Biographical statement in terms of learning experiences which have a bearing on a qualitative research project: Scientific* Rationale for Holistic Education (* scientific in the sense of 'holistic science')
The site www.holisticeducator.com is concerned with the need for change in the philosophical framework or ‘paradigm’ in which we educate or ‘teach’ the generation which follows us… hence the title ‘holistic education as a new teaching paradigm.’ The discussion is based on the exploration of literary resources in connection with personal learning experiences and these include experiences of so-called ‘teaching’. The project in itself constitutes a major learning experience. The objective is to make a case for the existence of a scientific rationale for holistic education as responsible education for responsible freedom… freedom in the sense of self-empowerment and self-determination. The word ‘scientific’ is used in the sense of systems science otherwise known as 'holistic science’
"A scientific inquiry should be characterized by a faith in the truth of a rational vision; faith in the hypothesis as a likely and plausible proposition; faith in the final theory. This faith is rooted in one's own experience, in the confidence in one's power of thought, observation and judgement... rational faith is rooted in an independent conviction based upon one's own productive observing and thinking." (Erich Fromm, Man For Himself p.205)
childhood in Africa... high school and college... experiment in teaching... continued education... childrens education... short term teaching experiences... biological studies Brussels university... disillusionment... continued study with Columbia Pacific University... private teaching...
books which impacted my thinking... Gordon Childe... Korzybski...
personal beliefs...
Childhood in Africa... My formative childhood years were spent in East Africa. I was born in Kampala, Uganda in March 1940 of British parents. At the age of three I was placed with foster parents who owned a farm in the highlands of Kitale, Kenya. From age five to eleven I attended a boarding school which provided primary school education... the Kitale School - a school in the British tradition with a demanding program in physical training - calisthenics drills at dawn, Swedish gymnastics, individual and team sports such as hockey and tennis and horseback iding, school events such as sports days with competitions - running races, relay races, obstacle races, hurdles and so on. Even on Sundays the entire school went for long walks lasting several hours. The headmaster of the school indulged in capital punishment for pranks... severe canings from one to 'six of the best' depending on the gravity of the offence. This cruelty to children was justified in the name of Christianity. Even though I was caned only once, the punishment was indelibly imprinted on my developing six year old mind. I learned to distinguish between submission to the injustice of irrational authoritarianism and obedience to one's conscience in the framework of authentic and trusting authority.
During my time at Kitale the future president of Kenya - Jomo Kenyatta - was in prison close by for his role in the Mau Mau movement. I was to spend just a few months at secondary school in the capital city of Nairobi when the instability of the political situation made it necessary for many non-Africans to leave the country. My father had founded two schools - one in Uganda and one in Kenya. I was thirteen when he decided to immigrate to America. We arrived in New York City (Ellis Island) on a Belgian cargo ship in August 1953.
American high school and college... The next eight years were spent in the conventional American educational system of high school and college: one year at the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan, three years at the Solebury School College Preparatory School in New Hope, Pennsylvania. From there I spent four years in Providence, Rhode Island as a biology 'major' at Pembroke College received the Bachelor's degree or BA from Brown University. At Brown I became intrigued with the biological sciences and how they relate to the so-called 'human sciences' including the so-called 'science of education' which is not a science in itself but refers to the scientific inquiry into the process of education. Education is the human endeavor for human development through the realisation of human potential for the value-life. Meaningful education is based on the understanding and respect for 'human nature' which is defined by the natural human motives for learning or 'human needs'.
Experiment in teaching... Though not formally trained to enter the teaching profession I decided to explore my capabilities and accepted a position as teacher of biology and general science at the Nightingale-Bamford School in New York City. During my three years at Nightingale I learned that successful teaching is a matter of the facilitation of learning which is meaningful to the learners themselves. No amount of manipulative teaching is of service to children who are supposedly at school to learn something which will be useful to them. When I was asked to start up a 'science club' I realised that successful teaching is as much about compassionate understanding of one's students as it is about knowledgeable understanding of one's subject. When it became clear to me that the teaching profession was where I wanted to be, I decided to continue my own education as a 'teacher of science'.
Continued education... I then worked towards a Masters Degree in Science Education at the City University of New York while tutoring at the Manhattan Tutoring School on 42nd Street in New York City. Registered with teaching agency to find a position overseas... and went to Brussels, Belgium as teacher of biology and general science at the International School of Brussels. Two years of fulltime teaching in the traditional American curriculum taught me that schooling was more concerned with students as 'material' for college and the market place than as potentially mature human beings of conscience and a love of learning. I decided to continue the pursuit of my own interest in biology at the level of the units of biolgy or 'cells' and their organisation in terms of the different types of molecules involved in all the dynamic processes taking place in each cell. I enrolled as a graduate student with the Molecular Biology Department at Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)- the Free (in the sense of 'free thought') University of Brussels. There I studied organic chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, molecular genetics, cellular physiology, developmental cytology, physical chemistry of biological macromolecules. I carried out a thesis project in experimental cytology under the direction of Professor Miroslav Radman PhD at the Cancer Research Laboratory of the University in Rhode-St.Genese and in June 1979 obtained the so-called 'License Speciale' in Molecular Biology. I then worked as an assistant researcher at the same laboratory for a year on cancer promotor substances and their role in co-carcinogenesis.
