Books published by Institute of General Semantics

How should you approach your investments? How should you think about them? Those are the types of questions Chris Mayer tackles in his newest book, How Do You Know: A Guide to Clear Thinking About Wall Street, Investing, and Life. Through a series of provocative-and often amusing-examples, Chris puts those perennial investing questions into a much larger context... How do you know anything at all? His answer, which is sure to make many readers uncomfortable is... you don''t. How Do You Know? is not another book on investing. It is full of ideas about investing, including one that hasn''t been part of the public investing discussion in nearly 60 years. But Chris'' goal is not just to give you ideas, but to provide practical guidelines for uncluttering your thinking-that is, for getting unhelpful ideas and misleading information out of the way.

The second poetry collection by Lance Strate, this volume brings together an eclectic mix of poems that address the themes of language, communication, media, technology, and poetry itself, etc.  

Revised edition of Sensible thinking for turbulent times, [2006]

In Practical Fairy Tales for Everyday Living, fanciful characters that one can identify with battle personal problems, mishaps, and mayhem. None of them are guaranteed a happily-ever-after, but by applying the fundamentals of general semantics they are better able to evaluate and understand everyday conundrums to vanquish challenging situations.

Are you aware of how your words create worlds? How your language and listening habits impact interactions in the classroom, at work, and on the road? Created as a practical guide for learning to communicate well in these contexts, Awareness and Action connects theory with practice.

This book furnishes a most practical guide for problem-solving, decision-making, interpersonal relations, self-management, and personal fulfillment. It brings the philosophy of general semantics to the challenges of everyday living and demonstrates that through its use one can live more productively and sanely.

The Communication Panacea: Pediatrics and General Semantics fills a major gap in the study of the modern doctor-patient relationship, applying the principles of General Semantics to the uncanny communicative processes affecting the way patients perceive their illness, as well as their response to it. Writing in the tradition of Neil Postman, Ivan Illich, and Susan Sontag, this collaboration between a doctor of philosophy and a doctor of medicine combines an innovative theoretical approach with the stories of eight patients shared not as 'case-studies, ' but as key-moments to show how vital it is to change our mentality and our language when addressing the idea of illness itself. The authors coin the term "personalised semantic medicine" and suggest it as a strategy to regain focus on the patient within the increasingly complex, corporate-like and technological medical environment. They challenge us to make a linguistic and conceptual shift to think of medicine as art and not as war, and provide an accessible and valuable contribution to the study of language and social interaction, strategic communication, general semantics, media ecology, cultural studies, social theory, and the practice of medicine, making the book relevant for doctors, patients, and policy makers, as well as media and health communication scholars.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

In these times of rapid change and constant upheaval, can we learn to think and communicate more effectively-at home, in school, on the job, and as citizens of the larger world? This book (like its predecessor Sensible Thinking for Turbulent Times), which is based on the formulations of general semantics, says yes, yes, and yes! Topics in it include practical ways to improve your thinking ability, emotional self-management, understanding of the media, and analysis of important social issues.

This guide contains twelve continuing education lessons in general semantics, a process-oriented, problem-solving system that trains individuals to make their language and thinking more relative to objective reality in order to better evaluate and understand the world. Each lesson includes an Introduction (for the teacher) of the basic GS ideas to be presented, a Motivation to begin the lesson, and Suggested Activities for students. Lessons can be combined or abbreviated depending on the time constraints of the course and wishes of the instructor.

Strate explores how people use symbols and media to relate to their environment, and how different modes of perception and communication influence human consciousness, culture, and social organization.

Strate examines how symbols and media are used to relate to the environment, and how different modes of perception and communication influence human consciousness, culture, and social organization. His essays draw upon and integrate the perspectives of general semantics, systems theory, and media ecology.