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Search
Toarriveat the edgeof theworld's knowledge, seekout themost
complexandsophisticatedminds,put them ina room together,andhave
themaskeachother thequestions theyareasking themselves.
GREGORYBATESON:THECENTENNIALAboutBatesonby JohnBrockman
[11.19.04]Topic:CULTURE
Introduction
November20,2004 In1974, inhonorofmy
friendGregoryBateson's70thbirthday, I askedhim
ifhewouldgivehisblessing toabook Iwasplanningabouthiswork.Heagreed,
and the resultwasAboutBateson, avolumeoforiginal
essaysabouthisworkand ideasby interesting thinkersinvarious
fieldsbracketedbymy IntroductionandhisAfterword,bothofwhich
followbelow.
GregoryBatesonwasoneof themost importantand
leastunderstoodthinkersof the twentieth century.Batesonoriginated
thedoublebindtheoryof schizophrenia,was the first toapply
cybernetic theory to thesocial sciences, andmade
importantbiologicaldiscoveriesabout suchnonhumanspeciesas
thedolphin.Hisbook,StepsToAnEcologyofMind,published in1972,
attractedwidespreadattention.Wemet inApril,1973
at theAUMConference ("AmericanUniversityofMasters")atEsalen
inBigSur, wherewe immediatelybecame friends, andwherehe convincedme
tobecomeanagent.Withinamonth Ihad foundedBrockman,Inc.
andsoldhisbookTheEvolutionary Idea (ultimatelypublishedunder the
titleMind InNature).
WhileGregorywasverymuchalive,withhisblessingandmentoring, I
conceivedof, andedited, abookentitledAboutBateson, abookwhich
featuredsevensubstantial essaysbyeminent thinkers in
theirownrightcontaining theirown interpretationsof and reactions
toBateson'swork.
In the 250page volume,Mary Catherine Bateson discussed her
father's treatment of the concept ofwisdom and lovethe "lucid"
computations of the heart"; RayBirswhistell analyzedBateson's
uniquemethodology; David Lipset provided a short biography of
the thinker'swary years; RolloMay discussedBateson's
humanism;MargaretMead explored his effect on crosscultural
analysis
(Groegory her 2nd husband); Edwin Schlossberg contributed a
piece on consciousness, social change, and cybernetics. As
editor,
Iwrote the introductory essay. The book concludedwith Gregory
Bateson's own original 12pageAfterword, inwhich he
presented his latest thinking on his life'swork. Also
includedwas a 2page CV and a Bibliography page of his book.
At that time,Batesoncontended thatasa resultof advances in
cyberneticsand fundamentalmathematics,manyotherareasof thoughthave
shifted. InTheEvolutionary Idea, aproposednewbook,heplanned
togather together thosenewadvances topresentanalternative to
thencurrentorthodox theoriesof
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evolution.Thisalternativeviewwas to stress the roleof
information, that is, ofmind, inall levelsofbiology fromgenetics
toecologyand fromhumanculture to thepathologyof schizophrenia.
Inplaceofnatural selectionoforganisms,Batesonconsidered the
survivalofpatterns, ideas, and formsof interaction,
"Anydescriptiveproposition,"he said, "which remains true
longerwilloutsurviveotherpropositionswhichdonot survive so
long.This switch from the survivalof the creatures to the
survivalof ideaswhichare immanent in the creatures (in
theiranatomical formsand in their interrelationships)givesa
totallynewslant
toevolutionaryethicsandphilosophy.Adaptation,purpose,homology,
somatic change, andmutationall takeonnewmeaningwith this shift in
theory."
Batesonhadanendless repertoireof conceptsand ideas to
talkabout.A typical conversationmightbeaboutmetaphorversus
sacrament, schismogenesis,metaphysics,
explanatoryprinciples,heuristicversusfundamental ideas,
thevalueofdeduction, steadystate
society,metapropositions,deuterolearning,cyberneticexplanation,
ideaasdifference, logical categoriesof
learning,mentaldeterminism,end linkage,andonandon.
Whilehis ideasdid takehold in some fields (schizophrenia, family
therapy, amongothers), thenaturalaudience forhiswork,
theevolutionarybiologists,had little interest inhim.Themainstream
thinkers inthat fieldbelievedhis ideasweremuddled.This isoneof
several reasonswhyheultimatelyabandoned theTheEvolutionary
Idea,whichwas tohavebeen the firstmajor restatementof evolutionary
theory inhalf
acentury.Basedonhispreviousexperience,hewasworriedabout
thedifficultyof gettingacrosshis ideas.The implicationsof the
theoryarebasedonacceptanceof a radicalneworderof things,
aworldviewtotallyalien toour traditionalWesternwayof thinking.
Aspectsof thisworldviewderived fromhisassociation in
the1940swithWarrenMcCulloch, JohnvonNeumann,ClaudeShannon,
andNorbertWieneret al,whowereallpresentat the creationof
cybernetictheory. Itwas the radical epistemologybehind these ideas
seemed to informa lotof this thinking. "Thecybernetic idea is
themost important idea since JesusChrist.,"heonce toldme.
And this iswhereweconnected, asmybook,ByTheLate
JohnBrockman,whichwasverymuchon theradar screenat that
time,wasnothing ifnota radical epistemological statementon
language, thought, andreality. Ihadwritten the trilogy
thatultimately comprised thebookwithno reference toBatesonas
Ihadnot readhimandhadbarelyheardofhimuntil Iwas invited to
theAUMconference in1973 (my lateinvitationwas sentwhen
theorganizers, JohnLillyandAlanWatts,both
strongsupportersofmybook,foundout theirkeynote
speaker,RichardFeynman,was ill, and theyneededa
replacement.Onlywhen Iarrivedat the conferencedid I findoutwhat
Iwaswalking into.)
"Evolutionistsareananxious, conservative,
andspitefulbunch,"Batesonsaid. "In fact, theykill
eachother."Batesonwas referring to the famousaffair involvinghis
father,WilliamBateson,
thepreeminentBritishscientistofhisdaywho,pickingupon
theworkofMendel, coined theword "genetics"andbegan the
field,andWilliamKammerer, theAustrianbiologist.Kammerer,
aLamarckian, committed suicideover researchinvolving the
inheritedcharacteristicsof themidwife toad. "Idon't think theywill
like thisbookverymuch,"Batesonsaid, realizing thathewillbe straying
far from the traditionaldebateofnatural selectionversus
inheritedcharacteristics. "I shallnotwrite thebook. I am toooldand
too sick to fight the fight".
Buthewasalwayswilling to travel, to interactwithall
kindsofpeople inorder topresenthis ideas.Thiswould leadhim into
strange surroundings,where theparticipantshadno ideaofwhat
toexpectandwerenotprepared forhisdepthanderudition.
"Whydoyoubother?" I ask in reference to
thisparticularlymoribundgathering. It is clear that fewherehaveany
inklingofwhathe is saying. "Onesimplykeepsgoing,"he saysgently,
"and leaves thenamebehind." Itwasn't easymakinga
livingasanepistemologist,henoted.
Yet,hedid receive
recognition.CharlesRoycroft,Britishpsychoanalyst,wasquoted in
theSeventyFifth
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Anniversary Issueof theTimesLiterarySupplementas saying
thatGregoryBatesonwas themostunderratedwriterof thepast
seventyfiveyears.
Bateson isnoteasy.Theonlyway to "get"Bateson is to readhim.To
spend timewithhim, inpersonorthroughhisessays,wasa rigorous
intelligentexercise, an immense relief from the trivial forms
thatcommandrespect in contemporary society
JB
GREGORYBATESON:THECENTENNIAL
(JOHNBROCKMAN:) It isMarch1973
inBigSur.California.Adiversegroupof thinkersareassembled tospend
tendays togetherexploring theworkofBritishmathematicianG.
SpencerBrown.AlanWattsandJohnLilly, the coorganizers, arebilling
theeventas "TheAUMConference." shorthand
forTheAmericanUniversityofMasters.
Theyhavegathered together
intellectuals,philosophers,psychologists,
andscientists.Eachhasbeenaskedto lectureonhisownwork in termsof its
relationship toBrown'snew ideas inmathematics.C. SpencerBrown
lectures for twodaysonhisLawsofForm.AlanWatts talksofEastern
religious thought. JohnLillydiscussesmapsof
reality.KarlPribramexploresnewpossibilities for
thinkingaboutneuroscience.RamDasspresentsa spiritualpath.
