Steps to an Ecology of Mind: Collected Essays in Anthropology, Psychiatry, Evolution, and Epistem...
Gregory Bateson was a philosopher, anthropologist, photographer, naturalist, and poet, as well as the husband and collaborator of Margaret Mead. Wi...
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reviews
Mar 10, 2010
Otter57
rated it: 
There is an awful lot in this book and it's going to take another read at some point before I can absorb a lot of it. Bateson wanders from mathematics to logic to genetics to zoology to learning theory and onto anthropology with a brief stop at the meaning of art.
Dec 29, 2010
Lucas
rated it: 
Gregory bateson is a great thinker, but not so known In my country (and in the world, i think...)
This book was my first contact with his thought. I read all the metalogues and they had a big influence on me. But I must read the essays too.
This book was my first contact with his thought. I read all the metalogues and they had a big influence on me. But I must read the essays too.
Nov 28, 2009
Bill
rated it:
My introduction to a systemic, as opposed to a strictly cybernetic way of thinking. Not too touchy-feely. Bateson's notions of information in process and double bind are central to the way I now think about the world.
Jun 25, 2010
Nan
rated it:
Bateson covers a lot of territory in this collection, examining Mind within a considerable variety of disciplines—from anthropology to psychiatry to ecology—refusing to be blinkered by the conventions and presuppositions of any of them.. Many chapters did not interest me and/or were written for a particular audience sharing a method and jargon specific to that audience. That said, reading the entire collection is perhaps necessary as a way of following the path of Bateson's intellectual explor
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Dec 10, 2008
Marco
rated it:
read to supplement never ending quest through D&G 1000 P'z_maybe read Mind and Nature first?
Sep 09, 2011
See some amazon reviews and discussions on this title: http://www.amazon.com/Steps-Ecology-Mind...
It is also availble in pdf: http://www6.ufrgs.br/horizon/files/teori...
It is also availble in pdf: http://www6.ufrgs.br/horizon/files/teori...
Jul 31, 2008
Sam
rated it:
Gregory Bateson connects up seemingly disparate research areas to explore cultural relationships. Although this is an academic read, it has much relevance to our daily lives and covers a wide expanse of topics and threads. Another attractive feature of this book is that it was written decades ago and has informed much philosophy and contemporary cultural theory. Reading this helps explain some of the madness of authors like Deleuze and Guattari.
Sep 14, 2009
Jeanine Marie
rated it:
An intellectual challenge, this autobiographical account of the different chapters (quite literally) of Dr. Gregory Bateson's life illuminates the legacy of one of the greatest systemic thinkers of the 20th century. I also liked the touching foreword by his daughter (also a great family therapist in her own right) Dr. Mary Catherine Bateson.
Jun 16, 2009
Part 1, Metalogues, between a father and daughter
If only most conversations involved this much back and forth, but it's made easier for the father because the daughter is so eager, submissive, nonthreatening on a personal level. What happens when the girl grows up and her curiosity and preening isn't so forthcoming?
If only most conversations involved this much back and forth, but it's made easier for the father because the daughter is so eager, submissive, nonthreatening on a personal level. What happens when the girl grows up and her curiosity and preening isn't so forthcoming?
Jul 01, 2008
Lowry
rated it:
I only gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 because it's a collection of Bateson's essays on many subjects, some of which I didn't feel the need to read. It enables the reader to follow the development, over time, of the ideas that Bateson (and his daughter) tried to sum up in Mind & Nature and Angels Fear.
Jul 01, 2008
Reg
rated it:
Most mind expanding book I ever read. It has it all - philosophy, cybernetics, biology, math, anthropology. Has the first meta-dialogs between Gregory Bateson and his daughter, Mary Catherine. (Bateson was once the husband of the anthropologist Margaret Mead.)
Apr 03, 2011
Maya
rated it:
This book is an intellectual challenge, I think I may have to read it a couple of times still to get everything I need from it.
Bateson is a great thinker and opens up many doors that need to be full explored.
Bateson is a great thinker and opens up many doors that need to be full explored.
Oct 28, 2008
Deemeetree
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This book very inspiring for a whole generation of psychologists (NLP uses a lot of ideas from it), philosophers (Deleuze especially), and cybernetics.
Dec 16, 2009
TK
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You will read this book 5 or 6 times and still get something new out of it. It is very dense and it will uncompress in your head until it is about to explode.
Mar 24, 2008
My first steps were taken with Bateson- a provocative and original thinker. New ideas struggling out from under the weight of old language.
Jan 22, 2008
Adrienne
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This is anthropological theory - but really exciting - and at times even entertaining. Have your dictionary at hand while reading...
Jul 14, 2008
Kathy
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Interesting and absorbing book. Incorrect and harmful discussion of the causes of schizophrenia, though.
Apr 16, 2010
Tavie
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Just realized that I never actually finished reading this book, which changed my life at age 17.
Apr 08, 2009
Denise
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I read this in grad school. It was one of those "aha" books that really enlightened.
Feb 10, 2012
Feb 05, 2012
