TCU, Fall 2008

GS for Mass Communications Practitioners Catalog Description: The application of the principles of General Semantics — how language affects the communication process — to the practice of journalism, advertising, and public relations. Syllabus Overview General Semantics (GS) deals with how we perceive, construct, evaluate and then express  our life experiences through our language-behaviors. This course provides an … Read more

Write Like You Mean It: Writing that makes sense

Fall 2008 Some people have trouble expressing themselves in writing because they’re almost paralyzed by worries about grammar, syntax, rules, and what somebody else is going to think. Other people have no fear of writing, but they’re concerned that what they write actually makes sense. After all, the world hardly needs more well-written nonsense. How … Read more

TCU, Spring 2008

GS for Mass Communications Practitioners Catalog Description: The application of the principles of General Semantics — how language affects the communication process — to the practice of journalism, advertising, and public relations. Syllabus Overview General Semantics (GS) deals with how we perceive, construct, evaluate and then express our life experiences through our language-behaviors. This course … Read more

Semester Review Video, Spring 2008

This 31-minute video was compiled to serve as an entertaining, yet still relevant, review of the spring 2008 course I taught at TCU, “General Semantics for Mass Communications Practitioners.” It contains over 70 clips from 36 different sources, so it goes by pretty quickly. General themes addressed: Role that language, words, and other symbols play … Read more

Benham Disc

Even with the reduced size and resolution of this short clip, you can probably see the intended effects. Watch the disc. Describe what you see … do you see shapes? Colors? As the rotation slows, do the shapes and colors change? How so? If others are watching at the same time … compare what you … Read more

Count the Dots

For this exercise, all you have to do is count how many black dots you see. If you think you’ve experienced some kind of electronic perception manipulation, try printing the previous page, look at the graphic on paper, and see if you get similar results … What’s going on? David Hewson in Australia reported that … Read more

Dimples or Bumps?

This exercise simply asks you to look at this image. What do you see – 3 smaller dimples or bumps? What do you see – 1 larger dimple or bump? (A dimple appears to recede into the surface; a bump appears to protrude out of the surface.) After you’ve determined how many dimples and how … Read more