StewartBrand lecturesonwhole systems.PsychologistsWill
Schutz,ClaudioNaranjo, andCharlesTartare
inattendance.HeinzvonFoersterholds forthoncyberneticmodeling.Myown
topic is "Einstein,GertrudeStein,Wittgenstein,
andFrankenstein."
Perhaps,of all the "Masters"present,GregoryBateson, at
sixtyeight, is atonce thebestknownand
theleastknown.Amonghisassembledpeers,his reputation is
formidable.At theAUMConference,
storiesofhisprofoundeffectonpostmodern thinkingabound.Yet
fewoutside the relatively small circleof avantgarde
thinkersknowabouthimorhiswork.
There isvalid reason.Bateson isnotveryaccessible.Hismajorbook,
Steps toanEcologyofMind, is justbeingpublished. It is a
collectionof essayshehaswrittenovera thirtyfiveyearperiod.
Batesonbegins lecturing in the conference room.Clearlyhe isheld
inawebyhis colleagues.Nothing inhisimposingpresencedetracts fromhis
reputation.He is a largemanwithadeep richvoice
imbuedwithanunmistakableEnglishaccent.There is anairof
authenticityabouthim.
NoraBateson,GregoryBateson, JohnBrockmanatAumConference,1973
His talk is filledwithbrilliant insightsandvasteruditionashe
takesusona tourof subjects that includezoology,psychiatry,
anthropology, aesthetics, linguistics, evolution, cybernetics,
andepistemology'. "Thepoint,"he says, "is that
thewaysofnineteenthcentury thinkingarebecoming rapidlybankrupt,
andnewwaysaregrowingoutof cybernetics, systems theory,
ecology,meditation,psychoanalysis, andpsychedelicexperience."
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Ashe talks I look throughapaperhehas left forusasweentered the
room. "Form,Substance, andDifference" is
thenineteenthKorzybskiLecture,deliveredbyBateson in1970. In
ithepointsout thathe's touchedonnumerousfieldsbut is anexpert
innone.He'snotaphilosopher,norisanthropologyexactlyhisbusiness.Thisdoesn'thelpmemuch.All
I knowabouthim is
thathehasananthropologicalbackground,wasoncemarried toMargaretMead,
andwasaprimemoverbehind the importantMacyConferences inCybernetics
in the1940s.
His theme in theKorzybskiLecturewas the sameashistheme today:
"theareaof impactbetweenveryabstractand formalphilosophic thoughton
theonehandand thenaturalhistoryofmanandother creatureson
theother."His ideasare clearlyof anepistemologicalnature.Heasksus
todoawaywithourNewtonian language,ourCartesian
coordinates, to see theworld in termsof themindweall
share.Batesonpresentsanewapproachbasedona cyberneticepistemology:
"The individualmind is immanentbutnotonly in thebody. It is
immanentalso in thepathwaysandmessagesoutside thebody;and there is
a largermindofwhich the individualmind isonlya subsystem.This
largermind is comparable toGodand isperhapswhat somepeoplemeanby
'God,'but it is still immanent in the total interconnectedsocial
systemandplanetaryecology."
~
"Very fewpeoplehaveany ideaofwhat I am
talkingabout,"Batesonsaysashepicksat apieceof fish inaMalibu
restaurant.Wearehavingdinneranddiscussinghisplans
foranewbookconcerningevolutionarytheory. It is June1973. (At
theAUMConference inMarch, Ihadbeenpressed into serviceasa
literaryagent.)
Batesondefies simple labeling,
easyexplanation.Peoplehaveproblemswithhiswork.He
talksofbeinganexplorerwhocannotknowwhathe is exploringuntil
ithasbeenexplored.His introduction toSteps states:"I found that
inmyworkwithprimitivepeoples, schizophrenia,biological symmetry,
and inmydiscontentwith the conventional theoriesof evolutionand
learning, Ihad identifiedawidely scatteredsetofbenchmarksaspointsof
reference fromwhichanewscientific territory
couldbedefined.Thesebenchmarks Ihavecalled 'Steps' in the titleof
thebook."
But this iswhereBatesongetsdifficult. Justwhat is
thisnewscientific territory'?Mostpeople look for thenextplace,
thenextpieceofknowledge. Instead,Batesonpresentsanepistemology so
radical thatasoneclimbs fromstep to step, thegroundsupporting the
ladderabruptlyvanishes.Noteasy, this
cyberneticexplanationofGregoryBateson.Not comfortable.Not
supportive.Not loving.Thecenterdissolves, andmanisdead;and
inhisplacewehave themetaphysical "I". Sodismissyourself; let
go:There'snothing lost.
~
Bateson's readersoften find itdifficult tograsp thathiswayof
thinking isdifferent from theirs.Hisstudentsbelieve thathe ishiding
something from them, that there'sa secretbehindhis thinking
thathewon't share.There's something to this.Bateson isnot
clearlyunderstoodbecausehiswork isnotanexplanation,buta
commission,AsWittgensteinnoted, "a commission tellsuswhatwemustdo."
InBateson's case,whatwemustdo is reprogramourselves, trainour
intelligenceand imagination toworkaccording to radical
configurations.HeinzVonFoersterpointsout that "theblessedcurseof
ametalanguage is that itwears the clothof a firstorder language, an
'object language.'Thus, anypropositioncarrieswith it the
tantalizingambiguity:Was itmade inmetaor inobject
language?"Nobody,knowsand
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youcan't findout.All attempts to speakaboutametalanguage, that
is, to speak inmetametalanguage,aredoomed to
fail.AsWittgensteinobserved: "Remain silent!"ButBatesoncannot
remain silent.Hischildlike curiosity,his
intellectualvigorandstrengthcompelhim to
continueexploringnewground.
Yethe ishesitantaboutwritinghisnewbook.TheEvolutionary
Ideawillbe the firstmajor restatementofevolutionary theory inhalf a
century.Basedonhispreviousexperience,he isworriedabout
thedifficultyofgettingacrosshis ideas.The implicationsof the
theoryarebasedonacceptanceof a radicalneworderof things, aworldview
totallyalien toour traditionalWesternwayof thinking.
"Evolutionistsareananxious, conservative, andspitefulbunch,"he
says. "In fact, theykill eachother."Bateson is referring to the
famousaffair involvinghis father,WilliamBateson,
andWilliamKammerer, theAustrianbiologist.Kammerer, aLamarckian,
committed suicideover research involving the
inheritedcharacteristicsof themidwife toad. "Idon't think theywill
like thisbookverymuch,"Batesonsays,realizing thathewillbe straying
far from the traditionaldebateofnatural selectionversus
inheritedcharacteristics.
Batesoncontends thatasa resultof advances in cyberneticsand
fundamentalmathematics,manyotherareasof thoughthave shifted.
InTheEvolutionary Idea,hewill gather together thesenewadvances
topresentanalternative to currentorthodox theoriesof
evolution.Thisalternativeviewwill stress the roleof information,
that is, ofmind, inall levelsofbiology fromgenetics toecologyand
fromhumanculture tothepathologyof schizophrenia. Inplaceofnatural
selectionoforganisms,Batesonwill consider thesurvivalofpatterns,
ideas, and formsof interaction,
"Anydescriptiveproposition,"he says, "which remains true
longerwilloutsurviveotherpropositionswhichdonot survive so
long.This switch from the survivalof the creatures to the
survivalof ideaswhichare immanent in the creatures (in
theiranatomical formsand in their interrelationships)givesa
totallynewslant
toevolutionaryethicsandphilosophy.Adaptation,purpose,homology,
somatic change, andmutationall takeonnewmeaningwith this shift in
theory."
~
It is themorningafterourdinnerdiscussionabout
thenewbook.Bateson, about fortyotherpeople, and Iare together fora
twodayseminar toexplore "EcologyofMind."Mostof
thepeoplehavepaidonehundreddollars tohearBateson
talk.Theauspicesarean institute
forhumanisticdevelopment.Theaudienceappears tobe interested in
selfhelpandpersonalawareness.This is the firstopportunity Ihavehad
tohearhimspeakbeforeageneral audience.After theexcitement
surroundinghisperformanceat theAUMConference, I ampreparingmyself
foranothermemorableexperience.
