Mind and Nature: A Necessary UnityDutton, 1979 - 238 pagina's "This is the major life's work of one of the great thinkers of our time. Gregory Bateson's contributions to anthropology, biology, psychiatry, and other social sciences have won him international fame. Here he does no less than provide a new way of thinking about the world around us. We must, he says, learn to 'think as Nature thinks,' if we are to learn to live in harmony on the planet. And insofar as 'we are a mental process, to that same extent we must expect the natural world to show similar characteristics of mentality.' Thus the startling theme of this book is that biological evolution is a mental process. Occidental quantitative thinking (the kind of thought that too often results in the philosophy of 'bigger is better') is actually unnatural, or contrary to the natural order; we must move away from this thinking and begin to delve deeply into the actual patterns of the world around us. Around these themes Bateson has woven one of the most fascinating, challenging, and truly important discussions yet published on the human condition. A brilliant teacher, Bateson has filled his book with intriguing examples from the world of nature he knows so well. A crab's claw becomes a lesson in Nature's symmetry, an elephant's trunk a clue to the roles that context and function play in the natural order. What pattern, asks Bateson, connects the crab to the lobster and the orchid to the primrose--and all the four of them to me? Indeed, this book is a lively exploration of the pattern that connects all the living beings of our planet."--front flap. |
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Pagina 108
... switch , which engineers at times call a gate or relay . What goes through is energized from a source that is different from the energy source which opens the gate . At first thought a " switch " is a small contraption on the wall which ...
... switch , which engineers at times call a gate or relay . What goes through is energized from a source that is different from the energy source which opens the gate . At first thought a " switch " is a small contraption on the wall which ...
Pagina 109
... switch is off , it does not exist from the point of view of the circuit . It is nothing , a gap between two con- ductors which , themselves exist only as conductors when the switch is on . In other words , the switch is not except at ...
... switch is off , it does not exist from the point of view of the circuit . It is nothing , a gap between two con- ductors which , themselves exist only as conductors when the switch is on . In other words , the switch is not except at ...
Pagina 136
... switch is at shoulder height . Let us suppose that I am right about the switch but wrong about my hand . In the search for the switch , I shall never put my hand where the switch is . It would be better if I did not " know " the ...
... switch is at shoulder height . Let us suppose that I am right about the switch but wrong about my hand . In the search for the switch , I shall never put my hand where the switch is . It would be better if I did not " know " the ...
Inhoudsopgave
Every Schoolboy Knows | 23 |
Multiple Versions of the World | 65 |
Criteria of Mental Process | 89 |
Copyright | |
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Veelvoorkomende woorden en zinsdelen
abstract action aggregate animal become behavior bilateral symmetry binocular vision biological bithorax calibration called Chapter characteristics circuit coding combined complex components consciousness context contrast crab creature criteria DAUGHTER differentiation embryology energy environment epigenesis epistemology evolution evolutionary example experience explanation fact FATHER gametes genes genetic change Gregory Bateson hierarchy homology human Iatmul ideas individual interaction internal Lamarck Lamarckian learning logical typing look matter mental process messages midwife toad mind natural selection necessary negentropy nuptial pads odd numbers partly pathways pattern which connects perception perhaps phenomena phenotype pieces precisely predict presuppositions problem propositions quantity question random relations relationship relevance schismogenesis SCHOOLBOY KNOWS sea anemone self-corrective sense organ sequence side simple somatic change sort species step stochastic processes stochastic system surely switch symmetry tautology temperature theory things thought tion variable whole words