In the nature of the case, an explorer can never know what he is exploring until it has been explored. Gregory Bateson More Quotes by Gregory Bateson More Quotes From Gregory Bateson Some tools of thought are so blunt that they are almost useless; others are so sharp that they are dangerous. But the wise man will have the use of both kinds. Gregory Bateson tools wise men It is, I claim, nonsense to say that it does not matter which individual man acted as the nucleus for the change. It is precisely this that makes history unpredictable into the future. Gregory Bateson nucleus doe men The world is indeed only a small tide pool; disturb one part and the rest is threatened. Gregory Bateson pool tides world Schizophrenia --its nature, etiology, and the kind of therapy to use for it--remains one of the most puzzling of the mental illnesses. The theory of schizophrenia presented here is based on communications analysis, and specifically on the Theory of Logical Types. From this theory and from observations of schizophrenic patients is derived a description, and the necessary conditions for, a situation called the "double bind"--a situation in which no matter what a person does, he "can't win." It is hypothesized that a person caught in the double bind may develop schizophrenic symptoms Gregory Bateson communication winning doe To think straight, it is advisable to expect all qualities and attributes, adjectives, and so on to refer to at least two sets of interactions in time. Gregory Bateson quality two thinking It is to the Riddle of the Sphinx that I have devoted fifty years of professional life as an anthropologist. Gregory Bateson sphinx fifty years Those who lack all idea that it is possible to be wrong can learn nothing except know-how. Gregory Bateson know-how knows ideas In no system which shows mental characteristics can any part have unilateral control over the whole. In other words, the mental characteristics of the system are imminent, not in some part, but in the system as a whole. Gregory Bateson characteristics show-me shows Numbers are the product of counting. Quantities are the product of measurement. This means that numbers can conceivably be accurate because there is a discontinuity between each integer and the next. Between two and three there is a jump. In the case of quantity, there is no such jump; and because jump is missing in the world of quantity, it is impossible for any quantity to be exact. You can have exactly three tomatoes. You can never have exactly three gallons of water. Always quantity is approximate. Gregory Bateson numbers two mean No organism can afford to be conscious of matters with which it could deal at unconscious levels. Broadly, we can afford to sink those sorts of knowledge which continue to be true regardless of changes in the environment, but we must maintain in an accessible place all those controls of behavior which must be modified for every instance. The economics of the system, in fact, pushes organisms toward sinking into the unconscious those generalities of relationship which remain permanently true and toward keeping within the conscious the pragmatic of particular instances. Gregory Bateson levels matter facts After mastery comes artistry and not before. Gregory Bateson artistry mastery The map is not the territory (coined by Alfred Korzybski), and the name is not the thing named. Gregory Bateson maps territory names All experience is subjective. Gregory Bateson subjectivity subjective Things have to be done fast in America , and therefore therapy has to be brief. Gregory Bateson therapy done america Science probes; it does not prove. Gregory Bateson prove doe Life and 'Mind' are systemic processes. Gregory Bateson process mind There are many matters and many circumstances in which consciousness is undesirable and silence is golden, so that secrecy can be used as a marker to tell us that we are approaching the holy. Gregory Bateson music silence listening Prediction can never be absolutely valid and therefore science can never prove some generalization or even test a single descriptive statement and in that way arrive at final truth. Gregory Bateson finals tests way It is of first-class importance that our answer to the Riddle of the Sphinx should be in step with how we conduct our civilisation, and this should in turn be in step with the actual workings of living systems. Gregory Bateson sphinx answers class Science, like art, religion, commerce, warfare, and even sleep, is based on presuppositions. It differs, however, from most other branches of human activity in that not only are the pathways of scientific thought determined by the presuppositions of the scientists but their goals are the testing and revision of old presuppositions and the creation of new. Gregory Bateson goal sleep art