A Veteran's Re-Adjustment and Extensional Methods by Alfred Korzybski (1945)

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    A VETERAN'S RE-ADJUSTMENTAND EXTENSIONAL METHODS

    By ALFRED KORZYBSKI *Director, Institute of General Semantics, Chicago

    Author of Manhood of Humanity,' The Science and Art of Human Engineering, E. P.Dutton, 1921; 2nd ed., Institute of General Semantics, 1946 and Science and Sanity,' An Intro-duction to Nonaristote/ian Systems and General Semantics, Science Press Printing Co., Lancaster,Pa., 1933; 2nd ed., 1941.

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    A VETERA.N'S RE-ADJUSTMENTters and in general hospitals. That theywere employed with success is demonstrated by the fact that psychiatric evacuations from the E11ropean Theater wereheld to a minimrnn.Korzybski' s paper, together with the ac-tual report of the use of general semantics by a veteran, points to the next important step in the employment of theseprinciples-the reconversion of the re-tllrning soldier, sailor, or marine. Throughthe use of grottp therapy large numbersof individuals can be t1ained iu extmsional methods, and this t;pe of trainingshortld prove of value to any individualwho has suffered from the searing contactwith actual warfare, the problems inherenti11 his displacement from his previous en-vironme111, or the general trials and tribulatiom resulting from forced adj11Stmmtin the armed services. Sttch individualsmay not present overt symptomatology butwould nevertheless be benefited by aknowledge of extensional methods whicb1flould res11lt in a better understanding oftheir problems.Korzybski' s paper indicates the value ofthese tecbniq11es and sho11ld be carefullystudied not only by psychiatri.rts b11t byall persom concemed with the tremendo!ISproblem of the readjustment of the re-I ttming veteran.JTHE following case report on himselfby a Pacific war veteran is most re-vealing for our work. This veteran was astudent in Professor Elwood Murray'sclass in general semantics in the University College (evening division) of theUniversity of Denver. He was dischargedfrom the army because of his 'nervousdisability,' the sort of reactions describedin this report. The veteran attended onelecture a week, and his class paper waswritten at the end of ten weeks. ProfessorMurray is Director of the School ofSpeech and the author of a book and a

    number of articles on speech personalityand general semantics. He also lectured ongeneral semantics to the medical staff ofthe military Fitzsimons General Hospital,to the staff of the Psychopathic Hospital,University of Colorado Medical School,and the faculty of Colorado Woman'sCollege.We are desperately short of psychiatrists and we will continue to be thatway, as it takes a long time to train aphysician to understand 'mental' difficulties. The main point in connection with

    general semantics, or, if you wish, a nonaristotelian orientation, is in the fact thatnon-medical men giving group classroomtraining in scientific method can conveythrough extensionalization (i.e., evaluating in terms of facts), constructive techniques which do work. The following re-port of this veteran, who was the onlysurvivor of a Japanese bombing of agroup of fifteen of his buddies, is mostinstructive.The importance of non-medical, scienti fie methodological training for extensionalization must be emphasized here. Inour work we are striving for neurologicalthalamo-cortical integration through sci-entific method alone, which occurs empirically, if the students are willingenough to co-operate and work. This particular veteran did co-operate, and tookhis retraining seriously. Without medicalhelp in the narrow sense, he did improvesteadily, and probably will recover com-pletely. He is probably not psychiatricallyill but jllst naturally disturbed. We willhave to deal with large numbers of suchcases with a very restricted number ofavailable psychiatrists. In our records we

    haYe a number of similar communicationsfrom all battlefronts about the benefits de-rived from studying extensional methodsthrough Science and Sanity, etc., whichmight be called 'bibliotherapy.'

