How to Avoid Making a Fool of Yourself

How to Avoid Making a Fool of Yourself: An Introduction to General Semantics by Wayne Pace is a very timely book. Published at the beginning of 2017—the year after Oxford Dictionaries chose “Post-Truth” as the word of the year—it provides a good starting point for the understanding of language, its connection to concepts of truth, and its effects on behavior.

With the questions—What, Why, When, How, Where and Who—as organizing principle, the book covers all of the major concepts of General Semantics and, through multiple examples, makes clear how these are practical tools for distinguishing between different kinds of statements, and for avoiding maladjustment, aggressive or immature tendencies.

This is a very useful book for anyone trying to navigate the complex semantic environment of our time, for students of general semantics and communication and indeed, for people looking to avoid making fools of themselves.

—Eva Berger

School of Media Studies, COMAS, Israel

Author of The Communication Panacea: Pediatric and General Semantics

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. Our culture needs this book. Highly recommended.

—Martin H. Levinson, President, Institute of General Semantics