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.

Quote by Gregory Bateson

Topics: Gregory Bateson Quotes

Logic can often be reversed, but the effect does not precede the cause.

Logic can often be reversed, but the effect does not precede the cause.

Science, like art, religion, commerce, warfare, and even sleep, is based on presuppositions.

Science, like art, religion, commerce, warfare, and even sleep, is based on presuppositions.

We do not know enough about how the present will lead into the future.

We do not know enough about how the present will lead into the future.

Money is always transitively valued. More money is supposedly always better than less money.

Money is always transitively valued. More money is supposedly always better than less money.

Members of weakly religious families get, of course, no religious training from any source outside...

Members of weakly religious families get, of course, no religious training from any source outside...

Number is different from quantity.

Number is different from quantity.

It is, I claim, nonsense to say that it does not matter which individual man...

It is, I claim, nonsense to say that it does not matter which individual man...

Every move we make in fear of the next war in fact hastens it.

Every move we make in fear of the next war in fact hastens it.

A major difficulty is that the answer to the Riddle of the Sphinx is partly...

A major difficulty is that the answer to the Riddle of the Sphinx is partly...

All experience is subjective.

All experience is subjective.

Numbers are the product of counting. Quantities are the product of measurement. This means that...

Numbers are the product of counting. Quantities are the product of measurement. This means that...

Official education was telling people almost nothing of the nature of all those things on...

Official education was telling people almost nothing of the nature of all those things on...

If we pursue this matter further, we shall be told that the stable object is...

If we pursue this matter further, we shall be told that the stable object is...

Interesting phenomena occur when two or more rhythmic patterns are combined, and these phenomena illustrate...

Interesting phenomena occur when two or more rhythmic patterns are combined, and these phenomena illustrate...

In the transmission of human culture, people always attempt to replicate, to pass on to...

In the transmission of human culture, people always attempt to replicate, to pass on to...

If a man achieves or suffers change in premises which are deeply embedded in his...

If a man achieves or suffers change in premises which are deeply embedded in his...

But epistemology is always and inevitably personal. The point of the probe is always in...

But epistemology is always and inevitably personal. The point of the probe is always in...

Logic is a poor model of cause and effect.

Logic is a poor model of cause and effect.

To think straight, it is advisable to expect all qualities and attributes, adjectives, and so...

To think straight, it is advisable to expect all qualities and attributes, adjectives, and so...

Synaptic summation is the technical term used in neurophysiology for those instances in which some...

Synaptic summation is the technical term used in neurophysiology for those instances in which some...