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    ETC.: A REVIEW OF GENERAL SEMANTICSIn many ways such results should be that in a non-aristotelian re-training weexpected because modern extensional are dealing with method alone which anymethods are prior to any science, medicine individual can apply by himself in anyand psychiatry included. It is not acci- life situation or profession without medidental that the greatest modern scientific cal help, or with it if necessary.achievement, the release of atomic energy, Probably almost any psychiatrist couldwas not accomplished by physicists alone have helped this disturbed veteran. Howor mathematicians alone but by joint ever, this would probably require timeefforts of specialists in those fields, epitom- consuming individual work not applicableizing the physico-mathematical methods of to group or classroom non-medical use.finding the relations between map-terri- Let me repeat that this veteran is probablytory, to use our language. On human not psychiatrically ill; he simply reacts aslevels we find their expression in psycho- most living human beings would react to

    somatic trends, which present initially his experiences, which certainly were notserious methodological difficulties similar happy, to say the least. On the battleto the notion of space-time in the history fronts one cannot help but see the deadof relativity. and dying, hear the screams, curses andHowever, the principles are very sim- prayers, smell the blood and stench ofpie, and extensionalization can be con- decaying flesh, etc., and so feel personallyveyed even to small children, also to the indescribable terrors of war. Thesegrown persons who get into evaluational horrors become impressed on our nervousdifficulties. Let us recall that in general systems and so naturally we respond tochildren are born extensional, and we them for some time to come.eventually do endless harm by training In practice it will probably appear thatthem in intension, for which they usually the veterans returning from the Pacificpay the price later in life. Non-aristotelian front will present different problems thanextensional methods are not a medical those rehrrning from the European theaterdiscipline, but any psychotherapist in re- of war. So far psychiatrists have not paidtraining the patients in adjustment to enough attention to these differences,'facts' or 'reality' must knowingly or un- which would be instructive and educaknowingly depend on some sort of ex- tiona!.tensionalization. In practice it is more I speak from my own experiences as aefficient and adequate to start with an veteran of World War I. In many waysentirely general technique for extension, my experiences were similar to and comwhich also remains valid in classroom use parable with those of many of my colby non-medical educators. Medical men leagues. I could go through practicallydo not need to be apprehensive, since paragraph after paragraph of the veteran'sgeneral semantics has nothing to do with report and show normal similarities, difmedical problems as such. Physicians who fering only in degree. Let me explain theapply the new methods find that they type of some of these reactions. In Worldsimplify their own professional tasks. \Var I aeroplanes and bombings wereThey are able to reach their patients child's play as compared with those ofsooner and with less effort, since they be- \Vorld \Var II. On the .Eastern front thegin on neutral and general grounds which Germans mostly bombed the generalinvolve the important factors of thalamo- staffs, other headquarters, some bridges,cortical integration. It must be stressed railroad centers, etc. The bombings were

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    A VETERAN'S RE-ADJUSTMENTcomparatively innocent in the first twoyears of the war, yet there was a curiouspsycho-logical reaction quite natural andnormal at first. We often felt that theaeroplane was 'just over our heads,' whichwas seldom true. Even today when Ihear an aeroplane is passing over me, Ifeel similarly, and without being disturbed I still cock my head a little-notunconscious by now of such accidents asoccurred to the Empire State Building inNew York. The veteran of this report isat present disturbed by planes. This issimply natural, since he returned recentlyfrom the front. But of course a friendlyplane in the United States is not the samething as an enemy plane anywhere on thebattle fronts. By extensional techniqueshe is learning not to identify them.To give another example, I had to dealvery often with artillery fire, includingheavy guns. I got accustomed to it andartillery fire did not bother me at all.Not so with machine guns, or 'typewriters,' as they called them here; Idid not like them, as I had seen too muchof what they can do, and I still do not likethem. Even at the Petawawa provinggrounds in Canada when observing theeffect of high explosives, I seldom sat inmy dugout but sat instead on the surface.I remember vividly how I was 'on thecarpet' before my superior officer after asplinter smashed my table and telephone.I had to listen patiently, but when thesermon got too lengthy I simply asked mysuperior where he sat when he formerlyperformed my task on proving grounds.He got quite embarrassed and admittedthat he also sat outside. I saluted and lefthis office. He never bothered me again.The reader should not fancy that my be-havior was foolhardy ; with training onelearns how to dodge high explosive splinters. But I treated shrapnel more respectfully ; I would not haYe trusted myself