Batesonslowlyguidesus throughhisendless repertoireof conceptsand
ideas.He talksaboutmetaphorversus sacrament,
schismogenesis,metaphysics, explanatoryprinciples,heuristicversus
fundamental ideas,thevalueofdeduction, steadystate
society,metapropositions,deuterolearning, cyberneticexplanation,
ideaasdifference, logical categoriesof
learning,mentaldeterminism,end linkage, andonandon.
Aftera fewhours, theattentionof thegroupbegins
towander.Manyappear tobebored.By theendof thefirstday, at
leastonethirdof thepeoplehave left.Bateson isunperturbed.Manypeople
seekhimout forthewrong reasons: forentertainment; foranswers;
asaguru.Heexplains thathis receptionsvary fromtheextremeboredomof
thisday to theexcitementof theMacyConferencesof the1940s. Still, he
isalwayswilling to travel, to interactwithall kindsofpeople inorder
topresenthis ideas. "Whydoyoubother?" I ask in reference to
thisparticularlymoribundgathering. It is clear that
fewherehaveanyinklingofwhathe is saying. "Onesimplykeepsgoing,"he
saysgently, "and leaves thenamebehind."
~
Christmas time,1973. I amabout toapproachapublisher to sell
rights toTheEvolutionary Idea. Ihad
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phonedBateson requestingabiographical sketch.His
letterarrives:
"JohnBrockmansuggests that Iwriteyouapersonal letter
tellingyouwho I am. I encloseanoutlinecurriculumvitae,* towhich
Iwill addas follows.
"My fatherwasWilliamBateson, F.R.S., geneticist, a fellowof St.
John's College, and first director of the JohnInnesHorticultural
Institute,whichwas and still is a large genetical research
institute.
"Boyhoodwasmainly devoted to natural history: butterflies
andmoths, beetles, dragonflies,marineinvertebrates,
floweringplants, etc.
"Cambridgewasmainly biologyuntil I got a chance to go to
theGalapagos Islands,where I realized that Idid not knowwhat to
dowith field natural history. In those days, biology, both in field
and lab,wasmainlytaxonomy, and I knew thatwasnotwhat Iwanted to do.
So, on return to Cambridge, I tookanthropologyunderA. C.Haddon,who
sentmeout to the SepikRiver,NewGuinea, to studyhistorical culture
contactbetween the Sepik and the FlyRiver peoples. Thiswas the
equivalent in anthropology of taxonomy in biology.The resultwas two
field expeditions, groping very unhappily forwhat one could do to
establish some theoryin anthropology. The final productwasNaven, a
bookwhichwas then very difficult for people to readbut isgradually
coming into almost orthodoxy. LeviStrauss hasworked on someof the
problems of culturalstructurewhich I raised then, and I thinkhe's
donea gooddeal tomakemy stuff readable and 'safe'
foranthropologists.
"After that, fieldwork in theDutch Indies,
inBali,withmywifeMargaretMead. Then I did an elaboratephotographic
study of personal relations among theBalinese, especially
interchangebetweenparents andchildren. Thiswas publishedwith about
700photographs asBalineseCharacter.
"Notmuchofmyperiod of fellowship at St. John's Collegewas spent
in Cambridge. Iwasmostly inNewGuineaandBali. But of course itwas an
important piece ofmy life, and therewere important peopleL. S.
B.Leakey,Harold Jeffries, ClaudeGuillebaud,ReginaldHall,
TeulonPorter, Sir FrederickBartlett, and others.
"In those days Iwas on the sidelines of the anthropologically
famous battles betweenRadcliffeBrownandMalinowski. I'd taught
underRadcliffeBrown in Sydneyand learneda great deal fromhim,
someofwhichgotbuilt intoNaven (the hookupwith Frenchanthropology
camedown tome fromDurkheimandMauss throughRadcliffeBrown,whowas a
great admirer of them). I enjoyedMalinowski verymuch, lovedhim, but
thoughthima lousy' anthropological theorist.Most ofmy colleagues
(other thanhis students) hatedhis guts butweredreadfully afraid
that hewas a great theorist.
"InWorldWar II, I came runningback toEngland in
September1939whileMargaretwas havinga baby* inNewYork. Iwas
promptly advised to return toAmerica to helpAmerica joinEngland.
The Japanese finally didthat for us. And Iwent through thewarwith
theAmericanOffice of Strategic Services as a psychologicalplanner.
I don't think I helped thewarmuch, butwedid run four issues of
anundergroundnewspaper behindthe Japanese lines inBurma.
(*MaryCatherineBateson)
'Oh yes, before Iwent overseas I hada
jobanalyzingGermanpropaganda films in
theMuseumofModernArt,NewYorkCity, and just before going overseas, I
hadmetWarrenMcCullochandBigelow,whowere allexcitedabout 'feedback'
in electronicmachinery. Sowhile Iwas overseas, andmostly boredand
frustrated, Ioccasionally comfortedmyself by thinkingabout the
properties of closed selfcorrective circuits.Onarrivalback
inNewYork Iwent straight to theMacyFoundation to ask for a
conference on these things. FremontSmith said, 'McCullochwashere
aweekagowith the same request, andhe's going to be the
chairman.'Membership in those conferences,withNorbertWiener,
JohnVonNeumann,McCulloch, and the rest,was oneof the great events
inmy life.Wiener coined theword 'cybernetics' forwhat itwaswewere
discussing.
"Iwas gently dropped fromHarvardbecause a rumorgot around,
'Bateson says anthropologists ought to bepsychoanalyzed.' I did not
say this, and I don't think I evenbelieved it, but if they thought
thiswas a goodreason for droppingme, then Iwas probably lucky to be
dropped. Iwas immediately pickedupby JurgenRuesch for his
researchproject in the LangleyPorter Clinic, a psychiatric
institution. Thiswas the beginningof fourteen years of
associationwith psychiatry,where I didmybest, again, to bring
formal theory into averyunformedAugean stable. The resultwas the
socalled double bindhypothesis,whichprovideda
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framework for the formal description of schizophrenic
symptomsand the experience of the schizophrenic inhis family. I
think this held upand still holds upprettywell in the face of a lot
ofmisunderstandingandalittle criticism. I am still pretty sure that
something like the double bind story is an essential part of
thephenomenon called 'schizophrenia.' InEnglandmy chief admirer in
this field isRonnie Laing. (By theway,youwill probably run into
rumors thatRonnie got toomanyof his ideas fromme. I don't think
this is reallytrue.He certainly got some, and it is after all the
purpose of scientific publication to spread ideas around,and I
don't thinkhe could at all be accused of plagiarism. I, too, have
benefited by readinghis stuff.)
"Enoughmental hospitals and schizophrenic families is after
awhile enough, so Iwent off in 1963 to studydolphins, first under
JohnLilly, and then inHawaiiwith theOceanic Institute. A
fascinatingbut terriblydifficult animal to study.But they forcedme
to straighten outmy contributions to learning theory
andwhat'swrongwithB. F. Skinner. But alas, the Institutewent
broke.
"Sohere I am, corrupting theminds of the youth in theUniversity
of California at SantaCruz. Andalso theminds of the faculty. I have
a class for seventy students called 'TheEcology ofMind.' For this I
have sixsection leaders,whoare fully grownupprofessors, amolecular
biologist, an astronomer fromLickObservatory, a tidepool zoologist,
a historian, a literary bloke, anda selfunfrocked Jesuit.What Imean
isthatmy stuff is relevant and sometimes difficult for all sorts of
people.On thewhole, the students getmoreout of it than the
grownups.'
~
FiftyoddpagesofTheEvolutionary Ideahavearrived. It
isApril1974.Thematerial isdenseanddifficult. Ihave respondedwith
faintpraiseandwellintentionedcriticism,urgingBateson toopen
itup,bemorechatty, try to include thehuman, theanecdotal, andso
forth. Ihaveasked if the formatof ametaloguebetweena
fatherandayoungdaughter isnecessary.Whycan't the ideasbepresented
inamoretraditional form?Bateson's letter isbiting:
"I havenowyour letter ofApril 16th, your longdistance telephone
call of the day before yesterday, and somepieces of telephone talk
inNewYork. All these tend in the direction of 'please
bemoreprolix.' I tossed thefirst two chapters in thewastepaper
basket at four o'clock thismorningand shall probably do so
againtomorrow. I think the real difficulty is that some readers (et
tu, Brute?) just donot believe that ImeanwhatI say. I suspect they
think it is all a sort of entertainment andhope to comeout at the
end feeling refreshed.Believeme, John, that is not at allwhat it is
about. Anybodywho really reads andnoticeswhat is said andafter
several readings be gins to understand it,will comeout in despair
andnearer to tears than laughter.
