Silent Level

Referenced in 1 episode

Definition

Korzybski's term for the unspeakable, non-verbal level of reality that language cannot capture. Sattler compares it to the emphasis on silence in mystical and spiritual traditions.

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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