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    dodging machine gun bullets, which Iheard others could do.The Intelligence Department of theSecond Army utilized me in a new ex-periment as an 'expert' in German language and 'psychology,' and the organization of the German army. My chief dutieswere to follow closely at the front themovements and concentration of Germantroops between the Eastern (Russian) andWestern (French) fronts and report immediately to the Army Staff by field telephone any significant movements orchanges affecting the Second Army, andpredht what the Germans with theirmethodical make-up would eventually do.With these aims in view, in collaborationwith local Intelligence officers, I had tointerview prisoners, our own agents, andscan many letters and other writings takenfrom the prisoners and found on the dead.This had to be done on the spot so thatI could make immediate preliminary telephone reports, saving many precious hoursof inevitable delay in transit of some im-portant, new and unexpected developments which the Army Headquartersshould know immediately. The joke wasthat I deliberately used perfectly goodtwo-valued aristotelian either-or 'logic'which the Germans methodically followed, and so I often predicted quite suc cessfully. Now with the report of General Marshall and the news which filtersfrom Europe we see how 'logical' the Germans were and how their predictabilitywas very poor, hence their errors. I be-lieve it was not Hitler's so-called 'intuitions' but the rigid two-valued and ulti mately ignorant 'logic' of a sick manwhich was responsible for their disasters .From the beginning of their world ad-venture he left out too many factors ,'human nature' included, and so the Germans were bound to lose in spite of tremendous preparations and actual power.

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    ETC.: A REVIEW OF GENERAL SEMANTICSAlthough it is all past history now, Some could not even look at them. Suchmany of my later reactions were similar reactions lasted sometimes many years.to those the veteran describes, but in a However, such veterans could speak quitemilder degree. I practically never did happily about funny or idiotic experiencesactual fighting but in my 'psychological,' which abound in wars. Kipling in hismore or less scientific work I was kept Barrack Room Ballads pictures the solmostly in battles and was exposed to dan- diers' reactions quite correctly. To keepger all the time. When I was sent to masses of young lively chaps in hand inNorth America as a technical expert in the trenches was a difficult job by itself.the Artillery Commission there still re- They had the most silly and dangerousmained some old battle reactions, which outbursts, such as jumping out of thebothered me for some time. For instance, trench and exposing their behinds to thewhen I first landed in New York and enemy to show them their contempt.

    stayed in a most noisy Broadway hotel I Enemy sharpshooters were watching, andcould not sleep because of lack of artillery such frolics ended most of the time infire. At the front we 'knew' that when wounds or death, depending on the senseartillery stopped firing at night there was of humor of the sharpshooter.something 'wrong' and we got restless and I can recount only two of these warcould not sleep; we felt 'forgotten,' or stupidities, both with happy endings. The'abandoned,' which of course was very list could be expanded indefinitely, henceseldom true. It took me several months the grim humor of veterans as expressedto overcome that fiction. I later learned by fighters' cartoons and such expressionsthat when artillery stopped firing at night as 'snafu,' which may become a classicit mostly indicated that everything was and permanent monument to some brassunder control. Yet the feeling we got at hats. 'Snafu' represents an abbreviationthe time was that of impending disaster, of one of the bitterest indictments, yetand that anticipation of danger remained full of what used to be called 'galgenwith me for a longer time. Such hypo- httmor' or 'gallows humor.'thetical anticipation of danger may in In one instance a battery was orderedsome instances, if generalized, become to 'advance.' In those days the relationsanxiety. between maps and territories "ere verySimilarly, I used to carry important unsatisfactory. The unknown territorygeneral staff papers in the breast pockets was muddy Carpathian mountains. Theof my tunic, and I knew from experience single battery was isolated and withoutthat the Germans would like to get hold support. But 'orders is orders,' so the batof them at any cost. So I always slept with tery tramped in the dark and the mud,my arms crossed over my chest. It took until they came to an abrupt drop of theme several years to overcome this habit. ground. Further advance was impossibleWorld \Var I was entirely different at night. The horses and men were deadtechnically from World War II, yet many tired, so the captain in charge ordered aveterans share some common habits. Thus stop, and they had some food and went tothose who actually were familiar with sleep. At dawn the ever-present sergeantbattle fronts never liked and in fact often peeped at the valley below and discovrefused to speak about their tragic experi- ered a whole Austrian division with artilences. Some could look at war moving lery and all the trimmings. He reported topictures, but could not speak about them. the captain, who was too sleepy to think