Children's education... For the next several years I focused on the developmental and educational needs of my three children...Colibri, La Futaie, Ecole Decroly ... As a parent of children having to deal with sometimes irrational behaviour of adults in positions of authority in both school and family positions which require the respect for children's developmental needs I made a few general observations. It seemed to me that if people did not understand children's psychic needs and desires it was because their own psychic needs and desires were not understood when they were children themselves. In order to cope with the inevitable anxieties and fears which accompanied their own developmental frustrations they had learned to develop certain psychological strategies which persisted in later adulthood as intolerant and repressive attitudes to others. Their persistent fears and anxieties - source of limited understanding - can later be projected onto other children including their own. In order to compensate for their own insecurities, they resort to pedagogical methods which downgrade children's self-esteem and self-respect. They will even humiliate a child's natural sense of dignity by and indulging in methods of exclusion and condescension. Children with weakened self-confidence cannot do understand the fears of insecure adults who do not express their fears since that is unnatural. In order to preserve their own sense of dignity, they must react to the inadequacies of insecure adults in the few ways they know how. In the absence of supportive adult figures, they too learn to develop self-defensive behaviour patterns which are not understood. With a lack of understading and in position of authority and control, the adults resort to authoritarian methods to maintain control. Authoritarianism and lack of respect create further tension and frustration. Continued negative feelings on both sides leads to a breakdown of communication and eventual irresponsible actions on the part of both adults and children. Many people are engaged subconsciously in a lifelong struggle to fulfill their own repressed needs of childhood. Even their own children become part of the struggle. I dedicate this website to my children... dedication
Short term work experiences as teacher... I was able to combine family commitments with a number of short-term (one year) work experiences as a teacher... lecturer in biology with the European Division of the University of Maryland at SHAPE in Mons, Belgium... college level courses on the holistic approach to science teaching... 'Organization and Interrelationships in the Biological World'... 'Connections Between the Living and the Non-Living Worlds' (biological implications of for example... the role of chlorophyll in transforming light energy into chemical energy in photosynthesis, the role of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the roots of leguminous plants). One year as high school level teacher of biology and general science at the St.Johns International School in Waterloo ... 'special education' teacher and tutor of basic maths at St.Johns... One year as second year secondary school teacher of 'Integrated Sciences' at the European School of Brussels in Uccle, Brussels.
Biological studies at University of Brussels... 'License speciale en biologie moleculaire' includes 'memoire' or thesis... equivalent to Masters Degree plus... Cancer Research Laboratory... learned techniques of tissue culture and preparation of chromosomal karyotypes as well as engaging in extensive library research in cytogenetics and the history of gene mapping with the aim of submitting a new (then) protocol ('in situ hybridization') for locating genes on chromosomes.
American experience and disillusionment In July 1989 travelled to the U.S. with a position as teacher of biology on the condition of accepting responsibility for administative duties (as chairperson of school science department) at the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, Westchester, New York. After a twenty-three year acclimatisation period in Europe, the Ameican experience turned out to be a traumatising one. Though I was expected to be prepared to carry out administrative duties, my unfamiliarity with the political nature of the school culture gave me a very interesting perspective on the school situation from the viewpoint of the students who are expected to learn in that environment. Being involved with administrative work as well as classroom teaching provided me with a more global perspective of the teacher's role (and predicament) in the traditional school setting. I became acutely aware of the crisis situation in American schools and was forced to reflect on the possible causes and on the educational process generally. The problem seemed to be one of a maloriented educational philosophy. It appeared to me that schools in general were faced with a apparent dilemma or 'pseudodilemma'. This revolved around the need to motivate children (students) to do work within the framework of an instruction process controlled by adults... namely in the form of 'requirements' of a fragmented curriculum.
Inspired by John Nocera's article "Good Schools and Why We Need Them" Utne Reader Sept/Oct l990 page 65-90
Continued studies as 'distance learner' I decided to focus on the problem independently and within the same year enrolled as a distance learner (doctoral level) with the external program of Columbia Pacific University in San Rafael, California. The experience enabled me to investigate the ongoing paradigm shift from the traditional teaching paradigm to the 'holistic paradigm' in American education. I was intrigued and fascinated by the carefully worked out program of inspiring courses in the holistic approach to education. During the thesis phase of the program (subject: 'brain-based holistic education') I decided to continue the work as a personal project which could be presented in the format made possible with the use of hypertext to emphasize the connections implict in a discussion of educational philosophy from a holistic point of view... based on a 'wholistic philosophy of man': a definition of human nature, natural ethics and experiential education... (see 'outline').
So-called 'human nature' is a function of the intrinsic system of human values ('conscience') the development of which requires suitable conditions of experiential education.The aim of education is the development of human potential for goodness. (Unsuitable conditions inhibit proper development of human potential and this leads to the wickedness of human behaviour or 'evil') The full maturation of the inherent potential in the 'productive' character, self-realization, is the aim of the natural process of human development... of the natural educational process and of natural humanistic ethics. Each of the three facets of inquiry into the naturally wholistic philosophy of man is directly concerned with the study of human development. The natural laws of human development constitute the guiding principles for formulation... scientific definition of human nature; scientific definition of natural ethics; scientific definition of the aim of education.
