1961) - Son of a liquor salesman. He came to realise that 'That big "I" had to be crossed out. I saw my resentments against those men standing out like tombstones in my heart." - Why did he do it? Andrew Wilke - Successful Australian Army Officer, a Lieutenant-Colonel, then an Intelligence Analyst at the Office of National Assessments – secure well-paid jobs – insisted on speaking the truth! - Why did he do it? Our own hosts here today, Rob and Cheryl Wood - Could have had a prosperous mainstream life in any professional field that they chose, but they chose to work with the MRA-IofC global community, to bring about positive social change and community development, much of it in the area of inspiring and guiding young people (including our own three children), with a sense of purpose - Why do they do it? Many of these motivations stem from what we would call a religious basis - conviction that we are all part of a divine plan, a creation in which we all have a destiny. Certainly, most of the highly-motivated and enormously energetic workers in the IofC tradition believe that they are serving a divine purpose, beyond their simple, immediate need for physical survival and prosperity. Alfred Korzybski (1879-1950) a Polish Count with a distinguished war record and good professional prospects, was distressed by the suffering and destruction of WWI that he embarked on an extraordinary quest to understand and share insights on the human condition. He published this outcome in his books "Manhood of Humanity" and "Science and Sanity", which became the basis of our study which he called "General Semantics". This study achieved widespread mainstream acclaim in university courses, corporate professional development, psychology and community development areas. Abraham Maslow and other notaries such as R. Buckminster Fuller have had an active interest in GS, attended and taught GS workshops. Many other authors continued and developed Korzybski's ideas; some of the books achieving wide popular acclaim. The formulations of GS have been used as the basis of several other successful disciplines such as Neuro-Linguistic programming, Rational Emotive Therapy, and the Landmark Educational programme. They all have a place out there in the market! Our human capacity and drive to look beyond ourselves and create development and change for the wider body of humanity in the future, we call "time-binding" - one of the crucial formulations of GS. We possess the power to understand and through that understanding to influence our environment over time, even beyond our lifetime. The power of Time-binding is to understand – to observe and remember change over time. Understanding comes from the awareness of time – an awareness that allows humans to experience time as sequential or linear. Tomorrow follows today as today followed yesterday. Time always moves from the past to the present, from the present to the future. Change is bound in time. And time-binders understand change in space because they are aware of time. Time-binding is a new way of thinking – analytical thinking. The Time-binder can make decisions based on understanding changes in his environment over time. Time-binders are the masters of cause and effect - they make inventions. They make technology. Time-binders are the creators of knowledge and technology. When knowledge is incorporated into matter-energy, it becomes a tool. Humans are above all else toolmakers. Most of our knowledge is embedded in our tools. Human knowledge grows continuously and without limit. As we incorporate our evermore powerful knowledge into tools. We produce evermore powerful tools. Time-binding is also that unique human ability to pass that ‘knowing’ from one generation to the next generation. Both animal and human offspring begin their lives in nearly total ignorance. Animals possess little ability to learn from their parents. The animal is condemned to rediscover over and over, every generation must discover anew the knowledge of its parents. The wise old owl may know a great deal, but he has very limited ways to pass what he knows to his offspring. We humans are very different in that respect. We pass our knowing from one generation to the next. Alfred Korzybski explains:
Abraham Maslow, often called the "Father of Modern Management Psychology" drew a picture of this with his famous "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs" triangle, that most of us have encountered, thus It is this point, the highest expression of our motivation to improve the human condition beyond our immediate physical needs, that we're interest in. Lots of our heroes were demonstrating time-binding without knowing it; motivated by spiritual or humanistic values, without an awareness of GS. So then, GS is describing a reality of past times, not informing that reality. The mechanism of time-binding could just as well be applied to the life and actions of people whose efforts we do not applaud. Comrade Duch (“Doik”) was an excellent student at school. He won national prizes in Mathematics, and became an excellent Maths teacher. Just the sort of citizen that Cambodia needed in the 1960s. Highly motivated. Certainly a man of principle and purpose. In his Government job he was diligent and systematic – highly committed to exceeding his Key Performance Indicators and achieving the vision defined by the Khamer Rouge at that time. Last month, now that he’s aged 67, a Cambodian court handed down a conviction and sentence in his trial, that he was personally responsible for over 14,000 cases of torture and murder. Of his 14,000 prisoners, there were seven survivors. The Court processed 300,000 pages of evidence which was mostly confessions for crimes that the people couldn’t possibly have committed. Chris and others at IofC have seen the “Killing Fields” of Cambodia. We’ve had quite a few Cambodian students here for the Life Matters Course and other programmes. So how does this happen. Did we learn nothing from Korzybski’s observations of World War I, as recorded form almost one hundred years ago, in his “Manhood of Humanity”? So Doik will be in prison for another 19 years, and there are another