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    A VETERAN'S RE-ADJUSTMENTtwice and gave a suicidal order: pointblank shrapnel. Well, instead of attackingour single battery, the whole Austriandivision fled, leaving a lot of equipment,documents, and even the division funds.In another instance, my colonel of thegeneral staff ordered me with six men toblow up a bridge behind the Germanlines, which we accomplished successfully.After sneaking through the enemy lineswe were going 'home.' Suddenly we heardmarching soldiers. Not knowing whetherthey were friends or enemies we dismounted, hid our horses in some bushes,and discoYered they were Russian soldiers.I yelled at them not to shoot and we wentto contact them. It was a company of infantry, about 350 men. Owing to theshortage of officers, one captain v1as incommand of three companies. Two ofthem had strayed apart and the three weresupposed to meet again in a village a few

    miles away which we had by-passed. Weknew this village had just been occupiedby a whole division of Germans. The captain and his men were dead tired, wornout, and in no mood to listen when I reported the situation to him. Because wewere in the cavalry, for which the infantrycaptain had no use, he became very abusive. He told me in so many words that hedid not believe me because 'all cavalrymen are cowards,' etc., and decided thathe and his men would sleep in that village, Germans or no Germans. There wasno sense arguing with him so ultimatelyI offered him our services; after all, thelives of about one thousand men were atstake and a few cavalry men could havebeen useful. Suddenly the two strayedcompanies met some German patrols andshooting began. Well, the whole Germandivision retreated and the captain and hismen had a few hours sleep in the village.When at dawn the situation becameclearer so that the captain realized that

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    he was confronted with an entire division,believe me, the three companies retreatedP.D.Q., and my men and I got away asfast as our horses could carry us. Such incidents happen quite often; as neitherside can ever assume the complete stupidity or carelessness of the enemy, and wehave to assume that the other fellowknows what he is doing.I have recounted some of my own experiences and reactions to reassure veterans as well as the public that many littledisturbances as a result of war experiencesare not always serious and often disappearafter some rest and return to civilian life.What should be avoided are second orderreactions, such as fear of fear, nervousness abo11t nervottSness, worry aboutworry, etc., which may seriously aggravate the originally normal reactions underabnormal conditions. For the reader whois not familiar with the applications ofphysico-mathematical methods or nonaristotelian orientations to life, perhaps aword of forewarning would be useful. Ican do no better than to quote the eminent mathematician, Professor HermannWeyl: 'Indeed, the first difficulty the manin the street encounters when he is taughtto think mathematically is that he mustlearn to look things much more squarelyin the face; his belief in words must beshattered ; he must learn to think moreconcretely.' In other words, we must evaluate in terms of facts, inner facts included. Unfortunately the difficulties ofapplication in life are not realized evenby mathematicians. They have the sameblockages in the application of their ownprofessional methods to life as any lay-man has.

    Endless books and articles are writtentelling us what is wrong with the world,education, etc. Everybody tries to tell uswhat to do, and so far, outside of a nonaristotelian system and its techniques, no -