"In any ease,my colleagueswriting in the same field,whether
terse or prolix, are incredibly difficult. Theideaswhichwedealwith
are difficult, painful, and foreign ideas. If youdoubt this, I
suggest a dose ofImmanuelKant as an example of the prolix, or a
dose ofWittgenstein's Tractatus as an example of the
terse.Honestly, I believeKant is themore difficult.
"There are goodand serious reasonswhy oneparty in themetalogues
has to be in the period of sexuallatency. This is not just in order
to be cute; it is in order to be acute.
"For the rest, Iwill try not to let your remarks disturbme. I
am, alas, too liable to let that sort of thingenrageme.
"There is a cute story goingaroundaboutPicasso. A gentwantedhim
to paint things in amorerepresentationalmanner, 'like this
photographofmywife. It is really like her.' Picasso lookedat it and
said,'She is small, isn't she?And fiat.'"
~
Newtechnologyequalsnewperception.TheEnglishbiologist J.
Z,Youngpointsout thatmancreates toolsand thenmoldshimself in their
image.Reality ismanmade.An invention, ametaphor.
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"Theheart is apump" is a statementweall acceptasa truism.
"Thebrain is a computer" is a statementthatusuallybrings forth
criesofhumanistichorror.Weseem to forget that the first statement
is
acreatureofNewtonianmathematics.Newtoncreatedamechanisticmethodology.We
inventedourselves intermsof itsdescriptive language.
Wedon't say theheart is likeapump.Theheart is apump.Themetaphor
isoperational.
Althoughmanyofusarenot ready for it,withina fewyearswewill all
recognize that thebrain is acomputer.Thiswillbea resultof the
cybernetic ideasdevelopedby
suchmenasGregoryBateson,NorbertWiener,WarrenMcCulloch,CordonPask,RossAshby,
JohnVonNeumann,HeinzVonFoerster, and JohnLilly, tonamea few.New
technologyequalsnewperception.Thewordsof theworldare the lifeof
theworld.Nature isnot created.Nature is said.
Weare justnowbeginning to recognize theneworder resulting from
thedevelopmentof the scienceofcybernetics.Batesonbelieves that the
cyberneticexplanation is themost important fundamentalintellectual
advanceof the last two thousandyears. It tears the
fabricofourhabitual thinkingapart.Subjectandobject fuse.The
individual selfdecreates. It is aworldofpattern,oforder,of
resonances.
Bateson is special.He is theonly livingperson fullyequipped to
constructabridgebetween theworldofnineteenthcentury scienceand the
cyberneticworldof today.Hehas livedonboth sidesof
thebridge.Ononeside, the solidworldembodiedbyhis
father,WilliamBateson,on theother side,
theundoneworldofGregoryBateson, aworldof language, communication,
andpattern.
~
Bateson is sitting inmy living room inMay1974.Today ishis
seventiethbirthday.Asweprepare forabigparty, I suggest
thepossibilityoforganizingahook inhishonor. "Ihope that if
therewere suchabookthat it focuson the ideasandwhat theyaredoing
tous,"he says.
We talkandplan.Batesongiveshisblessing to theproject. Steps
toAnEcologyofMind isbynomeansaneasyorpopularpresentationof the
coreproblemshehasaddressedhimself to.Wedecide to inviteanumberofhis
friendsandcolleagues to contributeoriginal essays,usingStepsasa
springboard, somethingeither todisagreewithor to takeoff
from.Batesonwritesa letter for the invitees. In the
letterhesuggests:
"Possibleangleswhich theauthorsmight cover include:
changedperceptionsof theSelf; changedconceptsof responsibility;
changed feelingsabout time;money;authority; attitudes
towardenvironment; sex;children; family; control and law;
cityplanning;biologicalbases forhumanplanningandethics;
theseekingofoptimalandhomeostaticgoals rather
thanmaxima;populationcontrol; changes in thebalancebetween
'feelings' and 'intellect'; changes
ineducationalmethods;newhorizons inpsychiatry; etc., etc.
"Thepossible field isverywide,but in sumwhat Iwould like to
seewouldbea thoughtful forumon thesubjectofwhatyouall (and I,
too)aredoing to thepremisesof civilization."
~
Eightpeople,myself included,will contribute to
thebook.MaryCatherineBateson (anthropologist and
thedaughterofBatesonandMargaretMead),RayL.Birdwhistell (expert
inkinesicsandcommunication),DavidLipset
(Bateson'sauthorizedbiographer),RolloMay
(humanisticpsychologist),MargaretMead(anthropologist andBateson's
firstwife),EdwinSchlossberg (physicist andenvironmentaldesigner),
andC.H.Waddington
(geneticist).Unfortunately,Waddingtondiesbeforehispiece is
completed.
Other invitedpeopleare toobusywith
theirownworkorhaveproblemswithBateson's
ideas.Hisinsistenceonstrict, asopposed to loose, thinking
ismostapparentwith regard tohisattitude towardhisclose
friendsandcolleagues. It isDecember1974, and Ihave just receivedhis
correspondencewitha
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famouspsychologist andauthor (who isnot represented in
thisbook).Thepsychologistplans towriteaboutenergy. "Everybody
talksabout it andnobodyknowswhat itmeans,"he says.
Bateson's response typifies the rigorofhisprecise thinking.
~
"You say 'energy' andqualify thewordby saying that neither
younor anybody knowswhat it is.
"But that (the qualifying comment) is not quite true, because,
after all,we (scientists)madeup the conceptand therefore know (or
should know)whatweput into it.
"What is on the other side of the fence, of course,wedonot
know.Butwemade the concept to coverwhatwe thoughtwas 'out there'
andgave the conceptwhatwe thoughtwere appropriate characteristics.
Theselatterwe know, becauseweput themwhere they are, inside
thatword 'energy.'
"I am strongly of the opinion that thesewellknown
characteristics are not appropriate to the sort ofexplanatory
principlewhichpsychologistswant tomake of the concept.
"1) 'Energy' is a quantity. It is indeed rather like
'mass,'which is another quantity.Or 'velocity.'None of theseis a
'substance' or a 'pattern.' Theyare quantities, not numbers.
"2) 'Energy' is a very tightly definedquantity, having the
dimensionsML(2)/T(2) (i.e., (mass X lengthXlength) (timeX time),
or,more familiarly,mass X velocity (2)).
"Now the rub is that no quantity can ever generate a pattern,
and to assert that this can occur is preciselythe enteringwedge of
the new supernaturalism, forwhichFreud,Marx, and Jungaremuch to
blame. (They'could' have knownbetter.)
"Quantity, of course, canandoftendoes developand intensify
latent difference but never creates thatdifference. Tensionmay find
out theweakest link in the chain but it is never the explanation of
how thatparticular link came to be theweakest (Indeed the
characteristic called 'beingweakest' is not inherent in thatlink
but precisely in the relationbetween that link and the others. 'It'
could be 'protected' by filing one of theothers!).
"3)Thenext step in supernaturalismalter the invocation of
'energy' is the belief in Lamarckian inheritanceandESP.After that
thenext step is the assertion thatman contains two real
existingprinciples, viz., aBodyanda Soul. After that, any sort of
tyrannyandoppression canbe rationalizedas 'good' for the
victim."
"So there is a slot in our proposedbook for arguments in favor
of 'energy' as an explanatory principle, butsucharguments in that
contextwill necessarily be controversial. I urge you to treat
'energy' as acontroversial issue, not as a 'matterofcourse.'
"Personally I havenever beenable to see or feelwhy this very
'mechanical'metaphor ('energy') appeals toespecially humanistic
psychologists.What are the arguments for thismetaphor rather than
'entropy' (which isstill a sort of quantity)?What characteristics
of the original concept (energy or entropy) are to be
carriedoverwhen the concept is usedmetaphorically to explain action
or (?) anatomy?
"Are you familiarwith LarryKubie's paper,* longago,
inwhichheneatly and (I think) completely explodedthewhole Freudian
'economics' of energy? Itwas that paper that earnedhimhis place at
theMacyCybernetic conferences. But he never contributedanything
there. I guess they slappedhiswrist for heresy.
