Ancient Wisdom, Modern Thinking
and the method of
Korzybskian Realization
Ted Falconar
I mentioned Structural Differential earlier so I show one below. I canít enthuse over this name though I have not been able to think of a better one. In Korzybskiís discussion with Dewey and Watkins after the symposium, he called it the Anthropometer, surely an even worse name than Structural Differential. Whatever its name, as a method it changed my life: I regard it as the diagram of a genius.
The top figure, a parabola, represents all the microscopic and macroscopic characteristics of the object. It is cut off at the top to show it is infinite.
Creative thought: The first circle is an object at the every day level; the second circle is use of our senses: intuition, feeling and so on, by which we sense the object. The third circle is visualization to make a mirror image of the object in the mind. This is turned into words.* Between each step is a pause so that we truly see and use all our faculties to ësenseí the object
Korzybski's Unspeakable level. Not words but the real sensing
Verbal level: The Non-real
Ordinary thinkers see an object or event and recognise it or see similarities with other objects or events. Instead of looking intently they jump to conclusions and 'think' they know all about the object or event. When they enter a garden they don't see the flowers but recognise them from memory and know their names: their labels- and do not really see them. They ignore the circles and the vital pause needed for serious and creative thinking.
*The three circles come from p.755 Science and Sanity.
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