Movatterモバイル変換
[0]ホーム
 | Bateson on Adaptation |
‘If we are to compute the probability of survival fora given organism which at this moment is prospering in a given environment,we must include in our computation some factor which shall represent theability of the organism to survive under change and possibly adverse conditions.But we do not know what changes or what adverse difficulties the organismshould be prepared for.’
| Bateson on Caprice |
The word ‘caprice’ is used by Bateson to describe thetricks of Nature. It applies to the competitive environment of commercialenterprises, as well as other classes of system discussed on this website.An enterprise is ‘encouraged’ to rely on some characteristic of the competitiveenvironment, and then the rules of the game are changed. For example, asthe result of some unanticipated political activity by a competitor. Thisis ‘not fair’.
| Bateson on Change |
Bateson writes: ‘By change I mean a ceasing to be true of some littlechip or big chunk of descriptive material. … I started to study changeon the assumption that there was something called "not change", and I arrivedin a world in which the only thing that is ever reported to me is change,which either goes on independently of me or is created by my movement -change in relationship to me.’
Thus change is a property of descriptions rather than of any underlyingreality. Other concepts, such as adaptability and flexibility are definedin terms of change. Does this mean that flexibility is subjective? Whatdoes this question mean?
| Bateson on Communication and Metacommunication |
For ten years (1952-1962), Bateson was director of a wide-rangingresearch project on communication, paying particular attention to logicalparadoxes and Russell's Theory of Types. Bateson and his associates pioneeredthe concept of metacommunication - something that means different (oftencontradictory) things at different levels. Metacommunication is a characteristicfeature of complex systems.
| Modes of communication | ventriloquism, humour, ... |
| Communication systems | animal training, film, family systems, ... |
| Modes of mental disorder | schizophrenia, neurosis, ... |
| Types of therapy | hypnosis, psychotherapy, family therapy, ... |
Among other things, this project established the double-bind theoryof schizophrenia. It also laid much of the groundwork for NeuroLinguisticProgramming (NLP).
| Bateson on Evolution |
Darwinian evolution is often expressed as thesurvival of the fittest.But as Bateson pointed out, it is more accurate to speak of thesurvivalof the fit. This phrase is deliberately ambiguous: it could mean eitherthe survival of fit individuals and species, or the survival of the fitnessrelationship between the entity and its environment - in other words, itis the fitness relationship itself that is preserved, while the speciesitself may change almost beyond recognition.
| Bateson on Information |
Bateson defines information as "a difference that makes a difference".Hold your hand perfectly still, palm upwards and resting comfortablyon a table. With your other hand, drop a small coin into the palm. Youwill feel the impact, and if the coin is cold, you will feel the coldnessof the metal. Soon however, you will feel nothing. The nerve cells don'tbother repeating themselves. They will only report to the brain when somethingchanges. Information is difference.
A lizard hunting insects operates on the same principle. The lizard'seye only reports movement to the lizard's brain. If the hunted insect settleson a leaf, the lizard literally cannot see it. But the moment the insectstarts to move, whop, the lizard can see it again, and the tongue flickersout and catches it.
But there are differences and differences. Information is differencethat makes a difference. You were probably aware, as you dropped the coininto your palm, your eyes told you automatically, without your brain evenasking, what the value of the coin was; but you were probably not awarewhat date it was minted. This is because (unless you are a numismatist)the value of the coin makes a difference to you whereas its date doesn't.
What is it that makes a difference to a lizard, to a numismatist, toyou? Surely not the same things. What is information for the lizard isnot information for you, and what is information for you is not informationfor the lizard.
This is why theperspectiveof information is important. Perspectivedefineswhat counts as information at all, perspective definestowhom the information makes a difference.
| Bateson on Schismogenesis |
Bateson definition: "A process of differentiation in the norms of individualbehaviour resulting from cumulative interaction between individuals".Therefore a progressive loss of homogeneity or cohesion, a fragmentation.
| Bateson on Being Uptight |
Flexibility is achieved not by keeping your options open,but by making decisions. Keeping your options open is a form of neurosisand leads to paralysis. Bateson calls this a narrowly homeostatic system,rigidly indecisive, and identifes this as a characteristic of schizophrenicfamilies. Meanwhile, Lacan calls it repetition or Wiederholungszwang.
| Mary Catherine Bateson |
Daughter of Gregory Bateson and Margaret Mead. Collaborated with herfather on some of his books, and is a significant writer on her own account.
Like many women, and an increasing number of men, herlife was disrupted by forces outside her control - what her father callsCaprice. Her bookComposing a Life puts a positive spin on this, and describeshow rich her life has been in consequence. Contains many wise words onCreativityand Improvisation.
In an environment wheretechnologicalprogress is expected to succeed magically in resolving all the world'stroubles, it is of course bound to fall short of these expectations. Thustechnology is like the three wishes in the fairy stories that have unforeseenand unwanted effects. This is an aspect of what we callDemandingSolutions.Trust and Security "Can the commons existwithout common decency & common sense?"
| Jay Haley |
Associate of Gregory Bateson andMiltonErikson.
| |
| Jay Haley, Uncommon Therapy:The psychiatric techniques of MiltonH Erikson MD (2nd ed, New York: W.W.Norton, 1986) |
 | Reframing |
| Paul Watzlawick |
Associate of Gregory Bateson, and an popular writer on change.Notions
[Functional Commissurotomy][Unsolved Remnant]
Books
| Paul Watzlawick, The Language of Change (New York, Basic Books, 1978) |   |
| Paul Watzlawick, Ultra-Solutions: How to Fail most successfully (NewYork, W.W. Norton, 1988) | |
[8]ページ先頭