Always Either-Or

For nearly 30 years, Polish-born Count Alfred Korzybski has been preaching that if men only used words accurately, they would begin to think accurately, and the world would be that much better off. Last week, some 250 of Korzybski's disciples gathered at the University of Denver for the third Congress on General Semantics (and the first since 1941). Their big question: "Have we made any progress since the last congress?"

Most thought they had. Korzybski's Institute of General Semantics, founded in Chicago in 1938, now had connections with 15 universities, a mailing list of 10,000. But the egg-bald old Count himself seemed depressed at the thought of what still had to be accomplished. "We are all products of a civilization," he said, "which emphasizes always black or white, hot or cold, day or night. Always it is either-or, where more-or-less is a bette explanation of the facts." The semantic outlook was "frankly hopeless." The world was in such a state that even the correct use of words could not cure it. "I can hardly understand," Korzybski said, "why we have not all been locked up as insane.'

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