Saturday 14th August 2021
10am Sydney time

"The Brave New World of Aldus Huxley
- a Champion of General Semantics"
  
Facilitator: Robert James

Aldus Huxley made many perceptive comments on language and its effects that mirror GS teachings. For example, in his novel "After Many a Summer", Huxley shows that we don't have enough kinds of words to describe nuances of experience by having one of the characters say: "We don't even make the simple Greek distinction between erao and philo, eros and agape. With us everything is just love, whether it's self-sacrificing or possessive, whether it's friendship or lust or homicidal lunacy."

Huxley understood that people often react more strongly to symbols than to actual physical dangers that threaten them; e.g. in his essay "Writers and Readers," he observes that: "The hatred we feel at the sight of our enemies is often less intense than the hatred we feel when we read a curse or an invective."

From a GS perspective, such an overreaction to words might be described as confusing the map with the territory.

The PowerPoint presentation
outline for this seminar is available online

Some references used in the presentation:

 * "A Twelve-Session GS Teaching Guide" by Martin Levinson - PDF file
 * "Aldus Hexley and General Semantics" by Martin J. Levinson - YouTube
 * "Aldus Huxley and General Semantics" - ("ETC" July-October 2018):  PDF file
 * ”Brave New World”, narrated by the Author - YouTube sound recording
 * ”Amusing Ourselves to Death" by David and Vivien Aspinall - YouTube

When: Saturday 14th August 10am Sydney time.

Where: On-line, by Zoom.

Cost: Zero, Zilch - it's free!

Contact / Details: Australian General Semantics Society: agssoc@hotmail.com

Our Seminar
on-line - missing the customary hospitality of Gavan and Pauline at Bonnet Bay,
but enabling us to reach out to include our GS friends in Canada and USA :-(.

Catching Up
Sharing of triumphs and tragedies and miscellaneous yarns.

GS Diary
In the spirit of "applying general semantics principles" to our lives, as opposed to dwelling in theory, we considered members' accounts of observations and applications relating to the principles and formulations of our discipline.

Discussion on "Brave New World"

* Revision


 

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Next meeting:
   Saturday 18th September 10am Sydney time:
   Mr David Hewson: "Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy"

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Disclaimer: This "summary" is a collection of notes derived from our discussion by a number of means.  It is by no means a scholarly dissertation on the subject as presented.  It does not purport to be the "policy of AGS".  Comment and criticism (constructive or otherwise) is welcome.  If anyone has been misquoted, copyrights infringed or confidences betrayed, please Contact us.

Updated by Robert James
14th September 2021