Gregory Bateson
Gregory Bateson (9 May 1904 – 4 July 1980) was an English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician, and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. His writings include Steps to an Ecology of Mind (1972) and Mind and Nature (1979).
Gregory Bateson | |
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Rudolph Arnheim (L) and Bateson (R) speaking at the American Federation of Arts 48th Annual Convention, 1957 Apr 6 / Eliot Elisofon, photographer American Federation of Arts records, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution | |
| Born | 9 May 1904 Grantchester, England |
| Died | 4 July 1980 (aged 76) San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Known for | Double bind, ecology of mind, deuterolearning, schismogenesis |
| Spouses | Margaret Mead
(m. 1936; div. 1950)Elizabeth Sumner
(m. 1951; div. 1957)Lois Cammack
(m. 1961) |
| Children | 5, including Mary C. Bateson |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Anthropology, social sciences, linguistics, cybernetics, systems theory |
| Part of a series on |
| Anthropology |
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In Palo Alto, California, Bateson and in these days his non-colleagues developed the double-bind theory of schizophrenia.
Bateson's interest in systems theory forms a thread running through his work. He was one of the original members of the core group of the Macy conferences in Cybernetics (1941–1960), and the later set on Group Processes (1954–1960), where he represented the social and behavioral sciences. He was interested in the relationship of these fields to epistemology. His association with the editor and author Stewart Brand helped widen his influence.