(* "FallaciousUse ofQuantitative Concepts inDynamicPsychology,"
PsychoanalyticQuarterly 16 (1947): 50718.)
"Finally, believeme that the intensity of passionand care spent
upon this letter is a function of bothmyesteem for youandmyhatred
of the principleswhichhide behind theuse of 'energy' (and
'tension,' 'power,''force,' etc.) to explain behavior."
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~
It is January1977.Thepublisherhas called.Thebook
isoverdue.Thepieceshavebeenwritten,discussed,andedited.Theyprovideanexcellententry
intoareasofBateson's thought.Thecontributorshavemeasuredhiswork in
termsof its effect, in termsof information.
I callBateson inSantaCruz todiscuss the
introduction.Beforewegetdown tobusiness,he tellsme
thatGovernorBrownhas justnamedhim to theBoardofRegentsof
theUniversityofCalifornia.Also,CharlesRoycroft,Britishpsychoanalyst,
isquoted in theSeventyFifthAnniversary Issueof
theTimesLiterarySupplementas saying thatGregoryBateson is
themostunderratedwriterof thepast seventyfiveyears.
Iwould like to interviewBateson for the introduction,but
thisproves logistically impossible.Thus Imusteditmy thoughts,notes,
andour correspondence topresenthim to the reader.Thepresentpiece, I
realize,ishardlya comprehensive introduction to
themanandhiswork.But, asBatesonmight say, it is a "step."It is
important that readers realize thatalthough thisbook is an
introduction toGregoryBateson, theonlyway to "get"Bateson is to
readhim.Studyhim.Editing thisbookhasbeen, forme,most important. I
founditnecessary to forcemyself to sitquite still
formany,manyhoursandstudy (not read)Steps toanEcologyofMind, a
rich, exhilaratingexperience.Roycroft is correct.Bateson is
themostunderratedwriterof the century.To spend timewithhim,
inpersonor throughhisessays, is rigorous intelligentexercise,
animmense relief from the trivial forms that commandrespect in
contemporary society.
~
IaskBateson towriteanafterword to thebook. "Whatdoyouwantme
towriteabout?"he responds. I ammost interested inhis
ideasoncyberneticexplanationandepistemology.Whileponderinghisquestion,
Iremembera conversationwith cultural
anthropologistEdwardT.Hall,whopointedout tome that themost
significant, themost critical inventionsofmanwerenot thoseever
considered tobe inventions,butthose thatappeared tobe
innateandnatural.To illustrate thepoint,he tolda storyof agroupof
cavemenliving inprehistoric times.Oneday,while sittingaround the
fire,oneof themensaid, "Guesswhat?We'retalking."Silence.Theothers
lookedathimwith suspicion. "What's talking?"oneof themasked.
"It'swhatwe'realldoing.Rightnow.We're talking!" "You're crazy,"
anothermanreplied. "Whoeverheardof suchathing?" "I'mnot crazy," the
firstmansaid, "you're crazy.We're talking."And
itbecameaquestionof"who's crazy?"Thegroupcouldnot
seeorunderstandbecause "talking"was inventedby the
firstman.Themomenthe said "We're talking"wasamomentofgreat
significance in theprocessof evolution.
~
AmoderndaydescendantofHall's caveman isGregoryBateson.He isbusy
inventing something, aninventionsoprofound thatonce
fullypropounded, itwill seemalways tohavebeen "natural."The
fullimpactofBateson's thinking is so radical that, yes, Ihavedoubts
thathe fullybelieves inhisown ideas.This is theway ithas
tobe.Hehasenterednoman's land.He is trying somethingnew. "We're
talking."
AFTERWORDbyGregoryBateson
Dear John
Whenyou first suggested thisvolumeandundertook toput it
together, I said, "Don't let itbeaFestschrift," andweagreed
thatyouwouldaskyourauthors rather for someworkand thinkingof
theirsthatmighthavedevelopedoutoforalongside
somepartofmywork.Youwouldasknot forpraiseorcriticism,but for
someoriginalmaterialof theirs. So letme thank them,and
thenbecome,myself, oneofyourauthors.Rather than replying to
theotherauthors, letme tell youwhere I stand todayandwhat, forme,
cameoutof all thatwork inNewGuineaandBali and, later,with
schizophrenicsanddolphins.
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Asyouknow, thedifficultywasalways togetpeople toapproach the
formalanalysisofmindwithasimilarorevenanopenepistemology.Manypeople
claim tohavenoepistemologyandmust justovercomethisoptimism.Only
thencan theyapproach theparticularepistemologyhereproposed.
Inotherwords,two jumpsare requiredof the reader, andof these the
first is themoredifficult.Weall cling fast to theillusion thatweare
capableofdirectperception,uncodedandnotmediatedbyepistemology.Thedoublehindhypothesis,
i.e., thementaldescriptionof schizophreniawas itself a contribution
toepistemology,and toevaluate itwasanexercise, if youplease, ina
sortofmetaepistemology.Epistemology itself isbecominga recursive
subject, a recursive studyof recursiveness. So
thatanybodyencountering thedoublebindhypothesishas theproblem
thatepistemologywasalreadychangedby thedoublebindhypothesis,and
thehypothesis itself thereforehas tobeapproachedwith
themodifiedwayof thinkingwhich thehypothesishadproposed.
I amsure thatnoneofus in the1950s realizedhowdifficult thiswas.
Indeed,westilldidnot realize that,ifourhypothesiswasevenpartly
correct, itmustalsobe importantasa contribution towhat
Ihavesometimescalled the "fundamentals"our stockof "necessary"
truths.
Sowhat Ihave todonow is to tell youhow, forme,
anepistemologygrewoutof ethnographicobservationandcybernetic
theory, andhow thisepistemologydeterminesnotonlydoublebind
theoryandall thethinking thathas followed in the
fieldofpsychiatrybutalsoaffectsevolutionary thinkingand
thewholebodymindproblem.
Ihave topresenthereadescriptionof anepistemology, and then Ihave
to fit thedoublebindhypothesisand thoughtsaboutevolution into
thatepistemology. Inaword, Ihave to invite the reader to come
inbackwardupon thewholebusiness.
From time to time I get complaints thatmywriting isdenseandhard
tounderstand. Itmaycomfort thosewho find thematterhard tounderstand
if I tell them that Ihavedrivenmyself, over theyears,
intoa"place"whereconventionaldualistic statementsofmindbody
relationstheconventionaldualismsofDarwinism,psychoanalysis, and
theologyareabsolutelyunintelligible tome. It isbecomingasdifficult
forme tounderstanddualistsas it is for them tounderstandme.And I
fear that it'snotgoing tobecomeeasier, exceptby thoseothersbeing
slowlyexercised in theartof thinkingalong thosepathways that
seemtome tobe "straight."My friends inNewGuinea, the Iatmul,whose
languageandculture I studied,used tosay, "Butour language is
soeasy.We just talk."
So inwritingaboutevolutionin trying towriteabout
itasecondbookhas started toappear. Itbecamenecessary to tell the
readeranumberofveryelementary (as it seemed tome) thingswhichhe
certainlyought tohave learned inhigh
schoolbutwhichAngloSaxonscertainlydonot learn inhigh
school.Thisbook,budded from the first, largerbook, I called,
tentatively,WhatEverySchoolboyKnows, an ironicquote
fromLordMacaulay.what thegoodgentlemanreally saidwas, "Every
schoolboyknowswhoimprisonedMontezumaandwhostrangledAtahualpa."
Letmestartby trying to characterizemyepistemologyas
ithasgrownundermyhands,with somenotable influence
fromotherpeople.
First, it is abranchofnaturalhistory. ItwasMcCullochwho,
forme,pulledepistemologydownoutof therealmsof abstractphilosophy
into themuchmore simple
realmofnaturalhistory.Thiswasdramaticallydone in
thepaperbyMcCullochandhis friendsentitled "What theFrog'sEyeTold
theFrog'sBrain." Inthatpaperhe showed thatanyanswer to thequestion
"Howcana frogknowanything?"wouldbedelimitedby the
sensorymachineryof the frog; and that the sensorymachineryof the
frog could, indeed,be investigatedbyexperimental andothermeans. It
turnedout that the frog couldonly receivenewsofsuchmovingobjectsas
subtended less than tendegreesat theeye.All elsewas
invisibleandproducednoimpulseson theopticnerve.From thispaper it
followed that, tounderstandhumanbeings, evenataveryelementary
level, youhad toknow the limitationsof their sensory input.