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    ETC.: A REVIEW OF GENERAL SEMANTICSbody teaches us how to do it. training and practice; then some resultsSuperficially it may seem 'all so simple' may be expected. Successful progress re-'common sense,' some may say-but quires the individual's work and persistexperience shows that this is not 'com- ent efforts. Such retraining is not medicalmon' at all today. The 'simplicity' is only in character but educational, fundamenlinguistic lip-service; the serious difficulty tally preventive, and entirely general, notis in application, which requires a clear- included as yet in our Indo-Europeancut theory and extensional technique, systems of culture and education. Thetraining in it, and serious persistent per- veteran in this case learned the new methsonal efforts for months if not years. The ods in ten hours of classroom re-educationdifficulty is similar to the retraining from and began to apply what he learned bythe euclidean or newtonian systems of practising- and improvement followed.evaluation to non-euclidean or non-new- What is said here is borne out by experitonian orientations, which include the for- ence with most of my students, in everymer as special cases. The older systems field of their endeavor, be it personal orwere 'common sense' perhaps of a pre- professional.scientific era, but the new systems repre- Learning must be i11 deed and not meresent more closely 'reality' as we know it lip-service, and this is the main difficulty.today, and uncommon sense was and is The veteran describes how he appliednecessary. In our work we are trying to what he learned in a non-medical classmake this modern 'uncommon sense' of Professor Murray and how he acquired'common' and workable. The passing the means to help himself without outfrom antiquated and inadequate aristotel- side assistance. 2ian evaluations to non-aristotelian modern The report of tl:e yeteran follows. Itand more adequate systems is perhaps the has had practically no editing and ismost difficult. printed substantially just as the veteran'False' theories are less dangerous than wrote it, including the title:inadequate ones. The former involve com- 'Since completing this paper, I have read themission of errors, comparatively obvious, by now famous lectures of Major-General G. B.and simply discovered. The inadequate Chisholm on 'The Psychiatry of Enduring Peacetheories are much more harmful, as they and Social Progress,' published in PJ)"hiatry,d February 1946. (Reprints are available fromoften pass superficial inspection an re- the William Alanson White Psychiatric Foun-quire creative work to reconstruct them. dation, 1711 Rhode Island Avenue, WashingThey do not involve erroneous commis- ton, D. C., single copies 40c prepaid.) In hissions, but pernicious omissions by default lectures, Gen. Chisholm emphasizes the educawith their inevitably paralyzing effects. tiona] contributions which psychiatry 1946could make, now that the inevitable broaderThe standard orthodox neuro-psychia- basic problems of a socio-cultutal character havetry is unfortunately not equipped to deal become more sharply forced on our attention bywith these kinds of problems, which in- the mass war experiences. He is stressing thevolve socio-cultural factors affecting our emphatic need of helping mankind to matureby training away from the still-prevalent inademost intimate private lives. 'Intellectual quate, sharp, rigid, two-valued types ot reac-undertanding' will not work organismally, tions toward the broader, more adequate, multias any psychiatrist knows, and some of our valued, more flexible orientations which experistudents have discovered this by painful ences with war casualties have shown to be af h solution. In our terminology, he is calling forexperience. The methods or sanity ave a non-aristotelian revision, which leads em-to be organismally absorbed through self- pirically to the maturing he is urging.

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    A VETERAN'S RE -ADJUSTMENTA VETERAN USES GENERAL SEMANTICS

    FOR REHABILITATIONBY THE VETERAN

    It was not with willingness and wholehearted cooperation that this veteran offour campaigns in the South Pacific consented to give the information in thisstudy. He felt, however, that this trendmay help him to relax. As far as puttingto use the work of general semantics, itwas a benefit; but, at first, to relate manyincidents openly as in this paper was extremely difficult and he tended to relapseinto the nervous condition he was in whenreleased from the service.There are a few phases of misevaluation that will give an example of theproblems of the veteran; many are ex-tremely difficult to put into written description.The fear of darkness, for quite sometime, hindered many of his activities aftersundown. It was hard to feel safe fromenemy fire even as a civilian in the UnitedStates. Most of the evenings were spentin the home rather than venture outside.The veteran put to work Eeneral semantics and took long walks down side streetsat night, keeping in mind that the darkness he then encountered was entirelydifferent from that in combat. After aweek or so of such procedure, he beganto relax and take part in evening activitiesoutside.There is a great fear of crowds noticeable. Why this should be he cannot ex-plain, unless it is due to the isolation andsmall numbers of men he encounteredwhile in the Pacific area. To overcomethis, he took walks in the downtown district and forced himself to mingle withpeople. He has partially overcome thisfear and is still advancing. Perhaps onereason for his not mixing more with people was the 'silly conception' of war they

