A major difficulty is that the answer to the Riddle of the Sphinx is partly a product of the answers that we already have given to the riddle in its various forms.

Quote by Gregory Bateson

Topics: Gregory Bateson Quotes

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...

It is of first-class importance that our answer to the Riddle of the Sphinx should...

It is of first-class importance that our answer to the Riddle of the Sphinx should...

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.

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.

Number is different from quantity.

Number is different from quantity.

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...

All experience is subjective.

All experience is subjective.

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...

It is impossible, in principle, to explain any pattern by invoking a single quantity.

It is impossible, in principle, to explain any pattern by invoking a single quantity.

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...

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...

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...

It is to the Riddle of the Sphinx that I have devoted fifty years of...

It is to the Riddle of the Sphinx that I have devoted fifty years of...

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.

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...

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...

Rather, for all objects and experiences, there is a quantity that has optimum value. Above...

Rather, for all objects and experiences, there is a quantity that has optimum value. Above...

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.

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.

There is a strong tendency in explanatory prose to invoke quantities of tension, energy, and...

There is a strong tendency in explanatory prose to invoke quantities of tension, energy, and...