Rebecca Conforto
Reflection #1
Marilyn Price’s “Where the Sea Meets the Land”
• The patterns of nature
• Bateson liked to answer a question with a question not an answer
• Common patterns link natural systems to human systems
• Relationships and boundaries are always changing
• We are part of something much bigger than ourselves
• Combined many levels of mind to generate true learning
Nora Bateson’s “Slippery Rigor”
• Looking at things with alternate angles
• Gregory Bateson had infinite ways to examine everything
• Never got stuck down linear line of thinking
• Not what he said, but how he approached everything was key
• How does is work?
• What are its relationships?
• How does it think? (Ecology of the mind)
• The nature of our curiosity effects the nature of our findings
What parts of these articles resonate with you and your viewing of the film,” An Ecology of the Mind”? How so?
• Learning never stops
• Acknowledge your differences in thought
• Ecology: A totality of the pattern of relationship between something and its environment
• There is a huge ecological component in our mental processes
• “If the world is made of relationships, what are relationships made of?”
• When solving problems look to how nature finds a solution
• Shift in perspective is where change comes from!
• “You might think your thinking your own thought, but you are thinking your cultures thoughts.”
• How nature works vs. the way people think = problems
M.C. Bateson’s “Composing a Life Story”
• Gender differences in compartmentalizing life
• The art of composition is key
• You can create different versions of your life
• Context needs to be considered when explaining something
• Discontinuities are not a bad thing
• “You cannot adjust to change unless you recognize some analogy between your old situation and your new situation.”
• Relationships between ideas
• A continuous life story is often a cultural creation, not a reflection of life at is it really lived
What parts of this film had an impact on you and your thinking? How so?
Epistemology is not a word I was familiar with but the meaning is something I have always been curious about. As I said in my story about my life, I look at every instance through many lenses. Although this may not give me complete clarity of a situation, it allows me to have a unique perception which can ultimately lead to a new type of understanding. I feel as though this is what Bateson hoped for-to start a revolution of original thinking. The film encouraged me to continue thinking about how and why things relate and interact with each other, but to do so in a non-linear way.