Untitled Document

Our next meeting:

Saturday 21st February 2026 10am Sydney time
(Friday 20th February 6pm US Eastern time)

"Comprehending Interpersonal Conflicts: Theory of Mind, Meta-Cognition,
and The Perennial Relevance of R. D. Lainge"

Presenter: Corey Anton PhD

This interactive talk will address relations between theory of mind, meta-cognition and the psychotherapeutic methodology developed by Laing, Phillipson and Lee, called, the "Interpersonal Perception Method."

We will include:
* an overview of key concepts,
* clarification of the concepts with examples,
exercises to show how these ideas shed insight into conflict,
* and finally, an exploration of the relevance of these ideas to contemporary concerns
over generative AI chatbots and social robots.

Dr Corey Anton is Professor of Communication Studies at Grand Valley State University and a Fellow of the International Communicology Institute and currently serves as Vice-President of the Institute of General Semantics.

He is author of Selfhood and Authenticity (2001, SUNY Press), Communication Uncovered: General Semantics and Media Ecology (2010, IGS Press), and A.EYE CANDY: A Museum of Imaginary Robots and Other Digital Delights (2023, IGS Press), etc. He is the co-editor, along with Thom Gencarelli, of General Semantics and Politics, (2025, IGS Press).

See Corey Anton's web site

Exercises:
In a mythical land there are truars (who tell the truth all the time) and liars (who lie all the time). You are lost and meet two locals. You ask them “Are you truars or liars?” The first person mumbles something you don’t hear. The other says “He said he is a truar. He is a truar and so am I.” Would you trust the directions these two give you?
Apply Interpersonal Perception Method and a bit of logic. Express how this is solved using both the direct perspective as well as the meta-perspective.

From a cartoon:
Message from parents to teenager who going out partying: “Be home by midnight. No later!”
Message teenager hears: “Be home . . . later!” He does not reply to them.
Apply Interpersonal Perception Method to check for: agreement, understanding and being understood and finally do they realise that they have been understood or misunderstood.
Hint: you have to “read between the lines” and fill in the missing meta and meta meta ideas.

When: Logon after 10:00 am (Sydney time) for a chat with others and a 10:15 am seminar start. We end for lunch around 1 pm.
Logon after 6 pm Friday 20th February New York time. 5 pm Central time zone. Please check your time zone.

Where: Zoom meeting. So its covid and flu safe!
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84151829264

Or visit our web site: www.ags.org.au

Cost: Free for Zoom participants.

Our last meeting:

Saturday 15th November 2025 10am Sydney time
(Friday 14th June 6pm US Eastern time)

"Report on AGS Visit to the Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture and Colloquium (AKML 2025)",

and David Hewson's presentation on "Communications as a Reflexive System"

Presenter: David Hewson

The Programme:

* AKML 2025

* David Hewson's presentation on "Communications"
      - A little about modelling, and David's model of communication,
      - Discussion on how this relates to general semantics, and how to apply it,
      - Practice, using some of the formulations.

Introduction

After a quick summary of the AKML and seminar in New York (October 3-5), David talked about modelling, explained his model of communication and then showed how it relates to general semantics and how to apply it.

We congratulated David on being awarded the Institute of General Semantics J. Talbot Winchell Award 2025 "for outstanding contributions and service to the cause of general semantics". This goes a little way to recognising David's long commitment to the study, teaching and promotion of general semantics.

Detail

Why have a model? For the same reasons that you need a 'map' of the territory that is similar in structure to that of the territory, i.e. so that you can have predictability and for understanding what is going on or what may have gone wrong. A good communications model makes explicit, assumptions about communication that may have been unconsciously made. Also from an economical viewpoint, a good 'map' is easier to study and use than the territory.

Maps are not all the territory and can have an optimal level of detail, i.e. where the marginal cost of more accuracy = marginal benefit of more accuracy.

We talked about abstraction levels in communication and showed various communication models.

We took in this video, a Big Bang show episode, as an example of miscommunication.

Gave an analogy that information communicated, is similar to potential energy. How much information is transmitted depends, in part, on how big an ignorance hole the receiver has to fill.

David defined reflexive communication, and how this relates to projection and identification.

Communication is improved with two-way feedback.

We saw how much harder it is to communicate with a group who have a variety of backgrounds.

We related communication to mapping a territory using a TVP ~ MP model, i.e. the Territory as Viewed by a Person has to be homomorphically (many to one) similar in structure, to a Map as interpreted by a Person.

We then saw an example of using the formulation in a reflexive communication to a Spanish speaking blind man.

Gave an update on Korzybski’s “map must be of similar structure to the territory it represents”.

Finally rounded it out with applications and exercises as well as further books to read about social influence and negotiating.

*** * ***

When:
   Logon after 10:00 am and 10:15 am seminar start (Sydney time).    (6pm NY time)
   We take a little break along the way, end lunch around 1 pm.

Where: Zoom on-line meeting

Cost: Free for Zoom participants

~ Join / Renew / Donate to AGS ! ~

Other lovely seminars coming up:

* Rachel Lauer’s Stages of understanding.
(Details TBA)

* Timebinding - its formulation, implications and trends.
"Fools say that they learn by experience. I prefer to profit by other's experience." (Bismarck).
An example of timebinding off others that have gone before.

* RJ's un-Pula GS Glossary (under construction):

A collaborative project, incorporating 20 years of AGS
studies and discussions.

* Baby Boomers in Popular Culture

How can we keep up with technology
and dynamic culture,
and engage with our children and their children?
Are Korzybski’s extensional devices sufficient,
or do we need some new ones?

* Ed MacNeal's "General Semantics - Then and Now"

Edward MacNeal held the position of executive secretary of the International Society for General Semantics in the late 1940s, works as an aviation consultant, and has written several notable books, including The Semantics of Air Passenger Transportation; Mathsemantics: Making Numbers Talk Sense; and MacNeal's Master Atlas of Decision Making (published 1997).

* Science without Soul

On 13th November 2020,
IGS Secretary Vanessa Biard-Schaeffer
addressed the Italian Senate
for the celebration of the UN 2020 Philosophy Day,
on the theme “Science Without Soul.”

* More of Marty Levinson's 'Modern Fairy Tales

What significance can we draw from these?
Why are the 'traditional' fairy tales so durable?
Is there a possible role for new fictional creations in GS?

* "Examples of GS Formulations in the Media"
(by Dion, held-over from 21 May 1999)

Clips from movies/cartoons/comedy shows, etc,
that extensionally show up some problems
like fact-inference confusion (jumping to conclusions) ...

Australian General Semantics Society Incorporated
Incorporated Association No: INC9881458
Constitution (DOC format, to download)

Contact AGS

Join / Renew / Donate to AGS