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And thatmatterbecamepartofmyexperiencewhen Iwent through
theexperimentsofAdelbertAmes, Jr.Idiscovered thatwhen I see
something,orheara sound,or taste, it ismybrain,orperhaps I
shouldbettersay "mind"it is Iwhocreatean image in themodalityof
theappropriate senseorgan.My image ismyaggregationandorganizationof
informationabout theperceivedobject, aggregatedand
integratedbymeaccording to rulesofwhich I am totallyunconscious. I
can, thanks toAmes,knowabout these rules;but Icannotbe consciousof
theprocessof theirworking.
Amesshowedme that I (andyou), looking throughoureyes,
create,outof showersof impulseson theopticnerve, imagesof
theperceived thatappear tobe threedimensional images. I "see"an
image indepth.But theway inwhich that image
isgivendepthdependsuponessentiallyEuclidianargumentswithin
thebrainandofwhich theperceiver isunconscious. It is as if
theperceiverknew thepremisesofparallaxandcreatedhis image
inaccordancewith those rules,never lettinghimselfknowatanyconscious
level thathehasapplied the rulesofparallax to the showerof
impulses. Indeed, thewholeprocess, including theshowerof impulses
itself, is a totallyunconsciousbusiness.
It seems tobeauniversal featureofhumanperception, a featureof
theunderpinningofhumanepistemology, that theperceiver
shallperceiveonly theproductofhisperceivingact,He
shallnotperceivethemeansbywhich thatproductwas created.Theproduct
itself is a sortofworkof art.
Butalongwith thisdetachednaturalhistory, inwhich1,
asanepistemology,describe the frogormyselfalongwith
thatnaturalhistorygoesa curiousandunexpectedaddition.Now
thatwehavepulledepistemologydown fromphilosophyandmade it
abranchofnaturalhistory,
itbecomesnecessarilyanormativebranchofnaturalhistory.This study
isnormative in the sense that itwill chideuswhenweignore its
stricturesand regularities.Onehadnotexpected thatnaturalhistory
couldbenormative,butindeed, theepistemologywhich I ambuilding
foryou isnormative in twoalmost synonymousways. It canbewrong,or I
canbewrongabout it.Andeitherof those twosortsof errorbecomes
itselfpartof anyepistemology inwhich
itoccurs.Anyerrorwillproposepathology. (But I am
theepistemology.)
Take the statement inapreviousparagraph,Theorganismbuilds images
indepthoutof the showerofimpulsesbrought to thebrainby
theopticnerve. It ispossible that this statement is incorrect, that
futurescientific studyof theactofperceptionmayshow that this isnot
so,or that its syntax is inappropriate.That iswhat Imeanbybeing
inerror in the firstway.And the secondwayofpossibleerrorwouldbe
tobelieve that the images that I seeare in fact thatwhich I am
lookingat, thatmymentalmap is theexternal territory.
(Butwewanderoff intophilosophy ifweask, "Is there reallya
territory?")
And then there is the fact that theepistemology I ambuilding
ismonistic.ApplyingOccam'sRazor, Idecline topayattention
tonotionswhichothersassert tobe subjectively supportedthatmindor
soul issomehowseparable frombodyand frommatter.On theotherhand, it
is absolutelynecessary,of course,thatmyepistemology shall allow for
thenaturalhistory fact that, indeed,manyhumanbeingsofmanydifferent
cultureshave thebelief that themind is indeedseparable from
thebody.Theirepistemology iseitherdualisticorpluralistic.
Inotherwords, in thisnormativenaturalhistory calledepistemology
theremustbea studyof errors, andevidently certain sortsof
errorarepredictably common. If you lookoverthewhole spanofmywork,
startingwith thenotionof schismogenesis,or startingevenwith
thepatternsinpartridge feathersandgoing from that to schismogenesis
inNewGuinea toend linkage innationalcharacter, to thedoublebindand
to thematerialwegot from theporpoises, youwill see thatup
toacertaindatemy languageof report isdualistic.
Thedoublebindworkwas formeadocumentationof the idea thatmind is
anecessaryexplanatoryprinciple.
Simplenineteenthcenturymaterialismwillnotacceptanyhierarchyof
ideasordifferences.Theworldofmindlessness, thePleroma,
containsnonames,noclasses.
It ishere that Ihavealways inmy thinking followedSamuelButler
inhis criticismsofDarwinianevolution. It always seems tome that
theDarwinianphrasingswereaneffort toexcludemind.And indeed
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thatmaterialism ingeneralwasaneffort toexcludemind.And
therefore, sincematerialism is ratherbarren, itwashardly surprising
tomeasanepistemologicalnaturalist tonote thatphysicists,
fromWilliamCrookesonward,havebeenprone togo tomediumsandother
tricksters.Theyneededsolace in theirmaterialism.
But thematterwasalwaysdifficult. I couldnot tolerate
thedualismseriously, andyet Iknew that thenarrowmaterialistic
statementwasagrossoversimplificationof thebiologicalworld.The
solutioncamewhen Iwaspreparing theKorzybskiLecture,when I suddenly
realized thatof course thebridgebetweenmapand territory
isdifference. It isonlynewsofdifference that canget from the
territory to themap, andthis fact is thebasicepistemological
statementabout the relationshipbetweenall realityout
thereandallperception inhere: that thebridgemustalwaysbe in the
formofdifference.Difference,out there,precipitates codedor
correspondingdifference in theaggregateofdifferentiationwhichwecall
theorganism'smind.And thatmind is immanent inmatter,which ispartly
inside thebodybutalsopartly"outside," e.g., in the formof records,
traces, andperceptibles.
Difference, yousee, is just sufficientlyaway from
thegrosslymaterialistic andquantitativeworld so thatmind,dealing
indifference,will alwaysbe intangible,will alwaysdeal in
intangibles, andwill alwayshavecertain limitationsbecause it
canneverencounterwith ImmanuelKant called theDinganSich, the thing
initself. It canonlyencounternewsofboundariesnewsof the
contextsofdifference.
It isworthwhile to list severalpointsabout "difference"here,
1.A difference is notmaterial and cannot be localized. If this
apple is different from that egg, the differencedoes not lie in the
apple or in the egg, or in the space between them.To locate
difference, i.e., to delimit thecontext or interface,would be to
posit aworld incapable of change. Zeno's famousarrow
couldnevermovefromaposition "here" in this context to a position
"there" in thenext context,
2.Difference cannot be placed in time. The egg canbe sent
toAlaska or canbe destroyed, and still thedifference remains.Or is
it only thenews of the difference that remains?Or is the difference
ever anythingbut news?Withamilliondifferences between the eggand
the apple, only those become information thatmakea difference.
3.Difference is not a quantity. It is dimensionless and, for
sense organs, digital. It is delimited by threshold.
4. Those differences, or news of differences,whichare
information,must not be confusedwith "energy." Thelatter is a
quantitywith physical dimensions (Mass X the square of aVelocity).
It is perfectly clear thatinformationdoes not have dimensions of
this kind*; and that information travels, usually,where
energyalready is. That is, the recipient, the organism receiving
informationor the end organor theneuronisalready energized from
itsmetabolism, so that, for example, the impulse can travel along
thenerve, notdrivenby the energy, but finding energy ready to
undergodegradationat every point of the travel. Theenergy is there
in advance of the information or the response. This
distinctionbetween informationandenergybecomes conspicuouswhenever
thatwhichdoes not happen triggers response in an organism.
Icommonly tellmy classes that if they don't flu] in their income
tax forms the InternalRevenuepeoplewillrespond to the difference
between the formswhich they don't fill in and the formswhich
theymight havefilled in.Or your aunt, if youdon'twrite her a
letter,will respond to the difference between the letter
youdonotwrite and the letter youmight havewritten. A tick on the
twig of a treewaits for the smell of butyricacid thatwouldmean
"mammal in theneighborhood."Whenhe smells the butyric acid, hewill
fall from thetree.But if he stays long enoughon the tree and there
is no butyric acid, hewill fall from the tree anywayandgo to
climbupanother one.He can respond to the "fact" that somethingdoes
not happen.
(*But, of course, a difference in energy (not itself of the
dimensions of energy) cangenerate news ofdifference.)