The question which intrigued me was the following: Given that society establishes requirements for children's education... that learning is a basic natural function of the healthy brain-mind... that effective learning is the goal of the educational process... how can teachers instruct within the limits of society's established requirements while respecting and maintaining children's natural function of learning... how can they teacher cultivate children's natural learning capacities within the constraints of a required curriculum? From experience the answer seemed to be the following: the educational process for the child means growth in an educational climate which fosters the innate maturation process... it means the cultivation of their natural motivation for psychological and intellectual growth in the context of freedom to develop the human potential for rational thought and understanding.. On this basis respect for the child's interests is the basis for meaningful education. For educational policy to be meaningful it should be based on the development of their potentialities in all aspects - emotional, psychological, intellectual, artistic, spiritual and therefore social. Meaningful education is therefore based on the respect for children's developmental needs which can be met when they are given the freedom to create meaning or 'learn' and the freedom to create or 'work' thereby constructing their own sense of responsibility which they need to cope with the demands and the problems of life. When children are offered meaningful learning experiences which allow them to concentrate on their own interests they naturally learn to cultivate a mature sense of responsibility - as in 'self-evaluation', self-respect', 'self-determination', 'self-discipline', and most importantly 'self-knowledge' which represents personality integration necessary for harmonious living with themselves and with others i.e. 'social adaptability'. The responsibility of the educator would be to provide a learning environment based on respect for learner needs and potentialities and to offer learning experiences which comply with learner interests and capabilities.
Teaching experiment as private teacher and educational consultant. I returned to Brussels in May 1994 and continued work on the project in conjunction with application of theory to practice as private teacher of English as a foreign language. April 1996 Teaching English as foreign language credential... diploma from English Language Center, London England ...taught children and adults of various ages, backgrounds and nationalities... emphasis was always on the language learning process as a brain based holistic process... application of so-called 'brain-compatible' teaching methods...emphasis on the social function of language as a means of communication... involves shift of emphasis from the 'form of language' to the 'meaning of language'... learners are encouraged to focus on the meaning of language forms rather than their structures. Appropriate use of language structure is acquired automatically when the learner focuses on the communication process as a personally meaningful one... learners take responsibility for evaluation of own learning and this increases motivation for learning of structure as does personal meaning...
How improve the quality of education? Education for complete development means that it must be geared to the child's psychic needs and capacities. Sound psychic development is adversely affected by fear of extensive punishment, external discipline and the overemphasis of enforced learning. Fear creates hostility and hypocrisy. Fear paralyzes endeavor and authenticity of feeling. Fear prevents proper emotional development. Fear of an inhumane environment prevents proper human development. An environment which is supportive of the intrinsic needs of the human organism is a humane environment - one which is conducive to the development of children into mature individuals with self-discipline, self-confidence and self-responsibility.
In order for its citizens to live according to the underlying principles of a truly free society, children must be educated for responsible freedom that is for inner freedom. In order to function with integrity and intelligence in a democratic society, they must become mature as well as knowledgeable and autonomous as well as self-disciplined. Consequently I believe that the educational process for children means the opportunity for growth in a climate which fosters the instinctive development and maturation of their individuality and potentialities. The educational process must allow for the complete emotional, psychological, and intellectual development of children into mature adult personalities in harmony with themselves and their environment. They should have with the capacities for self-evaluation, self-determination, self-respect, and self-discipline, and a sense of responsibility for themselves and their fellow human beings. The only condition necessary to insure the cultivation of natural developmental processes is freedom - not freedom as licence opposed to control, but freedom with control. If effective learning is the goal of the educational process, then child interest is the effective orienting center of any educational policy. Children must be allowed to develop their individual personalities and potentialities as well as their mental and intellectual capacities in an educational climate of freedom and respect. Such a climate is the requisite condition for effective learning because it fosters the unfolding of their natural potentialities and their inner development towards inner freedom and rational thought. Freedom in the eductional process insures the proper functioning of a free and democratic society made up of citizens who are free and democratic in their thinking.We know that learning is a natural function of the healthy mind and that learning and thinking are valuable assets for citizens of a free and democratic society. Given that schools are faced with the dilemma of how to motivate students to work, the central problem appears to be the following: how can we teach within the framework of a required curriculum while respecting children's natural motivation for learning?
The various teaching experiences have taught me that the best way to improve the quality of education is to create a humane learning environment ...teacher characteristics or 'attributes' ...one in which which human qualities are valued and nourished - wit, wisdom, talent, training, personality, purpose, cognition and affection, understanding, kindness.... such an environment inspires and develops respect for learning, wisdom and humanity. Children learn more about mature behavior from the way teachers and parents behave and talk to each other than from being told how they should behave or what they should become. This is why it is important to nourish the human qualities in oneself in order to nourish them in others.
Rallying support for a school in Kinshasa, Congo ... cooperation and solidarity amongst educators... sharing skills and understanding... highlights the importance of building on personal difficulties .... (ietelu.com)
The topic 'Scientific Rationale for Holistic Education' is studied primarily from the holistic perception of the human organism -'homo sapiens', the thinking hominid - as a biological organism... a social organism with a 'social brain'. Topic is 'holistic education as critical pedagogy'.... the complexity of the task of pedagogy... concerned with moral, cognitive, affective, political, social, spiritual dimensions of the educated person or 'complete' person... the 'whole' person... the rational person... the person of 'integrity'. Human rationality is a function of the integration of emotions with the creation of concepts or 'thought'i.e. 'rational thinking'. thoughts... The concept of 'education' is treated in terms of its function as facilitating human growth through discovery (holistic paradigm) as opposed to its political application as instruction of set of given principles (traditional paradigm). In the holistic paradigm the teacher is a 'moral agent'... a provider of resources and a 'facilitator of learning'.( See outline of chapters)
method of study
A source of inspiration for the inquiry was the following question: "Is there some sense in which principles of pedagogy can be derived from our knowledge of man as a species - from knowledge of his characteristic growth and dependence, of the properties of his nervous system, of his modes of dealing with culture?" (Jerome Bruner, 1971, Relevance of Education New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Inc. 118).
