An account, Korzybski old chap, of this thing of ours.

An account, Korzybski old chap, of this thing of ours. WENDELL JOHNSON Dr. Wendell Johnson (April 16, 1906 – August 29, 1965) was an American psychologist, speech pathologist and author and was a proponent of General Semantics (or GS). Stuttering contributions SAID that "the better part of science is thelanguage of science," and like science, poetry has a language allits own. We therefore might consider the corresponding claim, that thebetter part of poetry is the language of poetry. Certainly, followingthe lead of the brilliant philosopher of symbolic form, Susanne K.Langer, we can understand that the language of poetry can be used toexpress and represent thoughts, feelings, and perceptions that thelanguage of science cannot. We can understand as well that the languageof poetry can evoke aspects of human experience that no other languagemay be able to grasp, or even touch. While poetry has appeared in these pages regularly over the years,we have inaugurated this feature to expand our explorations into thelanguage of poetry, and more generally artistic expression. Generalsemantics gen��er��al semantics?n. (used with a sing. verb)A discipline developed by Alfred Korzybski that proposes to improve human behavioral responses through a more critical use of words and symbols. , being truly general, concerns all forms of meaning making,all manner of symbolic communication Symbolic communication is exchange of messages that change a priori expectation of events. Examples of this are modern communication technology as also exchange of information amongst animals. . Moreover, unlocking the creativepotential within individuals has also been a longstanding focus ofgeneral semantics. The name we have given to this feature, Poetry Ring, is meant toresonate with the nonlinear nature of both general semantics as anon-Aristotelian approach to language and thought, and poetry itself.And in keeping with this theme, the three poems that follow all havetheir origins in the nonlinear electronic environment of onlinecommunications, specifically MySpace, where you can find a thrivingcommunity of poetry bloggers (see also the IGS IGS - Internet Go Server. site on MySpace,http://www.myspace.com/generalsemantics). The term ring also refers to websites that are linked to oneanother, an added connotation con��no��ta��tion?n.1. The act or process of connoting.2. a. An idea or meaning suggested by or associated with a word or thing: that is entirely appropriate in thiscontext. Perhaps even more significantly, the word ring invokes theworld of sound, and so reflects the origins of poetry as an oral medium,a form of speech and song. As such, poetry originally served a mnemonic Pronounced "ni-mon-ic." A memory aid. In programming, it is a name assigned to a machine function. For example, COM1 is the mnemonic assigned to serial port #1 on a PC. Programming languages are almost entirely mnemonics. function, as a means of preserving knowledge, and therefore can beunderstood as the most basic means by which humans extended thetime-binding capacity of language, prior to the invention of writing.And we hope that the poems appearing in print here, whether read outloud or silently, will nonetheless ring true for the reader.A word is not a thing,It's a thing that is not a thing, orIt's not a thing like other things,A word is not a thing-thing.A thing can be many things,This thing or that thing, one thing or the other thing,A thing or the thing, your own thing or my thing,Anything but a word-thing.A thing therefore I am.A thing-thing, not a word-thing am I.A name is not a man or woman.A name-thing is not me.But a thing is not a thing, no neither.A thing-thing is still a word-thing, I fearI sing of things, of thing-things and word-things,A thing, therefore, iambic or free.Thing is, things are not what they seem.Things are what they are not, not-things.The thing of things resigns without a rule,Over not-things and name-things, word-things, and thing-things too.A thing is nothing if not a not-thing,And words are sweet knot-things, to tangle us up.What we say of things is not the way of things,But the secret of things is th'-ing. FEATURE EDITORS: LANCE STRATE Lance Strate BA, MA, PhD is a Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University. He is internationally recognized for his intellectual leadership in the discipline of communication. AND DALE WINSLOW LANCE STRATE * * Lance Strate, the Executive Director of the Institute of GeneralSemantics The Institute of General Semantics is a not-for-profit corporation established in 1938 by Alfred Korzybski, located in Fort Worth, Texas. Its membership roles include members from 30 different countries. , is Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies atFordham University Fordham University(fôr`dəm), in New York City; Jesuit; coeducational; founded as St. John's College 1841, chartered as a university 1846; renamed 1907. Fordham College for men and Thomas More College for women merged in 1974. , and President of the Media Ecology Media Ecology is an interdisciplinary field of media theory involving the study of media environments. According to the Media Ecology Association [1], media ecology can be defined as "the study of media environments, the idea that technology and techniques, modes of Association. Heis the author of Echoes and Reflections: On Media Ecology as a Field ofStudy.