Alfred Korzybski

Referenced in 1 episode

Definition

Polish-American scholar (1879-1950) who founded General Semantics and wrote 'Science and Sanity' (1933). He is famous for the slogan 'the map is not the territory.'

Related episodes

Alfred Korzybski and General Semantics with Rolf Sattler (4K Reboot)

New Thinking AllowedOct 27, 2026

Biologist Rolf Sattler joins Jeffrey Mishlove to revisit Alfred Korzybski's General Semantics, a once-influential system built on the idea that the map is not the territory. Sattler argues that confusing words, labels, and images with reality is a kind of everyday insanity behind prejudice, political hostility, and scientific dogmatism. The conversation links Korzybski's 'silent level' of reality to mystical traditions and pushes back on critics who called General Semantics a pseudoscience.

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