    expressed. At first, he lost his temperquickly and made many cutting remarksto people. Later he developed a sullensilence refusing to comment on or discuss the situation except with those he feltwere interested and were making an attempt to ease the situation. At present,he is most objective, trying to keep inmind that though there are remarks thatirritate him, there is no possible way tounderstand the conditions without havingexperienced the same. Using this methodof silence mentioned has helped a greatdeal with delay of reactions as an aid toevaluation. Though at first he reactedwithin himself, and carried all the marksof ill-will, at present he uses this periodentirely for evaluation.Tension was and still is quite noticeable; however, there is some improvement. After correct evaluation of suddensounds, relaxation came easier. The veteran was in a constant state of anxiety,tensed to move quickly should it be necessary. Movements of all those about him,no matter how slight, are observed. Hefound the identification in his reactionswith being constantly alert for movementsin trees and bushes that might be those ofthe enemy in combat. Realizing this, he ismore at ease.

    When the veteran attended movies, healways left during the newsreel. He reactsto battle scenes as though he were present.It leaves him in a state of great anxietyand what might be termed 'fresh combatfatigue.' The veteran is striving to overcome this identification. In doing so, heremains in his seat and tries to keep inmind that it is just a screen with blackand white pictures, rather than actual battle. There has been a noted improvementin regard to after-effect; however, whilewitnessing the scenes, he sweats profusely.A version to noises such as the firesiren. Sirens were used in combat to alert

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    ETC.: A REVIEW OF GENERAL SEMANTICSsoldiers for air raids. When the veteran grains of rice moving in his dish. Tohears sirens he breaks into a sweat and overcome this, he has eaten rice severalhas great difficulty in controlling the de- times trying to remember the rice beforesire to drop on the ground. The veteran, him is not the same as that on the body.to make this a proper evaluation, visited Though the food is not relished, he hasa fire station and examined the sirens on succeeded in overcoming the vomitingthe engines. Seeing them as they were and reflex at the sight of rice.for the purpose they are now used has When first returned, the veteran had acontributed to more self-control. great dislike for dogs resulting from ex-Low flying planes also greatly affected periences with native dogs. These nativehim. He experienced a bombing in the dogs were seen to devour bodies of bothearly part of the war in which he was American and Jap soldiers, which, ofthe sole survivor among some fifteen course, was most distasteful to the obothers. With exception of great shock and server. When mongrels in the Unitedunconsciousness he was not injured. The States were seen, or even heard, the abovelow flying plane flashes this experience to scene flashed to the mind of the veteranhis mind. To attempt to properly evalu- and immediate hate for canines becameate the situation, the veteran gained per- prominent. To overcome this, he forcedmission to enter an airfield and examine himself to pet dogs and remember thatplanes. He stood close to the runway these dogs were quite different from thosewhen planes came in. This has not helped on the islands. At present, he is fairlytoo much, but he believes in time he can well adjusted to the situation.train himself to picture peaceful maneu- The veteran brought with him a Japvers of friendly planes landing on an canteen. This cant

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    A VETERAN'S RE-ADJUSTMENTdislike for them and without hesitationmade slighting remarks. Since first returning there has been some improvementalong this line; however, he still holdsthe grievance. He is trying to overcomethis by keeping in mind that the individual himself cannot always help hisstatus.The oppression of army life has lefthim with a most serious attitude of re-bellion. I f asked to do something, he ismost co-operative, but should someoneorder him, he flatly refused to co-operate.He has improved greatly, however, realizing that the situation is entirely differentand in most instances, the co-operationbetters his association with people.Two weeks after the veteran had beendischarged, he and his wife were visitedby an elderly lady who was a friend ofthe family but had not been seen for sev-eral years. During the course of the conversation, the veteran excused h i ~ s e l f from the room. As he was leaving, heoverheard the visitor ask, 'Why isn't yourhusband in the army?' He returned to theroom and not too politely informed thevisitor of his status. This led to a gravedislike for all elderly women. When theveteran began applying general semantics,he discovered the above. Since, he hastried to bear in mind that all elderlywomen are not the same as the one described. He has partially overcome theintense dislike for them as a result.The veteran has been using the se-mantic relaxation technique. It has beena very short time since he started, however, since he began he finds tension re-lieved during the application and is earnestly working with it in hopes of com-plete success soon.A good example of non-indexing habitis found in the paragraph concerning 'dislike for all elderly women,' a result oftemptation to react in terms of allnesses.

