Gregory Bateson, ecology of the mind

Article Summary

John S Veitch
The Network Ambassador

Born on 9 May 1904 in Grantchester, England, and Died on 4 July 1980.
Gregory Bateson was a British anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields.
One of the threads that connects Bateson's work is an interest in systems theory and cybernetics, a science he helped to create.
"Our survival depends on two processes, the development of individuals and the development of the environment." ...
"We fight battles over phony issues again and again - There is really something deeply wrong."
All our learning is a combination of self knowledge and knowledge about the things that exist in the world.
"The genesis of new notions is almost totally dependent upon reshuffling and recombining ideas that we already have."

Epigrams coined by or referred to by Bateson
Number is different from quantity. (Numbers are precise, digital. Quantity is changing, analog.)
The map is not the territory, and the name is not the thing named. The effect is not the cause.
There are no monotone "values" in biology. There are always "optimal" conditions for life.
Logic is a poor model understanding. It leads to thinking errors like the confusion of cause and effect.
Bateson defines information as "a difference that makes a difference"
Bateson said, "The new is always difficult to achieve." The new occurs because something random is combined with what was.
The possibility for change happens when one can "see the pattern that connects".
In our minds we can create a vision of cause and effect, a linear sequence of events. You can never undo the things you've chosen to do.

Dr Peter M Senge. "We've been living in unhealthy ways. The environment keeps sending us stronger and stronger signals. The message is about how we live in the world."

If you need the original article it's here.