Evening star., 1923-12-09
MAN is "TIME.BINDER.''
POLES CONCEPT OF LIFE
Count Korzybski, Noted Philosopher,
Advances New Theories as to
Nature of Humankind.

after age he kept on criticizing the :
work of his hands, until he evolved
better and better plows. :
NO animal reinforces its ability by
the the presence of past achievement.
reinforced by past accomplishments.
II he decides to make a bridge, he
studies fntensively for a few years
been built in the past, and how they
were built
So man has come into the possession
OF arts, inventions, beauty, wealth-botf
material and spiritual-as the result
of his transcendant ability to utilize
In times present the arts, inventions,
beauty and wealth of times past. So
will he go on to better and better
ability to bind this hour-but which
then will be time past--,o the ages
to come-then his present hour. =.
Holds Man Not an Animal.
Count korzybski does not believe
that man is an animal, or yet that he
is mysterious union of animal with
something supernatural.
He divides life into three great
classes.
Plants he calls the basic-energy-
Animals are the space-binders, be-
cause their characteristic ieautre is
that they can move swiftly from place
TO place, in tremendous contrast TO
the plants.
Human beings are the time binders.
Man, therefore, forms q distinct
class In the world. 1t Is due TO the.
, ,, fact that man has looked upon him
self as a species of animal. accord
ing to the Polish philosopher, that
war exists among men. as l. does
among the various animals.
once man, as a whole, and in par
ticuiar. comes into a correct and gen
orally comprehended understanding
of himself as distinct class of life,
will he realize that his money grab
bing gets him nothing except the
opportunity to spread the highest
| ideals of his distinguished class
the tima-binders.
Animal ethics is a 'space-binding
ethics. an ethics of might, Of brutal
competition, of violence, combat and
war" says Prof. Cassius ]. keyser OF
lean philosopher. who indorses Count
korzybskps views.
Come to think of 1t, that hits of
the world war pretty well. 1t was q
marching swiftly through space,
anihilating with their great guns
space as we'll as their brothers. Z
Would Conserve Possessions.
This time e-binding faculty, on the
other hand, used to its full. and not
| in piece-meal. would tend to make
mankind rem ember and conserve its
greatest and best inventions and
| ideals. handed down from one age
to the next, its most precious pos
sessions.
A striking example OF time-bind-
/ ing right here in the National Capital
was furnished recently by the offer
of a public-spirited resident Of a
large tract Of land as a public park
and playground.
So would he bind the ideals OF the
, past TO this time. and then, in turn,
bind this time to the next with the
happiness of men and women, and,
the laughter Of little children.
That is what time-binding means.
So the timebinding faculty is seen
not as an effect Of civilization but
as the cause of civilization. Prof.
Keyser in his book. Mathematical
Philosophy" one chapter of which
is devoted to korzybski's concept OF
man, believes that this concept must
| lead to new Interpretation of his
tory, to d new philosophy Of history.
"a fundamental principle of the
/ new Interpretation must be the fact
| that what man has done and does
| has depended and depends upon what
! man distinctively is. and also. in very
great measure, upon what the MEM
bers of the race have thought and
think man is" says Prof keyser.
-Korzybski believes that>the great
war marks the end of the long period
of humanity's childhood and the be-
ginning Of humanity's manhood. This
second period, he believes, is to be-
initiated, guided and characterized by
q right understanding of the dis
tinctiye nature of man."