"Time Binding"
One of the foundation concepts of Alfred Korzybski's work,
introduced in his "Manhood of Humanity"
 and developed in "Science and Sanity". 
Yet still a powerful and relevant idea
for personal, community and global application!

---

The AGS
~ Ten Commandments ~

 ~ Note: This is a "living document", subject to ongoing revision ~

  1. Be conscious of your levels of abstraction

         Carry the Structural Differential at all times.
          Notice where your mental activity is happening -
           * Event level,
           * Object Level
           * Descriptive level
           * Inference levels

         Appreciate the joy of “just being a human being”
         at the event level!

         Watch-out for escalating levels of abstraction!

         Beware the Feedback Loop!

         Realise when you have embarked on a flight of fancy ... 

  2. Practise time-binding

        by using symbols to convey knowledge into the future.

        Rejoice in standing on the shoulders of your ancestors.

        Delve into Socrates, Buddha and Einstein
             via the marvel of language!

        “Pay it forward” to plant seeds of future fruit for others.

        Practise random and anonymous acts of kindness’

        Plant a tree.

  3. Exercise the extensional devices

         to enhance communication:
          *  Dating and Indexing,
          *  Quotes,
          *  Hyphen,
          *  “Etc”,

         Consider saying
            “Tell me about that?”, rather than:
            “You must be stupid or sumpin’ ”

         What about ...
           * GS is “the best” discipline around.
           * Panadol “will cure” your headache.
           * I’m not sure abut my thoughts-feelings about this.
           * We’ll talk about time-binding etc. ... ?

  4. Delay your reactions

         Respond to observations and symbols
           for a considered response,
         rather than reacting to signals
           and “jumping to conclusions” !

         If she says “Where did you get these sausages?”
            consider why she may be asking,
            rather than snapping “What’s wrong with them?”

  5. Don't confuse the map and the territory

           * The map is not the territory,
           * The map is not all the territory,
           * The map must include the map-maker ...

         “Canberra is refusing to conduct an audit
          of parliamentarians’ citizenship status.”

         “Australians want this country to be a republic.”  

  6. Watch out for identification

          Remember that two individuals in a class
                 will not be “identical”.
         Can we really equate
                 an individual with an attribute?

           * “She is a communist.”,
           * “I am sad”
           * “I am autistic” ... etc ... 

  7. Symbols (eg words) can have multiple meanings 

         “Australians love the long weekend.”
         “She loves a good argument.”
         “Romeo loved Juliette.”
         “I love avocardos.”

         Beware of “unanswerable questions”
           * “Is capitalism better than communism?”
           * “Are Australians happy?”           

  8. Take care with "allness" 

         “You always ... ”, 
         “You never ...”,
         “The problem with you is ... ”

        “All mental illness is caused by mis-evaluation.”
        “The female of the species is more deadly than the male.”

  9. Be certain that "Nothing is certain"!

         What about death and taxes?
         “I’ll be on time in future.”
         “We can get to Bonet Bay in three hours.”
         “General semantics will endure for ever and ever.”
         “The Sun will rise tomorow.” 

  10. Consider the "organism as a whole"!

         “Is the headache ‘caused’ by a brain tumour,
         or is it perhaps brought on by marital difficulties?”

~0~       

---

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.