Gregory Bateson

A man walking is never in balance but always correcting for imbalance.

Summary

Gregory Bateson (1904 - 1980) was a British anthropologist, social scientist, linguist and Cybernetician whose work intersected that of many other fields.

His ideas influenced the concept of the Unity of Humanity/Nature (see Vital Unconscious and Biocentric Principle).

Ideas

• Schismogenesis - Schismogenesis literally means "creation of division" and was used by Bateson to account for certain forms of social behavior between groups:
  • Complementary Schismogenesis is a relationship of dominance/ submission,
  • Symmetrical Schismogenesis is a competitive relationship (rivalry). A good example is that of an arms race.
• Bateson believed things should be defined not by what they are, but by their relationship to other things.
• He argued that relationships should be used as a basis for all definitions, and that this should be taught to our children in primary school.
• Bateson proposed to define Mind as a systems phenomenon characteristic of living organisms, societies, and ecosystems.
  • He listed a set of criteria which systems have to satisfy for mind to occur.
  • Any system that satisfies those criteria will be able to process information and develop the phenomena we associate with mind - thinking, learning, memory, for example.
  • Mind is a necessary and inevitable consequence of a certain complexity which begins long before organisms develop a brain and a higher nervous system.