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.

Quote by Gregory Bateson

Topics: Gregory Bateson Quotes

Language commonly stresses only one side of any interaction.

Language commonly stresses only one side of any interaction.

Number is different from quantity.

Number is different from quantity.

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.

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 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.

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.

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...