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    The analysis was restricted through a re-duction in the number of evaluations, anda habit of seeing only one side. The as-sumption that no two people act or thinkalike, that 'This woman is not thatwoman,' should be constantly exercised.'The assumption of allness leads to tension and conflict, the preservation ofignorance and blockage of further learning'. 3 The preceding quotation may beapplied to every example of the veteran'sproblems presented in this report.Along the line of low flying planes,fear of darkness, and food, it must be keptin the mind of the veteran that . . no twoin this world have been found identical. . : Seeing only similarities is a result ofneglecting differences, resulting in identification mechanisms. Devices giving asense of difference in evaluations are mostbeneficial. A good habit for the veteranto develop is, 'Consciousness of similarities in differences and differences in similarities.' 5This veteran's main difficulty lies in thefact that he is responding to similaritiesonly, with a most static outlook. It is true,in many respects, the 'low flying planes'he encounters in this country arc mostsimilar to those of enemy planes overseas,in that both types have engines, wings,noise, and so on, which are proper evaluations. Differences must also be considered.These planes he now sees and hears arebeing piloted by Americans, they are notflying over a tropical island, and it is morethan likely practice flights. There are nu-merous abstractions in this one exampleand the same procedure should be appliedto all of his problems. The veteran's statusis changed. He is now a civilian, not in a

    ' I . J. Lee, l.Ang11age Habits in Huma11 Af-fairs, New. York: Harper and Brothers, 1941,p. 65. Ibid., p. llO.' I bid . p. 110.

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    ETC.: A REVIEW OF GENERAL SEMANTICScombat zone but in the United States. Thefact that he has changed, as well as hissurroundings, should be foremost in hismind. That there is constant change in allmatter and situations should be kept inmind.

    It has been observed by the family ofthe veteran, and his outside associates,that in the past three months there hasbeen a marked improvement in his atti-

    tudes and reactions. There is a more general easiness, expressed in both his actionsand his physical appearance. The veteranhimself admits more confidence in all heundertakes and relief of the absolute tension he previously experienced. He alsofeels, that though he was unwilling in thebeginning to try to write about his identifications, this procedure has been mostbeneficial.

    REFERENCES BY KORZYBSKIS. I. Hayakawa, Language in Action, NewYork: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1941.W. Johnson, Language and Speech Hygiene: An Application of General Se-mantics, General Semantics Monographs No. 1, Chicago: Institute ofGeneral Semantics, 1939.W. Johnson, People in Quandaries: TheSemantics of Personal Adjustment,

    New York: Harper and Brothers, 1946.M. Kendig, Editor, Papers from the Sec-ond American Congress on General Se-mantics: Non-aristotelian Methodology(Applied) for Sanity in Our Time,Chicago: Institute of General Se-mantics, 1943.

    A. Korzybski, Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-aristotelian Systemsand General Semantics, Lancaster, Pa.:Science Press Printing Co., 1933, 2nded. 1941.I. J. Lee, Language Habits in HumanAffairs: An Introduction to GeneralSemantics, New York: Harper andBrothers, 1941.E. Murray, The Speech Personality, Revised edition, New York: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1944.E. Murray, F. Sorensen, and W. Paul, 'AFunctional Core for the Basic Communications Course,' Quarterly Journal

    of Speech, April, 1946.

    Reprinted from Summer 1946 iJSue (Vol. III, No.4) ofETC. : A REVIEW OF GENERAL SEMANTICSThis paper in part has also been published in

    THE AMERICAN }OURNAL OF PSYCHIATRYJuly, 1946

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