. Am I religious? do I believe in God? Words can be divisive when there is misunderstanding about their meanings. The problem is one of 'semantics' and human development which must be complete in order for people to negotiate the meanings behind the words. What is the meaning of the word 'God'? If one means by 'God' the creator of the universe and everything in it including our living planet and the millions of species including our own as 'God's work', then it is natural that one has respect for all of nature.
The concept of 'God' represents that which we seek in our longing to become what we truly are... the truly human or 'divine' of the human personality or 'human nature'. "We human beings take our sense of God from our deepest intuitions as to what is ultimate in our own depths." (Walsh Roger and Francs Vaughan Beyond Ego: Transpersonal Dimensions of Human Psychology l95) (In terms of human psychology, 'God' as supernatural is a delusion...)
What is 'religious'? If 'religious' means 'believing in God' then I would phrase my answer in the same way as American architect Frank Lloyd Wright who once said "I believe in God but I call it nature". If 'religious' means 'spiritual' then I would answer differently. As spirituality is an important dimension of our human nature then it is a fact that like every other human being I am potentially 'religious'. This would make it possible to believe in nature and be religious at the same time. We depend on our spirituality for our survival ... for the survival of not only our species but of all living species on the planet earth which is the home we all share together in 'God's universe'. Like many people who 'believe in God' they do so in good faith while giving it a different name. Every name (or word) has a meaning. Whatever name you choose... the important thing is not the name you ascribe but the understanding which you have. As it is obviously possible to disagree on the name, it is also possible to agree on the name but to disagree on the meaning. The knowledge or 'truth' from real understanding is more valuable than the ignorance which comes from misunderstanding of the meaning behind the name. Complete understanding is a product of the human mind which is complete, mature, rational, integrated... the mind which is 'whole' or 'holy'... that is the mind which is spiritually developed ... the 'religious mind' or 'spiritual mind'. The problem is that the spiritual dimension of human nature is sufficiently developed only if the individual is provided with the conditions necessary for its complete development... just as an acorn will develop into an oak tree only if it is provided with the right conditions. Development of potential human spirituality depends on the appropriate social environment... that is education not as imposition of dogma which imprisons the mind and inhibits spiritual development... (that is 'indoctrination'), but education as the cultivation of human growth... which frees the mind and fosters spiritual development... Spiritual development is the same as 'moral development' or 'morality'. Human morality rooted in human spirituality is a function of the wisdom of compassion a force for understanding also known as 'love' as 'mature love', 'unconditional love', 'humanitarian love', 'universal love', 'productive love', the Greek 'agape' and so on. Love is the common prescription of all the religions as a condition for awareness of human spirituality... the 'divine' aspect of human nature or 'God'.
Humanism... Humanists are non-theists... they begin with humans."Traditional theism, especially faith in the prayer-healing God, assumed to love and care for persons... is an unproved and outmoded faith." See Humanist Manifesto...www.en.wikipedia/wikipedia/humanist_manifesto_I&II
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notes:
The study of a given topic gains in breadth and clarity when it is considered from different perspectives. The topic 'brain-based wholistic education' can be expanded and integrated if it is considered from the perspectives of psychology, anthropology and history in addition to biology and education. Psychology, the study of the 'psyche', is concerned with the mental processes underlying the individual's behavior; anthropology, the study of human cultures, is concerned with cultural influences on the individual's thought patterns and behavior; history, the study of cultural origins and evolution, is concerned with the influences of historical traditions on the individual's cultural environment. It is useful to study a given topic from different points of view or 'perspectives.' The same topic can be perceived in different ways. Different observers perceive it from the perspectives of their own experiences. A given perspective can be expanded and integrated when it is considered in relation to other perspectives. For an in-depth study of a topic, it is useful to consider it from a number of different perspectives. Many of the social ills of the society are symptoms of a maloriented educational system. Children are required to learn within a framework of adult controlled instruction. In order for its citizens to live according to the underlying principles of a truly free society, children must be educated for responsible freedom. In order to function with integrity and intelligence in a democratic society, children must become mature as well as knowledgeable, autonomous and self-disciplined. Consequently the educational process for children means the opportunity for growth in a climate which fosters the instinctive development and maturation of their individuality and potentialities. The educational process must allow for the complete emotional, psychological and intellectual develoment of children into mature adult personalities in harmony with themwelves and their environment. They should have the capacities for self-evaluation, self-determination, self-respect, and self-discipline, and a sense of responsibility for themselves and their fellow human beings. The only condition necessary to insure the