New Books in Systems and Cybernetics Anthony Chaney, “Runaway: Gregory Bateson, the Double Bind, and the Rise of Ecological Consciousness” (UNC Press, 2017)
13 snips
Nov 1, 2017 AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Information As Cause In Life Sciences
- Bateson reframed life sciences by making information, not force, the central causal concept.
- He applied cybernetics and communication theory to biology to challenge mechanistic Darwinism.
Double Bind As Relational Theory
- The double bind reframes schizophrenia as a pathological pattern in family communication, not solely a biological disease.
- Bateson studied paradoxical messages within relational fields to explain schizophrenic symptoms.
From Therapy Films To Dolphins
- Bateson's team filmed hours of family therapy to find communication patterns linked to schizophrenia.
- Overwhelmed by the data, Bateson shifted to observing octopi and later dolphins for simpler communicative systems.