Well the strange thing is, I’ve _been_ talking General Semantics for a lifetime (43 yrs old now)… and didn’t even KNOW IT.
Tried finding it under many other names. Didn’t know what ‘it’ was. I was looking at derivatives or predecessors in shadowy form.
I argued for it without knowing I was.
So, now I need to look at its influencers. I’m on a quest of self-discovery that’s harsh… one that is doing the OPPOSITE of what I’ve done for a lifetime: For a lifetime, I avoided “labels”, talked layers of semantics with people, multiple perspectives, differences of opinion. I’ve stopped MANY verbal and written battles between people using what I *just* found out today was Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy even though I hadn’t HEARD much of Albert Ellis before….
and I was like…
Shit.
Now, I’m looking for *all the labels* that suit me.
It doesn’t mean I’m -against- it. It makes up who I am, how I think, the way I communicate and believe about the world.
So I’m at a point where I need to comprehend its origins and its flaws, its assumptions, its drawbacks. I could write a book on General Semantics. I’ve lived it and didn’t even know it. I embody it. Frightens me a tad actually because what I thought was “me”, wasn’t. Isn’t.
I may end up finding “nobody” when I’m done. I’m ready for that possibility too. But, I need to know.
If you have information on the background of G.S. I’d appreciate it. It will help me. I’ve found some things, but the search is trickier than expected.