Gregory Bateson

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Gregory Bateson.

Gregory Bateson (9 May 1904 – 4 July 1980) was a British anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. He was an interdisciplinary scientist at a time when science was becoming increasingly specialized. Some of his most noted writings are to be found in his books, Steps to an Ecology of Mind (1972), Mind and Nature (1980), and Angels Fear: Towards an Epistemology of the Sacred (1988), the last published posthumously and co-authored with his daughter Mary Catherine Bateson).

[edit] Biography

Bateson was the son of the distinguished geneticist William Bateson.

Bateson gained notoriety for developing the "Double Bind" theory of schizophrenia and for being Margaret Mead's second husband. His most important work was in laying the foundations of a more inclusive vision for science--a meta-science, what he called epistemology. In academic circles he is something of a cult figure whose appeal includes his obscurity, eccentricity and diversity of accomplishment. Still, the rise of interest in holism, systems, and cybernetics have naturally led educators and students to Bateson's published work.

By his own admission Bateson was widely misunderstood, and the unconventionality of his style might be largely at fault. Bateson was dismayed at the lack of contemporary science's knowledge of the fundamentals of science (see Intro to Steps) and the lack of understanding of complex systems theory. In his efforts to make the connections between related concepts in disparite fields his works often take the form of an essay rather than a scientific paper, he used a lot of metaphors and humor and his choice of sources tended to be unusual (for example citing old poets and ignoring recent scientific sources). At the same time, he wrote on a very abstract level. However, many scholars consider his works to contain a great deal of original thought and to reward careful reading. He has been a very important inspiration in the field of family therapy, and Neuro Linguistic Programming, having served as a mentor to both Richard Bandler and John Grinder and introducing them to medical hypnotist Milton Erickson.

The thread that connects Bateson's work is systems theory/cybernetics, a science he helped to create as one of the original members of the core group of the Macy Conferences. Bateson's take on these fields centers upon their relationship to epistemology, and this central interest provides the undercurrents of his thought. His association with the editor and author Stewart Brand was part of a process by which Bateson’s influence widened — for from the 1970s until Bateson’s last years, a broader audience of university students and educated people working in many fields came not only to know his name but also into contact (to varying degrees) with his thought.

In 1956, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Bateson was a member of William Irwin Thompson's Lindisfarne Association.

[edit] Epigrams coined by or referred to by Bateson

Number is different from quantity.
The map is not the territory, and the name is not the thing named. Coined by Alfred Korzybski.
There are no monotone "values" in biology.
Logic is a poor model of cause and effect.
Language commonly stresses only one side of any interaction.
Bateson defines information as "a difference that makes a difference" [1] [2]

[edit] Terms used by Bateson

Abduction. Used by Bateson to refer to a third scientific methodology (along with induction and deduction) which was central to his own holistic and qualitative approach. Refers to a method of comparing patterns of relationship, and their symmetry or asymmetry (as in, for example, comparative anatomy), especially in complex organic (or mental) systems.
Criteria of Mind:^[1]

Mind is an aggregate of interacting parts or components.
The interaction between parts of mind is triggered by difference.
Mental process requires collateral energy.
Mental process requires circular (or more complex) chains of determination.
In mental process the effects of difference are to be regarded as transforms (that is, coded versions) of the difference which preceded them.
The description and classification of these processes of transformation discloses a hierarchy of logical types immanent in the phenomena.

Creatura and Pleroma. Borrowed from Carl Jung who applied these Gnostic terms in his "The Seven Sermons To the Dead". Like the Hindu term maya, the basic idea captured in this distinction is that meaning and organization are projected onto the world. Pleroma refers to the non-living world that is undifferentiated by subjectivity; Creatura for the living world, subject to perceptual difference, distinction, and information.
The Double Bind. This refers to a communication paradox described first in families with a schizophrenic member. Full double bind requires several conditions to be met: a) The victim of double bind receives contradictory injuctions or emotional messages on different levels of communication (for example, love is expressed by words and hate or detachment by nonverbal behavior; or a child is encouraged to speak freely, but criticised or silenced whenever he or she actually does so). b) No metacommunication is possible; for example, asking which of the two messages is valid or describing the communication as making no sense c) The victim cannot leave the communication field d) Failing to fulfill the contradictory injunctions is punished, e.g. by withdrawal of love. The double bind was originally presented (probably mainly under the influence of Bateson's psychiatric co-workers) as an explanation of part of the etiology of schizophrenia; today it is more important as an example of Bateson's approach to the complexities of communication.

[edit] See also

[edit] Publications=

[edit] Books

Bateson, G (1936). Naven, a Survey of the Problems Suggested by a Composite Picture of the Culture of a New Guinea Tribe Drawn from Three Points of View. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Bateson, G & Mead, M {1942}. Balinese Character: A Photographic Analysis. New York: Academy of Sciences.

Bateson, G & Ruesch, J (1951). Communication: The Social Matrix of Psychiatry. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc. Steps to an Ecology of Mind

Bateson, G (1972). Steps to an Ecology of Mind. Chicago:The University of Chicago Press.

Bateson, G (1974). Perceval's Narrative: A Patient's Account of His Psychosis, 1830-1832. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc. Editor.

Bateson, G (1979). Mind and Nature: A Necessary Unity. . Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

Bateson, G (1980). Mind and Nature

Bateson, G & Bateson M C(1987). Angels Fear: Towards an Epistemology of the Sacred. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

Bateson, G (1991). A Sacred Unity: Further Steps to an Ecology of Mind. Edited by Rodney Donaldson. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

[edit] Papers

Bateson, G., Jackson, D. D., Haley, J. & Weakland, J., 1956, Toward a theory of schizophrenia. Behavioral Science', vol.1, 251-264.
Bateson, G. (1955) A theory of play and fantasy, Psychiatric Research Reports 2: 39-51.

[edit] External links

[edit] Discussions

Morris Berman, The Reenchantment of the World, New York: Bantam, 1984. An early discussion of the implications of Bateson's thought.
Roy C. Dudgeon, The Pattern Which Connects: Ecology, Anthropology and Postmodernity, Toronto: York University (M. A. Thesis), 1996. A discussion of the relevance of Bateson's thought to anthropological and ecological understanding.
Peter Harries-Jones, A Recursive Vision: Ecological Understanding and Gregory Bateson, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995. A useful discussion of his life and thought.

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