I have realized, in my time here, that for all the attempts LSC has made to improve learning, they overlooked the basic philosophical issues involved with our interactions with the world. Language, this wonderful device, constructs as well as reflects reality for us. One of the things which I attribute my capacity to understand and think effectively to-- beyond my fortunate, quality education and copious reading-- is the study of General Semantics, which I discovered over a year ago. This combines synergistically with my attempts at understanding Derridean Deconstruction...both, at a very basic, ontological level, interact with each other.
I don't want to make a long post so I highly recommend checking this web-site out, and reading all of the articles they have posted-- of course, begin with the basics button.
www.general-semantics.org

Also, go to your library and try to find an introduction to Deconstruction and the works of Jacques Derrida. And then, if one has the intellectual endurance, try reading some of his work directly.

I believe that everyone is capable of benefitting enormously from such 'philosophical' discourses. Many people have been taught in school to fear the mention of philosophy, as if it didn't really apply here in the "real" world. Or that it is only for natural geniuses. I have found that, more than anything, practicing such semantic hygiene, and attempting to understand the works of great philosophers has improved my "intelligence" ... or "evaluative" abilities as GSers would have it ... to an enormous extent.

Again, that website comes with my highest recommendations.

K.Olafsson

Could you put the topic at hand into words that a 14 year old could easily understand? I'm a little up there, but words like 'ontological' tend to knock me down.

The topic is about how we use language-- how it is integrally connected with our thinking, and our conceptions of the world. General Semantics, pioneered by Alfred korzybski, seeks to recorrect our use of language to reflect more up-to-date scientific and philosophical understanding of ourselves and the world. Through understanding the systems and structures which make up the world, including language, our emphasis, we will improve our evaluative abilities, and hence our 'intelligence'. For more, go to the website:
www.general-semantics.org

P.S. Ontological-- concerned with our being
K.Olafsson