5. Last in regard to information, and the identity between
informationandnews of difference, Iwant to givea sort of special
honor toGustav Fechner,who in the 1840s got awhiff of this
enormously powerful idea. Itdrovehimalmostmad, but he is still
rememberedandhis name is still carried in theWeberFechner
Law.Hemust have beenan extraordinarily giftedman, anda very strange
one.
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Tocontinuemysketchof theepistemology thatgrewoutofmywork,
thenextpoint is recursiveness.Herethere seem tobe twospeciesof
recursiveness,of somewhatdifferentnature,ofwhich the first
goesbacktoNorbertWienerand iswellknown, the "feedback" that
isperhaps thebestknown featureof thewholecybernetic
syndrome.Thepoint is that selfcorrectiveandquasipurposive
systemsnecessarilyandalwayshave the characteristic that causal
trainswithin the systemare themselves circular. Suchcausal
trains,when independentlyenergized, areeither selfcorrectiveor
runawaysystems. In thewiderepistemology, itseems that,necessarily,
a causal traineither in somesensediesoutas it spreads through
theuniverse,orreturns to thepoint fromwhich it started. In the
first case there isnoquestionof its survival. In thesecondcase,by
returning to theplace fromwhich it started, a subsystem
isestablishedwhich, forgreateror less lengthof time,willnecessarily
survive.
Thesecond typeof
recursivenesshasbeenproposedbyVarelaandMaturana.Thesemathematiciansdiscuss
the case inwhich somepropertyof awhole is fedback into the
system,producinga somewhatdifferent typeof recursiveness,
forwhichVarelahasworkedout the formalisms.We live inauniverse
inwhichcausal trainsendure, survive through time,only if theyare
recursive.They "survive"i.e., literallyliveupon
themselvesandsomesurvive longer thanothers.
Ifourexplanationsorourunderstandingof theuniverse is in
somesense tomatch thatuniverse,ormodelit, and if theuniverse is
recursive, thenourexplanationsandour logicsmustalsobe
fundamentallyrecursive.
And finally there is the somewhatdisputedareaof "levels."Forme
thedoublebind, amongother things, asaphenomenonofnaturalhistory, is
strongevidence that, at least in
thenaturalhistoryaspectsofepistemology,weencounterphenomena
thataregeneratedbyorganismswhoseepistemology is, forbetteror
forworse, structured inhierarchic form. It seems tomevery
clearandevenexpectable thatendorganscan
receiveonlynewsofdifference.Each
receivesdifferenceandcreatesnewsofdifference; and,of
course,thisproposes thepossibilityofdifferencesbetweendifferences,
anddifferences thataredifferentlyeffectiveordifferentlymeaningful
according to thenetworkwithinwhich theyexist.This is
thepathtowardanepistemologyofgestaltpsychology, and this
clumpingofnewsofdifferencebecomesespeciallytrueof themindwhen it,
in its characteristicnaturalhistory, evolves languageand faces the
circumstancethat thename isnot the thingnamed,and thenameof thename
isnot thename.This is thearea inwhichI'veworkedvery considerably in
constructingahypotheticalhierarchyof speciesof learning.
These four components, then, giveyou thebeginningsof a sketchof
anepistemology:
1. Thatmessage events are activatedby difference.
2. That information travels in pathways and systems that are
collaterally energized (with a few exceptionswhere the energy
itself in some form, perhaps a light, a temperature, or amotion, is
the travelinginformation). The separation of energy ismade clear in
a very largenumber of eases inwhich the differenceis fundamentally
a difference between zeroandone. In such eases, "zeronotone" canbe
themessage,whichdiffers from "onenotzero."
3. A special soft of holism is generatedby feedbackand
recursiveness.
4. Thatmind operateswith hierarchies andnetworks ofdifference to
create gestalten.
Iwant tomakeclear that thereareanumberofvery important
statements thatarenotmade in thissketchof
anepistemologyandwhoseabsence is an important characteristic. I
saidabove that, as I see itandbelieve it,
theuniverseandanydescriptionof it ismonistic; and thiswould implya
certain continuity
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of theentireworldof information.But there is avery strong
tendency inWestern thinking (perhaps inallhuman thinking) to
thinkand talkas if theworldweremadeupof separableparts.
Allpeoplesof theworld, Ibelieve, certainlyall
existingpeoples,have something like languageand, so faras I
canunderstand the talkof linguists, it seems thatall
languagesdependuponaparticulaterepresentationof theuniverse.All
languageshave something likenounsandverbs,
isolatingobjects,entities, events, andabstractions.
Inwhateverwayyouphrase it, "difference"will
alwaysproposedelimitationsandboundaries. Ifourmeansofdescribing
theworldarisesoutofnotionsofdifference (orwhatG.
SpencerBrown'sLawsofFormcalls "distinction"and "indication"),
thenourpictureof theuniversewillnecessarilybeparticulate.
Itbecomesanactof faith todistrust languageand tobelieve
inmonism.Ofnecessityweshall still splitourdescriptionswhenwe
talkabout theuniverse.But theremaybebetterandworsewaysofdoing this
splittingof theuniverse intonameableparts.
Finally, letme try togiveyouan ideaofwhat it felt like,orwhat
sortofdifference itmade, forme toviewtheworld in termsof
theepistemology that Ihavedescribed toyou, insteadofviewing it as
Iused toandas Ibelievemostpeoplealwaysdo.
Firstof all, letmestresswhathappenswhenonebecomesaware that
there ismuch that isourowncontribution toourownperception.Of course
I amnomoreawareof theprocessesofmyownperceptionthananybodyelse
is.But I amaware that thereare suchprocesses, and
thisawarenessmeans thatwhen Ilookout throughmyeyesandsee the
redwoodsor theyellow floweringacaciaofCalifornia roadsides, Iknow
that I amdoingall sortsof things tomypercept inorder tomakesenseof
thatpercept.Of course Ialwaysdid this, andeverybodydoes
it.Weworkhard tomakesense, according toourepistemology,of
theworldwhichwe thinkwesee.
Whoever createsan imageof anobjectdoes so indepth,usingvarious
cues for that creation, as Ihavealreadysaid indiscussing
theAmesexperiments.Butmostpeoplearenotaware that theydo this,
andasyoubecomeaware thatyouaredoing it, youbecome ina
curiouswaymuchcloser to theworldaroundyou.Theword
"objective"becomes,of course,quitequietlyobsolete; andat the same
time theword"subjective,"whichnormally confines "you"withinyour
skin,disappearsaswell. It is, I think, thedebunkingof theobjective
that is the important change.Theworld isno longer "out there"
inquite thesameway that itused to seem tobe.
Withoutbeing fully consciousor thinkingabout it all the time, I
still knowall the time thatmy imagesespecially
thevisual,butalsoauditory, gustatory,pain, and fatigue1know the
imagesare "mine"andthat I amresponsible for these images
inaquitepeculiarway. It is as if theyareall in
somedegreehallucinated, as indeed theypartlyare.The showerof
impulses coming inover theopticnerve
surelycontainsnopicture.Thepicture is tobedeveloped, tobe
created,by the intertwiningof all theseneuralmessages.And thebrain
that cando thismustbepretty smart.
It'smybrain.Buteverybody'sbrainanymammalianbraincando it, I
guess.
Ihave theuseof the information that thatwhich I see, the
images,or thatwhich I feel aspain, theprickofapin,or theacheof a
tiredmusclefor these, too, are images created in their
respectivemodesthatallthis isneitherobjective truthnor is it
allhallucination.There is a combiningormarriagebetweenanobjectivity
that ispassive to theoutsideworldanda creative
subjectivity,neitherpure solipsismnor itsopposite.
Consider foramoment thephrase, theoppositeof solipsism. In
solipsism,youareultimately isolatedandalone, isolatedby thepremise
"Imake it allup."Butat theotherextreme, theoppositeof
solipsism,youwouldcease toexist,becomingnothingbutametaphoric
featherblownby thewindsof external "reality."(But in that region
therearenometaphors!)Somewherebetween these two isa
regionwhereyouarepartlyblownby thewindsof realityandpartlyanartist
creatinga compositeoutof the innerandouterevents.
