An Ecology of Mind (film) – UK Tour
Gregory Bateson
Now, those who know Bateson’s work will have spotted the deliberate error in the above paragraph. It is of course the central thesis of Batesonian philosophy that these are not “disparate fields” at all. Our separation of these disciplines is entirely arbitrary and ultimately quite problematic. Though as he himself acknowledged, we do have to think about things separately simply because “it’s too difficult to think of everything at once”.
It’s one of the great tragedies of our times that Bateson’s work is so unfamiliar to so many people, and that his name is barely recognised even by the generally well-educated. Those who do know Bateson’s work (not all of them of course, but a significant majority of those I’ve met or read) count him among the most important thinkers of the past few hundred years. And they lament his relative lack of influence on a culture that could sorely use some wisdom and guidance. Reading his seminal collection of papers, Steps to an Ecology of Mind is a truly revelatory experience and anyone who does so with an open mind is likely to be profoundly changed by it. He sees – clearer than most – the fundamental flaws in how humanity interacts with the world of which it is a part. He doesn’t provide a set of solutions to our problems, for he denies our problems are of the kind that can be addressed using “a set of solutions”. Rather, he identifies our “way of thinking about the world” to be the central issue. Our entire epistemology is deeply flawed and it is leading us ever closer to disaster.
A simple example of this flawed epistemology; this failure to see the vital interconnections in the world around us; can be seen by examining the current European financial crisis. On the one hand, the IMF and EU are predicting that Ireland and Greece will overcome their problems so long as they act in a particular way and follow certain instructions. They predict certain rates of economic growth which, although modest, will be enough to get us out of trouble within a certain number of years so long as we privatise state assets and implement strict budgetary controls. On the other hand, both institutions have issued warnings (IMF, EU) about impending oil / resource depletion that are, if taken at face value, absolutely guaranteed to torpedo those growth projections. In the context of charitable donations, the advice of Jesus to “let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth” (Matthew 6:3) is certainly a worthy one. Unfortunately when it comes to matters of public policy, it’s a recipe for disaster.
Anyway, enough about that. My UK readers will – I hope – be interested to discover that the recent film about Bateson’s life and work (entitled, appropriately enough, “An Ecology of Mind“) is to be screened at several locations in the month of February. I’ve not yet seen the film, dear reader, but I nonetheless recommend you attend your nearest screening. Any film about Bateson’s work is surely a must-see. It’ll certainly be a more enriching experience than Transformers 7: The Car’s A Robot!
Currently the dates announced are:
- Feb 13th, 2012 – Milton Keynes (Berrill Lecture Theatre, 7pm)
Contact: Magnus Ramage at m.ramage @ open.ac.uk or telephone 01908 659 779 - Feb 14th, 2012 – Hull (Hull University)
Contact: Gerald Midgley at G.R.Midgley @ hull.ac.uk - Feb 15th, 2012 – Manchester (Chinese Art Centre, 6pm)
Contact: David Haley at D.haley @ mmu.ac.uk or James Brady at James_gaia_project @ yahoo.co.uk - Feb 16th, 2012 – Manchester (MIRIAD, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2pm)
Address: Room 104 Geoffrey Manton Building, All Saints Campus, Oxford Road, Manchester, M15
Contact: David Haley at D.haley @ mmu.ac.uk or James Brady at James_gaia_project @ yahoo.co.uk - Feb 17th, 2012 – Glasgow (The Old Hairdressers, 7pm)
Invited panel speakers: Nora Bateson, filmmaker; Carol Craig, author of The Tears that Built the Clyde; Torsten Lauschmann, artist; Nic Green, artist and ecological activist; Alastair Macintosh, Centre for Human Ecology
Contact: Robert Thurm at galleryhair @ hotmail.co.uk or buy tickets at TicketWeb - Feb 20th, 2012 – Bradford (National Media Museum)
Address: Pictureville Bradford, West Yorkshire BD1 1NQ
Contact: Gail Simon at gailsimon @ clara.co.uk or telephone 0870 701 0200 - Feb 21st, 2012 – Bristol (Arnolfini Gallery, 7:30pm)
Address: 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol, BS1 4QA
Contact: Nick Hart-Williams (Schumacher Society) at nick @ schumacher.org.uk or buy tickets from the Schumacher Society - Feb 22nd, 2012 – Dartington (Dartington Schumacher College, 8pm – Screening and discussion)
Address: The Old Postern, Dartington, Totnes, Devon, TQ9 6EA
Contact: Inga Page (Schumacher College) at Inga.Page @ schumachercollege.org.uk, telephone 01803 865 934 / 07813 802 508, or buy tickets from Schumacher College - Feb 23rd, 2012 – Edinburgh (Edinburgh College of Art – Screening and panel)
Contact: Chris Fremantle at chris @ fremantle.org - Feb 24th, 2012 – Edinburgh (Edinburgh College of Art – Seminar / workshop with Nora Bateson)
Contact: Chris Fremantle at chris @ fremantle.org - Feb 27th, 2012 – London (Premiere) (The Old Cinema)
Invited panel speakers: Jody Boehnert (Ecological Literacy researcher, Brighton University / EcoLabs); Ranulph Glanville (Emeritus Professor, University College London / Independent academic / President of the American Society for Cybernetics); Peter Reason (Professor Emeritus, Centre for Action Research, Bath University / Ashridge Business School); Wendy Wheeler (Professor of English Literature & Cultural Inquiry, London Metropolitan Uni. / author of The Whole Creature: Complexity, Biosemiotics and the Evolution of Culture / Consulting Editor for Cybernetics and Human Knowing)
Panellist and Chair: Dr. Jon Goodbun (Sr. Lecturer, Architecture, Uni. of Westminster, RCA & UCL)
Contact: Jon Goodbun IMCC (Institute of Modern and Contemporary Culture) University of Westminster at jcgoodbun @ mac.com
Co-organisers: Wallace Heim (home @ wallaceheim.com); Kevin Power – Centre for Action Research, Ashridge Business School (kevin.power @ btinternet.com); Eva Bakkeslett (bakkesle @ online.no)
Buy tickets at Eventbrite
Very interested to read your postings about Gregory Bateson, and especially notice of the screenings of the film about him by his daughter Nora Bateson here in your blog.