four or five such trial to come. Bu curiously, these do not include any of the political allies of Cambodia's current Prime Minister, Hun Sen, many of whom were part of the Khmer Rouge along with Comrade Doik. And there’s no mention of the role of the United States, which carpet-bombed Cambodia in the early 1970s, killing thousands, weakening the state and driving up support for the Khmer Rouge. And China, who supported the Khmer Rouge while in power, is also completely off the hook. However, as they say, I digress. The point is: what’s the role in our use of symbols, particularly language? How is the concept of “population cleansing”, as determined by race in Congo or Somalia or Serbia, or by Class in Cambodia – How does that come from our use of symbols? Pol Pot was not the only one who ran amok in Cambodia, or Aldolf Hitler in Germany, or Uncle Jo in the USSR. These people were master of symbolism, inspiring multitudes to commit dreadful acts that they wouldn’t normally think they were capable of, with repercussions far beyond their own lifetime. Truly masters of the art of time-binding – passing-on a value-system and imperative to action. General Semantics studies not just the mechanics of communication and how our assumptions and abstracting process govern the world, but how we can be aware of our own susceptibility to it, whether from self-talk, family members, friends, cultural and ethnic ties, commercial advertising, political spin-doctors or global idealistic movements. It helps us to observe and manage our own responses, allowing more purposeful and productive use of the short time we have. Phillip Adams, when interviewing a Buddhist monk, opined “Well, you can look forward to eternal life – I just find the brevity of human life exhilarating!” Whether you think that you are here for a few years or for eternity, the way we process symbols, make assumptions, create mental mapping of the territory of our lives, form abstractions and act on them – is crucial to our health and wellbeing as individuals and as community. That’s what we think that GS has to offer to “World Health”! We hold that this happens not just because of divine inspiration or instinct, but because of the way that we symbolise; the way we use language to communicate with others and particularly with ourselves. Our capacity to work with others, to solve problems, to perceive possibilities and resolve conflicts - all depends crucially on our use of symbols and language. The Buddha's teachings were passed on by oral tradition for 400 years before being committed to writing. That's why we have a particular interest in the UN conference next week on "Global Health" - we believe that the GS principles compiled by Korzybski in response to his experiences of war, are a strong foundation nor improving communication, conflict resolution and human development at the individual, family, community and global level. ~0~ Enough from me .. Let's hear an account from Laurie Cox, nonagenarian and a highly purpose-driven man The CSS Superannuation Scheme encouraged workers to retire at 55 years and eleven months old, on the basis that they weren't required any more in the work force, and we were so prosperous that they could be supported for another thirty or forty years in retirements. Clearly wrong! Laurie is ninety two, and still making plans. He contributes to the life of his family and friends, and to our wider community. Here's Laurie ... Laurie's address Rob Wood (who, with Cheryl, is our Host at Armagh), had an amazing life, travelled widely, worked with a vast number of people, both young and otherwise .. Rob and Cheryl have lived and worked for many years as the Hosts at Armagh, the Asia-Pacific Headquarters of Initiative of Change (previously Moral Re-armament). In this extra-ordinary role, they have been central to the life of this community, keeping it on a somewhat steady path through many turbulent times. They have been mentors, counsellors and advisers to many people, from young children to the elderly, who have had contact here as IofC workers, live-in students, residents and guests. One of the foundations of IofC work is assisting particularly young people to develop sense of personal purpose, a mission. This is done throught the programmes such as "Life Matters Course", "Action for Life", "Basketball Camp", "Other" programme, and a great many conferences and gatherings here and in the internation IofC community. But just as important, is the facility for informal meetings, personal contacts, and the "still water between waves" that people find here. So it's my great pleasure to introduce Rob Wood ...Here's Rob. ... Rob's address Chris James is a representative of the “Y-Generation” As a parent of young adults, I’m bewildered by the choices and challenges they face. A young fellow at work had a mobile phone which would show you the constellations of stars above, depending on where you were, and which way the phone was pointed. It could scan the barcode on books in a shop, then lookup the Internet and show you reviews of them. He announced one day that he had chucked out that phone and bought one with many more powerful features. I asked him how these features would provide a good return on investment and a happier live. He looked quite confused, and didn’t seem to know what I was talking about. To him, the requirement for the best phone on the market was self-evident. The question of Purpose was not relevant. Our son Chris and Claire were married almost a year ago, and had their Reception in this very place. So it has a special significance to us. When someone at church asked me what they are doing nowadays, I paused for a moment, and replied, “Well, ah .. um ..” and I started listing some of his parallel lives. After some time, I interrupted myself by saying “Well, that’s the short answer. His mum Jeanne will give you the long answer to that question. The question of Purpose is central to the lives of Chris and Claire Here’s Chris … ... Chris's address ~0~ (Back to the AGS National Conference Home Page)
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Australian General Semantics Society Incorporated