cultivation of natural developmental processes is freedom - not freedom as license and without control, but freedom with control. If effective learning is the goal of the educational process, then child interest is the orienting center of any effective educational policy. We know that learning is a natural function of the brain and thus of the healthy mind. Learning and thinking are valuable and necessary assets of citizens of a free and democratic society. Children must be allowed to develop their individual personalities and potentialities as well as their mental and intellectual capacities in an educational climate of freedom and respect. Such a climate is the requisite condition for effective learning because it fosters the unfolding of their natural potentialities and their inner development towards inner freedom and rational thought. Freedom in the eductional process insures the proper functioning of a free and democratic society made up of citizens who are free and democratic in their thinking. Given that learning is a natural function of the brain and that effective learning is the goal of the educational process, how can we teach a 'required curriculum' while respecting children's natural abilities for learning? For children, the educational process should mean the opportunity for growth in a climate which fosters their natural development into mature and autonomous adults with integrity and intelligence. As developing personalities in harmony with themselves and their environment, they must have a mature sense of responsibility- for themselves and for their fellow human beings. They must be capable of responsible self-evaluation, self-respect, self-determination, and self-discipline. Children must be allowed to develop their complete emotional, psychological, and intellectual potentialities. Their individual personalities must be allowed to develop in an educational climate which fosters their innate maturation process. A climate which fosters their natural maturation is one which fosters effective learning. A climate which fosters effective learning and rational thought is one which cultivates inner freedom and mutual respect. The effective motivating factor of the learning process becomes the child's interest. The effective orienting center for the educational process becomes student motivation. Effective educational 'policy' is based on the recognition and respect for the child's natural interests and abilities for learning and 'democratic' thinking. An educational process which fosters learning and thinking encourages the proper functioning of a truly free and democratic society. Such a society depends on people who are able to use their own minds - to learn and to think as responsible citizens. As children, they can learn to become responsible for themselves. As responsible adults, they can become 'educators' who help to foster other children's natural capacities for developing their own minds. Educators have the very great responsibility of encouraging children to learn, to think, and to grow, becoming responsible for others.
I am now of the conviction that many of the social ills of the society are symptoms of a maloriented educational system. Children are required to learn within a framework of adult controlled instruction. It appears that there is a dilemma faced by the schools of today which revolves around the need to motivate children to do work. I believe that in order for its citizens to live according to the underlying principles of a truly free society, children must be educated for responsible freedom. In order to function with integrity and intelligence in a democratic society, they must become mature as well as knowledgeable and autonomous as well as self-disciplined. Consequently I believe that the educational process for children means the opportunity for growth in a climate which fosters the instinctive development and maturation of their individuality and potentialities. The educational process must allow for the complete emotional, psychological, and intellectual development of children into mature adult personalities in harmony with themselves and their environment. They should have with the capacities for self-evaluation, self-determination, self-respect, and self-discipline, and a sense of responsibility for themselves and their fellow human beings. I believe that the only condition necessary to insure the cultivation of natural developmental processes is freedom - not freedom as licence opposed to control, but freedom with control. If effective learning is the goal of the educational process, then child interest is the effective orienting center of any educational policy. We know that learning is a natural function of the healthy mind and that learning and thinking are valuable assets for citizens of a free and democratic society. Given that schools are faced with the dilemma of how to motivate students to work, the central problem appears to be the following: how can we teach within the framework of a required curriculum while respecting children's natural motivation for learning? I believe that the educator, whether in the administrative or instructional capacities of schools or government, has the very great responsibiliuty of leading students to use and develop their own minds - to learn to think. Children must be allowed to develop their individual personalities and potentialities, as well as their mental and intellectual capacities in an educational climate of freedom and respect. Such a climate is the requisite condition for effective learning because it fosters the unfolding of their natural potentialities and their inner development towards inner freedom and rational thought. Thus freedom in the educational process determines the proper functioning of a free and democratic society composed of citizens who are free and democratic in their thinking. (personal statement)
Books which impacted my thinking:
On the history of the human species...Gordon Childe, Archeology and History,Harmondsforth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1942.
