Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #551295 in Books
• Published on: 1995-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 927 pages

Customer Reviews

If You Only Read One Book in Your Life, READ THIS!!!
Stunning. Absolutely stunning. I really cannot use enough superlatives to describe the effect this book has had on my life. I have seen it described as difficult to read, and I admit that at first glance it can seem daunting. But investing some time and effort in trying to internalise what Korzybski says can have dramatic effects on your quality of life. I would advise that you read it once, and don't worry too much if you don't understand long passages. On the second time of reading, some of those passages begin to make sense, and you get an inkling of the importance of what he says. I read it twice, starting again as soon as I had finished. I intend to read it again soon, once I have given my brain a chance to mull over the new information I have presented for it's delectation.

As a general formula, the more you read this book, the greater benefit you derive from it.

With Science and Sanity, Alfred Korzybski presents a system of thought that he claims can make humanity 'sane'. To evaluate such a claim, which has profound implications for humanity, you must read the book and decide for yourself. Don't listen to the propaganda. By examining our language, and it's underlying Aristotelian metaphysics, he illustrates that the structure of our nervous systems does not correspond to the structure of our language, leading to a serious discrepancy that causes 'un-sanity'. Put simply, our language cannot cope with 'reality'. Since we rely on language to think and evaluate, WE cannot cope with reality. The solution? Change our language.

Rather than base our language on Aristotelian 'metaphysics', which means only that we base our language on the physics of Ancient Greece, let us base our language on modern physics, which denies the existence of an objective reality. How can we talk in a language that implies an 'objective reality' when our most learned scientists deny the meaningfulness of such a phrase?

Science and Sanity has changed my life for the better, and I was already enjoying myself! I urge you to read this book. Then read it again, and again, and again, and again, then tell all your friends about it and get them to read it! Honestly, you will not regret it.

Semantics from the world of 1933
An interesting view that is not to be overlooked. As in physics we changed or concepts from Newtonian (space and time) to Einstein or non-Newtonian (space/time). We see this in any fields and some of us embrace the change and see how infinite our views can still work; others of us resist knowing that there is something fundamentally wrong if you can not put your finger on it.

Korzybski opens up our mind and world to the possibilities of Non-Aristotellian systems and general semantics.

"If one wishes to obtain a definite answer to Nature one must attack the question from a more general and less selfish point of view"
M. PLANCK

The start of something new
This is an important, yet often overlooked book. It deserves more attention than it has so far had, and it deserves to be in a wider readership than as a source book for neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)

The message of this book is important and can be summarised to the classic quote, "The map is not the territory, it is a representation of the territory and useful in so far as it corresponds to the territory" The book is the great statement of non-identity- the description of a thing or process is not the thing or process itself.

The book makes the argument fully, but sadly like Merleau-Ponty's "The Phenomenology of Perception" it's message is often lost amidst linguistic complexity.

This book is important, it does make a worthwhile argument, and it is a basic resource for those interested in NLP, general semantics and neuro-semantics.

The message from this book deserves to reach a bigger audience.

The book is worth reading, but you will need persistence and concentration to get the message out of it.