How not to manage class disruptors

Practical examples that help explain General Semantics principles

From Sanford I Berman’s lecture:

If  you look in the back of Wendell Johnson’s book People in Quandaries , you’ll see “semantic exercises”…

Q: How do we explain humor?

A: Nobody knows, but this is a good theory:

Humor: Funny things, laughing, and jokes

Trying to get a handle on Alfred Korzybski’s principles of General Semantics

Alfred Korzybski’s ideas on General Semantics are important and profound, but Korzybski wasn’t very good at explaining them. These other people help explain his ideas more simply.   If you want to master Science and Sanity, Korzybski’s 900-page text on General Semantics, I suggest you start with these simplified explanations first!

Professor Irving J. Lee’s 6 lectures on “Talking Sense” where he leisurely covers a few important principles of General Semantics over three hours. You need to be a bit patient with him in the first couple of lectures, but then he gets really good.

Radical General Semantics, Gad Horowitz Lecture 1 – Sept 15, 2009

lightcell – Debugging the Mind with General Semantics, Etc.

Alfred Korzybski – The World is NOT an Illusion

Alfred Korzybski – Historical Note on the Structural Differential

Robert Anton Wilson – Language, Reason & Reality

Robert Anton Wilson talks about Alfred Korzybski, Friedrich Nietzsche,

Robert Anton Wilson – Language and Reality (Audio)

Watch from 13 minutes  to 21minutes 43 seconds

On Human Evaluation Part 1 of 7

A proposed model of a good group culture based on the Jewish success story

I formed this model of an ideal group culture based on ideas on the Jewish culture discussed in the book What is a Jew?.

A good group:

  1. Agrees on which goals to pursue, and group members commit to working together to achieve those goals.
  2. Agrees on which values to follow. These values are clearly spelt out and group members commit to following them.
  3. Expects to evolve over time, constantly re-evaluating the way things are done to adapt to changing circumstances.
  4. Works hard to strip away unnecessary rules, practices and customs imposed on its members, leaving just the things that matter.
  5. Will not set rules its members will be unwilling to follow:“Never pass a law the people cannot bear.”
  6. Shuns all unnecessary coerced conformity or hint of totalitarianism.
  7. Shuns abuse of its power. It will allow the less powerful members of the group to have a say in the policies that affect them.
  8. Encourages members to submit their ideas to the group, to voice their opinions, and to engage in healthy debate.
  9. Regularly measures its achievements, recognising that a successful group can only be measured by the fruits of its labour, not by its ambitions or its “busy-ness”.

    “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” — Winston Churchill 

  10. Celebrates whenever the group or a member achieves an important success or milestone.
  11. Encourages members to consult with each other when deciding how to handle tricky ethical dilemmas.
  12. Encourages members to monitor each other’s behaviour for violations of group standards and to raise their concerns, rather than say “It’s not my problem. It’s not my business”.
  13. Encourages contact with outsiders, inviting outsiders to participate in some of its activities to encourage a fruitful exchange of ideas and skills.
  14. Encourages learning within the group, with members generously sharing useful information and skills with each other and attending group learning events together.
  15. Encourages members to pursue their own goals that support the group’s higher goals.
  16. Conducts regular reflection sessions where group members, individually and together, review their progress. They reflect on their short-comings and work out how to do better. They think about how to heal rifts in their relationships with other group members and think how to help other members they are presently neglecting or could be supporting more.
  17. Publicly speaks out to the outside world in favour of what it believes is right and speaks out against what it believes is wrong and encourages its members to do so individually.
  18. Engages in doing “good works”. Group members will help each other in various ways, through moral support, practical advice and other more tangible ways. The group engages in activities that better the world as well as better themselves.

 

Some admirable group values to consider

  • openness to new ideas and ways of doing things
  • flexibility
  • compromise – except when it comes to high ethical standards
  • tolerance and respect for other people’s different ways of doing things
  • kindness
  • compassion
  • to not do to others what you wouldn’t want them to do to you
  • love of learning
  • freedom
  • individual autonomy
  • belief that we can achieve more working together than as individuals working alone
  • belief that we are all endowed with the potential for greatness and goodness
  • optimism
  • belief that success comes from trying really hard
  • integrity
  • justice
  • speaking up against unfairness and wrong-doing
  • not remaining silent about things we know are wrong
  • apologising to others that we have wronged and trying to make amends
  • being forgiving and understanding towards others who have wronged us
  • expressing our gratitude and appreciation to others
  • giving back
  • working  for the higher good
  • giving others “the benefit of the doubt”
  • being “other” focused – i.e. asking  “what is best for everyone? “
  • not  allowing ourselves to abuse our power over others

How can I best serve others?

Answer:  Say thank you when someone has been kind to you.

Read this article. It explains everything.

Do You Really Need to Say Thank You?

by Peter Bregman

Good films that explain human nature

From Self-help that Works:

Complete films from You Tube:

It’s a Wonderful Life by Frank Capra, starring James Stewart

A story about beautiful human kindness winning out in the end.

This Boy’s Life by Michael Caton-Jones, starring Robert De Niro, Ellen Barkin and Leonardo DeCaprio

A true story about how a boy triumphs over a terrible childhood.

The Magdalene Sisters by Peter Mullan

A story of resilience and strength against sadistic treatment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Lbedb7J518

The trip to Bountiful  by Peter Masterson and starring Geraldine Page and John Heard

Mr Holland’s Opus by Stephen Herek, starring Richard Dreyfuss

Stand by me

The Karen Carpenter Story

A woman under the influence

Corrina, Corrina

The Joy Luck Club by Wayne Wang

Confucius’s tale of woe trying to get his ideas accepted

10 Confucius quotes:

Understanding Autism – Temple Grandin

The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow

Temple Grandin: The world needs all kinds of minds

Temple Grandin – Thinking in Pictures

Important things not to be ignorant about

Homosexuality: Nature vs. Nurture
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Osw05HGe5I