chapter 1 What Happened in History "Our species, man in the widest sense, has succeeded in surviving and multiplying chiefly by improving his equipment for living, as I have explained at length in Man Makes Himself. As with other animals, it is chiefly through his equipment that man acts on and reacts to the external world, draws sustenance therefrom and escapes its perils - in technical language adapts himself to his environment or even adjusts his environment to his needs. Man's equipment, however, differs significantly from that of other animals. These carry their whole equipment about with them as parts of their bodies; the rabbit carries paws to dig with, the lion claws and teeth for tearing his prey, the beaver carpenter's tusks, most beasts hairy or furry coats to keep in warmth - the tortoise even caries his house on his back. Man has very little equipment of this sort and has discarded some that he started with during prehistoric times. It is replaced by tools, extracorporeal organs that he makes, uses and discards at will; he makes picks and shovels for digging, weapons for killing game and enemies, adzes and axes for cutting wood, clothing to keep him warm in cold weather, houses of wood , brick or stone to provide shelter. Some very early 'men' indeed had projecting canine teeth set in very massive jaws that would be quite dangerous weapons, but these have disappeared in modern man whose dentures will not inflict mortal wounds. As with other animals, there is of course a bodily physiological basis to man's equipment. It may be summed up in two words, hands and brains. Relieved of the burden of carrying our bodies, our forefeet have developed into delicate instruments capable of an amazing variety of subtle and accurate movements. To control the latter and to link them up with impressions from outside received by the eye and other sense organs we have become possessed of a peculiarly complicated nervous system and an exceptionally big and complicated brain. The detachable and exctracorporeal character of the rest of the human equipment has obvious advantages... it is more convenient and more adaptable than other animals' equipment. The latter fits its possessor for living in a particular environment under special conditions. The mountain hare passes the winter comfortably and safely on the snow-clad hills thanks to his changeable coat; he would be dangerously conspicuous in the warmer valleys. Men can discard their warm clothing if they move to a hotter climate and can adjust their costume to the landscape. A rabbit's paws are good digging tools, but cannot compete with a cat's as weapons, while feline paws are poor spades. Men can make both tools and weapons. In briedf an animals's hereditary equipment is adapted to performing a limited number of operations in a particular environment. Man's extracorporeal equipment can be adjusted to almost infinite number of operations in almost any environment - 'can be' not 'is'. As against these advantages man has to learn not only to use but also to make his equipment. A chick soon finds itself equipped with feathers, wings, beak and claws. It certainly has to learn their use - how to keep its feathers clean for instance. But this is very simple and will not take long. A human infant arrives with no such outfit and it will not grow spontaneously. The round pebbes on the ground do not in themselves suggest knives. Many processes and stages must intervene before the wallaby's skin can be transferred to the child's back as a coat. Even the simplest tool made out of a broken bough or a chipped stone is the fruit of long experience - of trials and errors, impressions noticed, remembered and compared. The skill to make it has been acquired by observation, by recollection and by experiment. It may seem an exaggeration, but it is yet true to say that any tool is an embodiment of 'science'. For it is a practical application of remembered, compared, and collected experiences of the same kind as are systematized and summarized in scientific formulae, descriptions and prescriptions. Happily the individual infant is not left to accumulate in its own person the requisite experience or itself to make all the trials and mistakes. A baby does not indeed to inherit at birth a physical mechanism or nerve-paths stamped in the germ-plasm of the race and predisposing it to make automatically and instinctively the appropriate bodily movements. But it is born heir to a social tradition. Its parents and elders will teach it how to make and use equipment in accordance with the experience gathered by ancestral generations. And the equipment it uses is itself just a concrete expression of this social tradition. A tool is a social product and man is a social animal. Because it has much to learn, a human infant is peculiarly delicate and helpless, and its helplessness lasts longer than with the young of other animals. The physical counterpart of learning is the storing of impressions and the building up of connections between the various nerve-centers in the brain. Meanwhile the brain must keep on growing. To allow of such growth the skull-bones protecting the infant's brain remain very loosely joined together; only slowly do the junctions (or sutures) knit up. While the brain is thus unprotected it is very vulnerable. Helpless infancy being prolonged by these interrelated causes, if the species is to survive, at least one social group must keep together for several years until the infants are reared. In our species, the natural family of parents and children is a more stable and durable association than among species whose young mature faster. In practice, however, human families seem generally to live together in larger societies comparable to the herds and packs of gregarious animals. Indeed man is to some extent a gregarious animal. In human, as in animal, societies the elder generations transmit by example to the younger the collective experiences accumulated by the group - what they in turn have learned in like fashion from their elders and parents. Animal education can all be done by example; For human infants who have so much to learn the imitative method would be fatally slow. In human societies instruction is by precept as well as by example. Human societies have gradually devised tools for communication between their members. In so doing they have brought forth a new sort of equipment which can conveniently be labelled 'spiritual'."
Korzybski Science and Sanity1933)
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT... semantics and effect of language
'textbook' on general semantics based on non-Aristotelian systems. A system is a collection of doctrines and principles which determine the orientation by which we act and live. General semantics is an extensional discipline which explains how we use our nervous system and trains us to use it more effectively for survival and sanity. An orientation by extension is based on verbal definitions. The non-Aristotelian system is built on the fundamental premise of 'non-identity'; an object is not the words used to define or describe it and should be perceived in the context of relevant empirical facts to which it is related at a given point in time. Korzybski stresses the importance of building a scientific study of 'man-as-a-whole' possible with the recognition that language is a fundamental psychophysiological function. Such a study would "mark the beginning of a new era, the scientific era, in which all desirable human characteristics would be released from the present animalistic, psychophysiological, aristotelian semantic blockages, and that sanity would prevail". (Korzybski Science and Sanity 18)
The purpose of the book is to provide the diligent reader with a method of eliminating pathological semantic reactions to assure proper evaluation of meanings of words and environmental conditions on personal, social and political levels, in the hope of establishing foundations for a sane civilization in a sane world, possible with the maturation and adulthood of man. He calls his investigation a "general introduction to the theory of sanity." A non-aristotelian system involves semantic reactions of the scientific method and its application to life's problems, thus 'science and sanity'.
Functional language reflects the individual's perception of 'reality'. The thought patterns and behavior of the individual mind reflect the 'reality' of the cultural environment.
Non-aristotelian system, is based on the formulation of a general method not only for scientific work but for life as we know it today." (
"Technically our civilization is very advanced, but the elementalistic premises underlying our human relations, practically since Aristotle, have not changed. The present investigation reveals that in the functioning of our nervous system a special harmful factor which retyards the development of sane human relations and prevents general sanity." This harmful factor which Korzybski calls 'identification' is spread like an infectious disease through language by parents, teachers and politicians who control the symbolism in the society.