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Asmoke ring is, literallyandetymologically, introverted. It is
endlessly turningupon itself, a torus, adoughnut, spinningon
theaxisof the circular cylinder that is thedoughnut.And this
turningupon itsowninturnedaxis iswhatgives separableexistence to
the smoke ring. It is, afterall,madeofnothingbutairmarkedwitha
little smoke. It isof the samesubstanceas its "environment."But
ithasdurationandlocationanda certaindegreeof separationbyvirtueof
its inturnedmotion. Ina sense, the smoke
ringstandsasaveryprimitive,oversimplifiedparadigm forall recursive
systems that contain thebeginningsofselfreference,or, shallwesay,
selfhood.
But if youaskme, "Doyou feel likea smoke ringall the time?"of
coursemyanswer isno.Onlyatverybriefmoments, in flashesof awareness,
am I that realistic.Mostof the time I still see theworld, feel it,
theway I alwaysdid.Onlyat certainmomentsam I awareofmyown
introversion.But theseareenlighteningmoments thatdemonstrate the
irrelevanceof intervening states.
Andas I try to tell youabout this, lines fromRobertBrowning's
"Grammarian'sFuneral"keepcoming tomind.
Yea, this in himwas the peculiar grace . . .That before livinghe
learnedhow to live.
Oragain,
He settledHoti's businesslet it be!Properly basedOunGaveus the
doctrine of the encliticDe,Dead from thewaist down.
Andagain, there is themisquotation that is going the rounds
today,
Aman's reach should exceedhis grasp,Orwhat's ameta for?
I'mafraid thisAmericangenerationhasmostly forgotten
"TheGrammarian'sFuneral"with its strangecombinationof
aweandcontempt.
Imagine, foramoment, that
thegrammarianwasneitheranadventurousexplorer,breaking through
intorealmspreviouslyunexplored,noran intellectual,withdrawn
fromwarmhumanity intoa coldbut saferealm. Imagine
thathewasneitherof these,butmerelyahumanbeing
rediscoveringwhateveryotherhumanbeingandperhapseverydogalways
instinctivelyandunconsciouslyknew: that
thedualismsofmindandbody,ofmindandmatter, andofGodandworldareall
somehow fakedup.Hewouldbe terriblyalone.Hemight invent something
like theepistemology Ihavebeen trying todescribe, emerging from
therepressedstate,whichFreudcalled "latency,"
intoamoreorlessdistorted rediscoveryof
thatwhichhadbeenhidden.Perhapsall explorationof theworldof ideas
isonlya searching fora rediscovery, andperhaps it is such
rediscoveryof the latent thatdefinesusas "human," "conscious," and
"twiceborn."Butif thisbe so, thenweallmust sometimeshearSt.Paul's
"voice"echoingdown theages: "It ishard for theetokickagainst
thepricks."
I amsuggesting toyou thatall themultiple insults,
thedoublebindsand invasions thatweall experience
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in life, the impact (tousean
inappropriatephysicalword)wherebyexperiencecorruptsourepistemology,challenging
the coreofourexistence, and therebyseducingus intoa false cultof
theegowhat I amsuggesting is that
theprocesswherebydoublebindsandother traumas teachusa
falseepistemology isalreadywell advanced
inmostoccidentalsandperhapsmostorientals, and that
thosewhomwecall"schizophrenics"are those
inwhomtheendlesskickingagainst theprickshasbecome intolerable.
GREGORY
CURRICULUMVITAEGregoryBateson
BornMay9,1904,Grantchester,England,
sonofWilliamBateson,F.R.S.NaturalizedU.S.
citizenFebruary7,1956.
191721Student,Charterhouse,England.
192226CambridgeUniversity.EntranceScholarSt.
John'sCollege,1922,FoundationScholar,1924;NaturalScienceTripos,
first classhonors,1924.AnthropologistTripos, first
classhonors,1926.B.A.,1925,NaturalScience.MA.,1930Anthropology.
192729AnthonyWilkinStudentofCambridgeUniversity.Theperiodof this
studentshipwas spent inanthropological fieldwork
inNewBritainandNewGuinea.
193137FellowofSt. John'sCollege,Cambridge.193133,Anthropological
fieldwork,NewGuinea, financed jointlybyFellowshipandby
theRoyalSociety.1934,Visit to
theUnitedStates.LecturedatColumbiaandChicago.1936,MarriedMargaretMead
(divorced,1950).Onedaughter.193638,Anthropological
fieldwork,Bali.
193839Anthropological fieldwork,NewGuinea.
1939Brief fieldwork,Bali.
1940Entered theUnitedStatesasa resident.
1941Filmanalysiswith theMuseumofModernArt,NewYorkCity.
194245OfficeofStrategicServicesof theU.S.Government.Overseas
inCeylon, India,Burma,andChina.
194647VisitingProfessor,NewSchool forSocialResearch,NewYork.
194748VisitingProfessor,HarvardUniversity,Cambridge,Massachusetts.
1947
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GuggenheimFellow.
194849UniversityofCaliforniaMedicalSchool.ResearchAssociatewithDr.
JurgenRuesch.
1949todateEthnologist
atVeteran'sAdministrationHospital,PaloAlto,California.Engaged in
teachingand researchontheborderline fieldsof
anthropology,psychiatry, andcybernetics.
1951todateParttimeVisitingProfessor, StanfordUniversity, in
theDepartmentofAnthropology.
195254Director,ResearchProjecton theRoleof
theParadoxesofAbstraction inCommunication,underagrantfrom
theRockefellerFoundation.
195459Director,ResearchProjectonSchizophrenicCommunication,underagrant
from the JosiahMacy, Jr.,Foundation.
195962Principal Investigator,Research
inFamilyPsychotherapy,underagrant from theFoundation'sFund
forResearch
inPsychiatry.ParttimeProfessor,CaliforniaSchoolofFineArts,
SanFrancisco,California.
1961FriedaFrommReichmannAward for research in schizophrenia.
196364AssociateDirector,CommunicationResearch Institute,
St.Thomas,U.S.Virgin Islands.
1964CareerDevelopmentAward,National InstituteofMentalHealth.
1965AssociateDirector forResearch,Oceanic
Institute,Waimanalo,Hawaii.
1972VisitingProfessor,UniversityofCaliforniaatSantaCrux,
SantaCruz,California.
1976Member,BoardofRegents,UniversityofCalifornia.
BIBLIOGRAPHYof theWorksofGregoryBateson
AngelsFear:TowardsanEpistemologyof
theSacred.GregoryBateson&MaryCatherineBateson.NewYork:Bantam,1988.
BalineseCharacter:APhotographicAnalysis. SpecialPublicationsof
theNewYorkAcademyofSciences,vol.2.NewYork:NewYorkAcademyofSciences,1942.WithMargaretMead.
Communication:TheSocialMatrixofPsychiatry.NewYork:W.W.Norton,1951.With
JurgenRuesch.
MindandNature:ANecessaryUnity.NewYork:BantamBooks,1980;HamptonPress,2002.
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Naven:ASurveyof theProblemsSuggestedbyaCompositePictureof
theCultureofaNewGuineaTribeDrawn fromThreePointsofView.
Cambridge:CambridgeUniv.Press,1936.2ded.,with
"Epilogue1958."Stanford:StanfordUniv.Press,1965.
Perceval'sNarrative:APatient'sAccountofHisPsychosis, 18301832,
by JohnPerceval.Editedwithan IntroductionbyGregoryBateson.
Stanford:StanfordUniv.Press,1961.
ASacredUnity:FurtherSteps
toanEcologyofMind.NewYork:HarperCollinsPublishers,1991.
Steps toAnEcologyofMind:CollectedEssays
inAnthropology,Psychiatry,Evolution,andEpistemology.NewYork:BallantineBooks,1972;UniversityofChicagoPress,2000.
BIBLIOGRAPHYofSelectedWorksaboutGregoryBateson
AboutBateson.Editedby
JohnBrockmanwithanAfterwordbyGregoryBateson.NewYork:E.P.Dutton,1977.
OurOwnMetaphor:APersonalAccountofaConferenceon
theEffectsofConsciousPurposeonHumanAdaptation.ByMaryCatherineBateson.NewYork:HarperCollins,1972;HamptonPress,2004.
GregoryBateson:TheLegacyofaScientist.
ByDavidLipset,Boston:BeaconPress,1982.
WithaDaughter'sEye:AMemoirofMargaretMeadandGregoryBateson,
byMaryCatherineBateson.NewYork:HarperCollins,1984/2001.
BeyondEdge
GregoryBateson:The Institute for InterculturalStudies
GreogoryBateson@100:MutipleViewsof theWorld
PeopleMentions:MaryCatherineBateson
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