[From Dag Forssell (950207 1130)]
Lars, thanks for your note. I believe my answer will be of general
interest, so I take the liberty of answering on the net.
Subject: Glasser
From: Lars-Christian SMITH Tue Feb 07, 1995 7:05 am PSTDear Dag,
Just got a parcel from New View with _Introduction to Modern
Psychology_; I had also ordered _Mind Readings_ but it is on backorder.However, also included was a New View catalog, with lots of weird and
wonderful books. What is Glasser's stuff like? His books are not on the
CSG reading list. Was there a schism?You were right about my post about Islam, I should have posted it to the
net. It was clearly relevant to the discussions of punishment and
responsibility. I just didn't want to start a discussion about Islam or
other matters not directly relevant to CSG.Best regards, Lars
Questions about Glasser surface from time to time on CSGnet. Yes, there
was a schism.
Glasser is known for Reality Therapy, and has written several well known
books besides: _Schools without failure_, _The identity society_,
_Positive addiction_ etc.
I learned of him in the early 80's and think I benefitted from reading
these books. If it was not for Glasser, I would probably not have heard
of PCT. Same goes for Ed Ford and several others on CSGnet.
As I have heard Glasser tell in a public seminar, friends of his
suggested in the late 70's that he read B:CP. He did, and found an
explanation of why Reality Theory works. I heard him say that if he had
read B:CP first, he would have had to come up with Reality Therapy. He
wanted to rewrite B:CP in what he considered more readable form and did.
Bill Powers gave him extensive help. The result was _Stations of the
Mind_, published by Harper and Row in 1981. The foreword and Preface of
this book leave little doubt as to where Glasser learned Control Theory.
Glasser proceeded to write many books on the theme of control theory --
Control Theory; Control Theory in the Classroom; The Quality School; The
Control Theory Manager. His later books mention Powers in some minor
footnote as a dissident point of view, leaving the impression that
Glasser is THE guru an control theory. What PCT'ers see is that he has
gutted the theory of what is inconvenient to teach (perception is
eliminated altogether) and changed it around so it fits Reality Therapy
to his satisfaction (every action is our best attempt to satisfy our
needs). PCT'ers recognize that Glasser controls his perceptions of what
is important to him -- himself and Reality Therapy -- and accept this as
perfectly normal for a member of our species. Hotheads call him
intellectually dishonest. He is certainly a disturbance to our
perceptions of how PCT should be explained. If you read his books, you
will note that he never explains control theory, but tells you what
conclusions HE draws from it. (He is the guru. You are supposed to take
his word for it). His books are no different than any other management
books: pronouncements from personal interpretations of personal
experience. They read well and stimulate thought, just like the Weinberg
book you recommended to me. But also just like Weinberg, they have
little or nothing to do with control theroy. I have heard a recording
from a Glasser conference where he discusses Powers' control theory in
comparison to his own control theory: we say -- they say.... It is clear
to me that Glasser does not understand control theory.
Glasser and his Institute for Reality Therapy has a large following among
therapists and teachers. Reality Therapy makes more sense than many
alternatives. I certainly liked it when I learned it. New View owners
Fred and Perry Good have learned from Glasser and publish books for
Glasser readers. Through Glasser and Ed Ford (Ed was a longtime member
of the faculty at Glasser's Institute for Reality Therapy -- Freedom From
Stress is the adaptation of Reality Therapy in light of PCT that Glasser
could not write because he never understood PCT), the Good's learned of
the Control Systems Group. They have attended CSG conferences for a few
years and have now taken over publication of CSG books. This allows New
View to offer "the real thing" as well as existing Glasser and related
books. PCTers think it is a good thing to make "the real thing"
available to all those interested therapists, teachers and whatever who
want to learn how to support their fellow men. I am pleased that my
collection of articles: _Management and Leadership: Insight for effective
practice_ will also be distributed by New View.
The catalog you received is no doubt from last spring. New View will be
ready with a new catalog in about a week, and will make a large mailing
to existing customers and potential new ones. In the catalog, PCT books
will be listed in their own section, separate from Glasser's Control
Theory and Reality Therapy. The fact that Glasser uses the term Control
Theory will no doubt create confusion and questions for a long time to
come. That is a fact of life and will simply require explanations from
time to time. We welcome people who have read Glasser's introductions,
become curious, find out about CSG and ask for clarification about PCT.
ยทยทยท
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Your comment about Islam: Discussions _of_ religion are fruitless on
CSGnet, but discussions _about_ religion are appropriate (in principle
for sure). Religion fits at the principle and systems concepts levels,
and illustrates very well how we develop and control perceptions--
particularly when you recognize the proliferation of incompatible
religions. Religion has been discussed from time to time. If you have
a strong interest, I can send a disk with about 350 Kb discussion from
spring of 1992. While appropriate, discussion of religion is difficult.
As an atheist PCT'er, I see it purely as discussion _about_ how we
develop and control (necessarily subjective-it's ALL perception)
perceptions. But I also have observed that those who are religious don't
easily see it that way, and discussions easily turn acrimonious.
Unfortunately, that makes it very awkward to discuss religion at all.
The subject is best avoided, even on CSGnet--a forum for dispassionate
discussion of the PCT explanation of all experiences.
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I am pleased to see that the _CSG Introduction and Resource Guide_ is
useful. Both you and Marc Abrams have acted on the information in it.
Others I don't know about may have done the same. I have also received
orders from printed copies of the order forms in INTROCSG.NET posted on
CSGnet. INTROCSG.NET is not altogether useless. We are making progress.
Best, Dag