"'Identification' is the mental process of ascribing objective existence to words, a process of semantics which characterized the pre-human and primitive stage of civilization in so far as they believed in the magic of words. The next stage, aristotelian or infantile period of human development, was characterized by the identification of facts with preconceived creeds, dogmas and judgements. Facts were made to 'fit' the beliefs held at the time. Orientation in the aristotelian system is by 'intension' or verbal definition and thus verbiage takes precedence over facts. Since identity is defined as 'absolute sameness in all respects' and the 'all' is not possible, then the process of identifying the word with the object becomes fallacious. A definition of any word must invariably leave out many relations attributable to it and the word remains a symbol, devised to represent objective reality. The structure of the collection of symbols which constitute a language becomes merely a representation of the world, analagous to a map of a given territory, and different languages can vary with respect to their accuracy in depicting the 'real' structure of the world being represented.
Most people still identify symbols and words with actualities ('symptom' of the immature mind) and make incorrect evaluations of situations on the personal as well as social and political levels. Identification is a rigid form of adaptation and a mental process characteristic of animals but does not necessarily have survival value. (Korzybski discusses the experiments of Pavlov who demonstrated that dogs conditioned to 'identify' signals with food could learn to 'identify' signals with the lack of food.) Identity is "invariably 'false-to-facts' and so identification produces non-survival semantic reactions and therefore must be considered pathological for modern man". (Korzybski Science and Sanity 196) In fact many forms of 'mental illness' are characterized by erroneous and inappropriate standards of evaluation of the social environment, and the methods of psychotherapy have demonstrated that by eliminating the process of identification and thus changing those standards, some forms of mental illness can be relieved of symptoms of maladjustment and general insanity can be relieved. The elimination of identification is a necessry prerequistie to a formulation of a theory of general semantics and sanity, and constitutes the premise for the nonaristotelian scientific era, otherwise known as the 'adult' stage of human civilization. Furthermore, whereas the terminology of the aristotelian system is elementalistic, that of the nonaristotelian system is non-elementalistic, implying the revision of the verbal splitting of semantic reactions which are in fact composite, such as mind-body, emotion-intellect, space-time. The elementalistic, splitting structural characteristics of the language which we have inherited through training in the aristotelian system, constitute an inaccurate representation of the human organism perceived wholistically within a multi-dimensional framework of the myriad relations to its physical, genetic, political, cultural, familial, historical, social, psychological and semantic environment.
Modern man is not able to adjust effectively to the complexities of modern life without a revision of the structure of the language so that it represents as accurately as possible the empirical structure of the world he lives in, as well as reflecting the structure of the nervous system and following the natural order of nervous impulses in the brain and thus of semantic reactions, from empirical facts to verbal definituions.
A human civilization living by the principles of democracy presupposes a sane 'intelligence' of the masses and a general feeling of cooperation rather than animal competition. A 'civilization' based on commercialism, greed and ignorance can be neither democratic nor even human. Respect for the potential intelligence of the human organism and for children as they mature results in the capacity of proper evaluation, adjustment and decision making on personal, social and political levels. Our present commercial civilization, appealing to infantile gratification of the need to self-indulge provides an inadequate and improper semantic environment for children to develop into mature, intelligent, well-balanced, well-adjusted and socially responsible human beings and citizens of a true democracy - of democratically thinking citizens. Instead they want to be praised and refuse blame without realizing that a critical attitude insures a proper evaluation. They become self-satisfied, and complacent in their ignorance, unable to respect the needs of the young. Citizens of such a society assume that their institutions are superior and believe in the "righeousness of their own conduct" (Korzybski Science and Sanity 516). On the national level, they standardize whatever they can, remain hostile to individualism and prefer to regulate life by legislation so that the degree of injustice increases and life becomes impossible without expensive lawyers. Unable to distinguish the essential from the unimportant, they depend on their intense likes and dislikes to make their often incorrect evaluations, and create further injustice. They are impelled to copy others in their prejudices, make weak judgements, become oversuggestive and easy to manipulate, have an exaggerated sensitivity and moodiness which makes it easy for those in control to gain or divert their attention. The overall result is a general disintegration of human relationships and generally poor educational standards. Children must struggle to grow up into mature adults with proper evaluation of themselves and their place in the insane society into which they are born. We need to educate our children with a view to their needs for adjustment to life in a democracy and therefore with respect for their potential intelligence.
Unlike other animals, man has a capacity for symbolic representation and language, which enables him to learn from previous generations and to pass on what he has learnt to the generations which succeed him. This is the 'time-binding function.' In the evolution of the human species and its language the 'natural order' of evaluation consisted of facts first and labels and words next. This is the same order for a growing child as he learns to observe and explore the world around him. However, many peoples' evaluations are distorted as the result of intensional training by parents, teachers and other adults... who are unaware of the heavy neurological consequences of the methods they use in educating children. Their complacent 'know-it-all' attitudes constitute a "pernicious influence on the child's developing mind and mentality, unable to deal with fears and anxieties. As a result, the children become unable to formulate the proper evaluations necessary for sanity and predictability. Furthermore, the incorrect use of the language involvng 'false-to-facts' doctrines and the subsequent orientation by the reversed natural order, engages the thalamus and subcortical layers of the brain without correct stimulation of the cortex. In this way semantic blockages lead to improper evaluation, un-sanity and insanity and non-survival.
