Structural Differential

Referenced in 1 episode

Definition

A physical diagram created by Korzybski showing how reality is progressively abstracted. Each stage, from perception to description to inference, captures fewer of reality's traits.

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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