I’m involved in postgraduate studies on systems thinking annd practice (Open University in UK) and learned about Bateson’s influential work through these studies. I heard many very positive comments from fellow students who saw the screening over there. Such a pity it’s not yet scheduled for Ireland.
I’m writing to you to ask how do you rate the possibility to arrange a screening of this film over here in Ireland, e.g. Dublin?
Any ideas / suggestions how such a screening could practically be arranged?
Gregory Bateson’s ideas and way of viewing the world would be worthwhile spreading also in Ireland. Surely the country and society here would have much to gain from it.
Wouldn’t it be great to find a way to arrange a viewing over here? Who could one approach perhaps in terms of an institution to host such a screening? (university? NGO? other grouping?)
thanks for your views.
Bairbre
February 19th, 2012 | 1:46pm
by Bairbre
You commit the errors of which Bateson writes:
It’s one of the great tragedies of our times that Bateson’s work is so unfamiliar to so many people, and that his name is barely recognised even by the generally well-educated. Those who do know Bateson’s work (not all of them of course, but a significant majority of those I’ve met or read) count him among the most important thinkers of the past few hundred years.
(Currently available for institutional use only, public sales begin later)
thx
JW
April 20th, 2012 | 9:17pm
by James Woodard
Hi James,
I think one of the big problems we face, collectively speaking, is that we all commit a vast number of those errors (the error of seeing the world as a myriad individual components, rather than as a single interconnected system… of applying inappropriate metaphors to all manner of situations… of seeing conscious purpose as the primary driver of behaviour – and attempting to make it so! Essentially of being trapped in a deeply flawed epistemology). I certainly never made any claim to have escaped those errors, though in my defence I like to think that I’m at least trying. And tellingly, Gregory Bateson never claimed to have escaped those errors either. If you are living your life in such an epistemologically error-free manner, then I’d be very very interested in how you are achieving it.
Having said all that, what is it about the above blog post that prompted your comment? And to what are you referring when you say “Currently available for institutional use only, public sales begin later” (the film went on general sale to the public a few months ago – though only through a German distributor thus far).
April 21st, 2012 | 10:43am
by Jim Bliss
A reflection on the essence of a prior comment and respons. Even if I do not know what Bateson was thinking, in practice, it seems obvious that he wanted to stimulate understanding and development of ways of thinking, which are more beneficial, given the needs in society (including nature).
I guess it is not one way of thinking but the combination of thoughts, that we toghether may produce, on the way towards deeper insights. I guess Bateson wanted to stimulate learning and that we toghether, as a consequence of the learning can take steps forward in a better way than today. To do so naturally takes a more profound understanding of the system and subsystems that gives our context and which context we together produce. To do so should also take a learning attitude where wi stimulate each others into successively more profound understanding, based on where we are today.
To put forward critique without the intention of producing better thinking should be against his intentions. Should it not? Perhaps I, as a swede, am not perfect in my english language, and if I would be afraid of not being perfect, I would not bring forward my thoughts. I would not even dare to ask what could be judged as stupid questions. Is that in line with the intention of Bateson´s will and thoughts.
It is also small differences in our way of communicating that makes a difference. I really appreciate the intention of this site, as I intepret it and would look forward to the thoughts of James, if he could contribute to my understanding instead of vaguely indicating “you commit the errors…”. Perhaps our way of thinking can evolve in a better way if we stimulate learning instead of hampering it by our attitude? There is the ecology of mind which is closely related to the “ecology of learning” and we toghether create the ecology of learning and it is up to us together to contribute so that it emerges in a positive way. Differences makes a difference. This is very noteable in the learning ecology that one can create in a class room or in a workshop with a management team in industry.
Thanks for letting me share my thoughts on this, to me, new website. I will go here again.
April 21st, 2012 | 6:01pm
by Stefan Book