An individual or society unable to evaluate intelligently must resort to the ineffective trial and error methods which lead to conflict, misunderstandings, wars and revolutions. And the construction and utilization of new killing machines is not the intelligent scientific approach to solving human problems. "In a human civilization, humans matter more than machines or symbols" We must attack this problem with the "non-elementalistic, neuropsychological special non-identity technique" hence by way of a non-aristotelain system. As humans produce artificial conditions and can overpopulate, they must adjust to the resulting complex environment which is further complicated by the far-reaching effects of their ability to create symbols for things and ideas and then convey these in different languages. Personal, social, national and international adjustments for sanity and survival necessitate a scientific non-aristotelian orientation which can provide us with a method of solving life's human problems which are connected with semantic reactions. They are inherent in man but until the psycho-physiological researches which Korzybski discusses "we had no workable educational means by which to handle them effectively." ( Korzybski Science and Sanity 28)
Older generations force their systems of semantics on the young by way of their educational and linguistic structure and habits. (Capitalists use words to control the 'American people'. They use 'education' to manipulate peoples' minds and especially the minds of the young). If the younger generations cannot accept the older semantic system in the light of their own experiences, then revolutions and social wars result. The newer scientific systems, non-euclidean, non-newtonian, and non-aristotelian include the older ones and the result is that scientific and rational methods are available for solving life's problems. Beneficial manifestations of the human nervous system such as curiosity, creativity, and generosity are prevented from materializng if the misuse of language has resulted in semantic blockages which lead to improper evaluations and undesirable semantic reactions. This study of general semantics suggests the necessary construction of a language with a new terminology involving a new theory of meanings and which takes into account the two negative premises of the non-aristotelian system, namely that words are not the object and no object is in isolation.
The new language would enable us to construct a science of man in relation to the many environmental influences, and a perception of the human organism as a whole, excluding the artificial splitting of 'emotions' and 'intellect', body' and 'mind' etc. We in fact live our lives entirely on the objective level which includes our 'feelings' and 'emotions.' The verbal levels are auxiliary. "Say whatever you choose about the object, and whatever you might say is not it." (Korzybski Science and Sanity 35) This attitude would eliminate the current efficacy of insults and innuendoes used to control and manipulate peoples's semantic reactions in the interest of power and greed. Rhetoric and verbiage outside of a given context have no valid 'meaning'. Most terms in the dictionary are of this type which Korzybski calls multiordinal. The multiordinality of a term is a natural fact since meaning depends on context. "The recognition of the multiordinality of terms is the fundamental mechanism of the full conditionality of human semantic reactions...and is fundamental for sanity."(Korzybski Science and Sanity 15) and consequently for our ability to solve our human problems. Korzybski claims that "one of the main values of the book is the accessibility to physological means for training the human nervous system in 'sanity'. In the non-aristotelian system, differences become fundamental and similarities are discovered as a result of 'higher abstraction'. (Korzybski Science and Sanity 165) The processes of abstracting on the conscious level (consciousness of abstraction) constitute an awareness that in the process of evaluating, we have left out some characteristics in accordance with the non-identity and non-isolation premises. It is the process of abstracting which is 'intelligence' and supposedly has its origin in the "'physico-chemical structure of protoplasm" (Korzybski Science and Sanity 165) It has been demonstrated in some simple life forms that the transmission of irritability reactions through the protoplasm makes it possible for the organism as a whole to react to stimuli in the environment. The nervous system "takes on the function of the primitive protoplasmic physiological gradients." (Korzybski Science and Sanity 104) which are affected by electrical currents involved in the various life processes including 'feelings' 'emotions' 'thoughts' and semantic reactions. (Korzybski Science and Sanity 121) Due to the fact that the nerve impulse travels at the rate of 120 meters per second and not instantaneously as was once thought, there is a specific order in which they are transmitted. They enter the brain by way of the brain stem, traverse the thalamus and then the subcortical layers and into the cerebral cortex where they are altered somehow and return. This order correlates with the natural order involved in the proper use of language, that is sensations first and ideas and verbalisms next, the so-called 'survival order', which requires observation ("silence on the objective level") and delayed cortical reactions which stimulate the cortical regions and protect the thalamus from overstimulation and non-adaptive semantic reactions. Thus orientation by extension or facts (non-aristotelian) "involves the integration of cortico-thalamic functions" (Introduction to second edition p. xlvi) which is the structural basis for the proper integration of the emotional and 'intellectual' levels of semantic reactions for the human organism as a whole. The result is a properly developed capacity for evaluation adjustment, and sanity. In this way than awareness of the neurosemantic and neuro-linguistic mechanisms which control our reactions makes the formulation of a non-aristotelian system not only possible but 'true-to-fact' as well.
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Rational discourse of educational praxis depends on meaning of freedom as 'inner freedom' (as opposed to freedom to compete or 'outer freedom') and is based on natural biological principles. (The practice of theory which is not based on natural principles results in perception of false dichotomies and unresolvable 'pseudoproblems'). The function of education is to provide the conditions to free the human spirit in order to cultivate the intuition of natural human intelligence i.e. 'creative intelligence' . Education for 'responsible freedom' is education for the integrated development of the person as a whole... variously known as 'free education', 'libratory education', 'progressive education', 'new education', 'open education', 'cosmic education', 'child-centered education', 'person-centered education', 'problem-centered education', 'humanistic education', 'integral education', 'integrative education', 'peace education', 'democratic education', 'transformative education' and 'holistic education'. 
