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#systems #ecology ✱ Gregory Bateson

I suggest beginning with “Steps to an Ecology of Mind” (1972), but not reading it cover to cover initially. Instead, start with the metalogues at the beginning of the book. These are dialogues between Bateson and his daughter about fundamental concepts like “Why do things have outlines?” and “What is an instinct?” The metalogues serve as perfect entry points because they demonstrate Bateson’s unique way of thinking through their form as well as their content. The conversation style makes complex ideas more approachable, and you’ll see how Bateson builds understanding through dialogue.

After the metalogues, I’d recommend reading “Mind and Nature: A Necessary Unity” (1979). This might seem counterintuitive since it’s one of his later works, but it represents Bateson’s most refined thinking and provides a framework that helps make sense of his earlier works. It’s like having a map before exploring territory – the book lays out his core ideas about the patterns that connect mind, nature, and learning.

Once you have this foundation, here’s how I would structure a full curriculum for studying Bateson:

Phase 1: Foundational Concepts Begin with the theoretical framework through:

Phase 2: Anthropological Work Move to his groundbreaking fieldwork:

Phase 3: Communication Theory and Cybernetics Explore his contributions to understanding information and systems:

Phase 4: Ecological and Systems Thinking Dive into his environmental and systems work:

Throughout this curriculum, it’s essential to engage with supporting materials:

For Context:

For Practice:

The key to studying Bateson is not just to read his work, but to practice his way of seeing patterns and connections. As you progress through the curriculum, try to:

Remember that Bateson’s work isn’t just academic theory – it’s a way of perceiving and thinking about the world.

Visual Thinking

When Bateson encourages us to draw connection diagrams between seemingly unrelated phenomena, he’s asking us to externalize our pattern recognition process. This is fundamentally similar to Jung’s approach in the Red Book, where he used active imagination and artistic expression to make his inner psychological processes visible and tangible. Both methods share a core principle: the act of visualisation helps reveal relationships and patterns that might remain hidden if we tried to understand them through linear, verbal thinking alone.

The Rapid Visualisation technique, often used in design and engineering, shares this fundamental insight but approaches it from a different angle. While Jung was making the unconscious conscious through artistic practice, and Bateson was making systemic relationships visible through diagrams, Rapid Visualisation uses quick sketching to externalize thoughts and solve problems in real time.

Let’s examine how these three approaches share a common cognitive process:

In Bateson’s connection diagrams, we’re asked to first identify elements that seem unrelated, then actively search for patterns that might connect them. For example, you might draw connections between the way a tree grows and the way a city develops, revealing similar branching patterns of resource distribution. The act of drawing makes these abstract relationships concrete and helps us discover new patterns we hadn’t consciously noticed.

Jung’s method in the Red Book involved what he called active imagination - a process of letting images arise from the unconscious and then engaging with them through artwork and writing. He would begin with a symbol or image that emerged spontaneously, then explore its connections and meanings through detailed drawing and reflection. This is similar to Bateson’s approach, but instead of looking for external patterns, Jung was mapping internal, psychological patterns.

Rapid Visualisation shares with both methods the understanding that the act of drawing itself is a form of thinking. When an engineer quickly sketches different solutions to a problem, they’re not just recording pre-existing ideas - they’re discovering new possibilities through the act of visualisation. The “rapid” part is crucial because it bypasses our tendency to over-intellectualize and allows more intuitive connections to emerge.

The common thread linking these approaches is what we might call “visual thinking” - the recognition that some kinds of understanding can only emerge through the process of making things visible. It’s worth noting that all three methods:

  1. Embrace incompleteness - they don’t aim for perfect representations but for useful ones
  2. Use the act of creation as a discovery tool
  3. Allow for emergence - new insights often appear during the process rather than being planned in advance
  4. Bridge the gap between implicit and explicit knowledge

What makes this particularly interesting is how each method complements the others. Bateson’s systems thinking provides a framework for understanding the patterns Jung was discovering in the psyche, while Rapid Visualisation offers practical techniques that could be applied to both approaches.

For instance, you could use Rapid Visualisation techniques to quickly sketch out Bateson-style connection diagrams, allowing you to explore more possible relationships more quickly. Or you could apply Bateson’s pattern-thinking to understand the symbols that emerge during Jungian active imagination exercises.