What do these four men have in common?
Count Alfred Korzybski-a Polish swordsman of note who survived several duels. Trained as a mathematician, he served on the Russian intelligence staff during World War I and then defected to the United States where he studied mental health. Although he wasn’t on the faculty at the University of Chicago, he lived near the campus and gave lectures to students.
Wendell Johnson-a severe stutterer at a time when therapists thought that the disorder arose from speech directed by the wrong hemisphere of the brain. He wore a cast on his right arm for two years in an attempt to become left-handed and right-talking. He later headed the Speech Clinic at the University of Iowa.
S. I. Hayakawa-as acting president of San Francisco State University, he confronted a student mob that was trying to shut down the school. A picture of him ripping wires out of the demonstrators’ loudspeaker catapulted him to national fame and a seat in the United States Senate.
Irving Lee-an immensely popular teacher of speech at Northwestern University. He focused on what made group discussions turn crazy. These colorful figures have been the leading spokesmen for general semantics, a movement dedicated to clarity of speech as the key to psychological well-being. Korzybski came up with the initial tenets, but the others interpreted and popularized his ideas.