Clarifying Synergetics -- Part I
ese &x1aii~THE PURPOSE of this series of articles
is to present Synergetics in a form
that is simple and clear. It is a
response to the sincere objections of
persons that Synergetics uses "too
many technical terms". These terms --
affectionately dubbed "synergese" by Synergeticists -- are used for the same reason
that an engineer uses technical terms: to
achieve precision of statement. Instead
of writing out the words "belief-attitude-motive complexes" every time this
idea is used, it is often simpler to use
"synergese" for this and say "BAM". B
stands for belief, A for attitude, M for
motive. As long as all parties concerned
understand what is meant, a lot more can
be said in a lot less time.
The use of technical terms in any
field is desirable and necessary, whether
it be electrical engineering or baseball.
Let's take baseball as an example. How
could you describe a baseball game without using technical terms? "With t h e
count three and two and the bases loaded,
Mantle slammed the next pitch for a homer, driving in four runs". This is all
very simple and clear if you know baseball terms, and it doesn't take long to
say. But take a look at the technical
terms that were used in saying this:
1. Count
2. Three and two
3. Bases loaded
4. Slammed
5. Pitch
6. Homer
7. Driving in
8. Four runs
Try saying that in "plain English"
some time!
Synergetics is an engineering science
of human development, and the use of synergese is as necessary to us as " baseball-ese " is to baseball players and
baseball fans. However, to one unfamiliar
with Synergetics, these terms can and
should be clearly explained. I will try
to do this, for some of the more basic
ideas, in this series of articles.
Because manY readers of The ABERREE
are familiar with Dianetics (and dianese!), an attempt will be made to point
out similarities and differences as we go
along. It is true that there are a number
of similarities between the two approaches,
and that for some concepts the " dianese"
term has an equivalent "synergese" term.
There are also basic" differences, however,
and these too will be pointed out.
Both Dianetics and Synergetics start
out with the idea that the average man is
OCTOBER.1957 T1, o ARFRRF=
By ART COULTER
e~ at/t Delenae
EDITOR'S NOTE
