What is a Semantic Reaction?

If you’re reading this article you are probably wondering what the heck a ‘semantic reaction’ is.

In this article I will share a simple and practical definition of a semantic reaction, the technical definition, as well as share some examples of semantic reactions so that you can recognize them in yourself and others. I will also share something you can do when you find yourself having a ‘semantic reaction’ that doesn’t serve you.

For a simple definition, a semantic reaction is that it is a ‘reaction’ within someone’s mind-body system that is in response to one’s meanings (something they are holding in their mind) more so than to one’s actual present physical environment.

In other words, you are responding to your ‘inner world’ of thoughts more than the ‘outer world’ around you.

For a more technical definition here is how Alfred Korzybski described semantic reactions in his book Science and Sanity:

[The semantic reaction] can be described as the psycho-logical reaction of a given individual to words and language and other symbols and events in connection with their meanings, and the psychological reactions, which become meanings and relational configurations the moment the given individual begins to analyse them or somebody else does that for him. [sic] [italics original] (Science & Sanity 4th. Ed, p. 24).

Examples of Semantic Reactions

An example of a semantic reaction would be any time you, or someone you know is in a calm external environment but they are having an emotional response. If this is the case, the emotional response is clearly not due to external triggers and must then be due to some kind of ‘meaning’, due to something that they are ‘holding in their mind.’

This could be a response of fear, anger, sadness, frustration, excitement, happiness, etc. that is not triggered by one’s environment.

Another example of a semantic reaction would be when one’s ’emotional’ response is in response to the environment, however it is disproportionately intense to the environmental trigger. For example some loses a sock in the laundry and in response starts intensely crying. It would seem that that reaction is not due to the brute fact of the lost sock, but in response to something they are ‘holding in mind’ regarding that loss. We could assume that loss of a sock must hold a deeper meaning/significance to someone who is having that intense of an emotional response.

Meta-States as Semantic Reactions

Within the field of Neuro-Semantics, Meta-States inherently lead to semantic reactions in that our meta-states are ‘our responses to our previous’ responses, as opposed to our primary states which are our responses to ‘the world’. You can learn more about the meta-states model here.

Semantic Reactions and Downtime States

Another point of view on semantic reactions from the field of Neuro-Linguistic Programming is that they are a class of ‘downtime’ states as opposed to ‘uptime’ states. Learn more about uptime and downtime states as well as how to break out of semantic reactions that don’t serve you.