Gregory Bateson's Ecology of Mind
Wed, 08 Feb 2012
I've been interested in the ideas and writings of Gregory Bateson for a while. He was a pioneering systems thinker who contributed to many disciplines from anthropology, through cybernetics to cognitive science and semiotics (although I imagine he wouldn't think of these as different "disciplines" as such).
In this film, named "An Ecology of Mind" after one of Gregory Bateson's best known books, Bateson's daughter Nora presents a portrait of the man and his work. It contains many interviews with people influenced by his ideas, plus plenty of archive footage of Gregory Bateson from his lectures, as well as home movies. Fritjof Capra, who I have spent time with at Schumacher College, makes a number of insightful contributions.
It makes for fascinating viewing. It certainly helps you understand what Gregory Bateson's ideas were about, but just as interesting is the backdrop of his relationship with daughter Nora Bateson. She clearly adored him, although he was aged 64 at the time of her birth and died when she was only 12.
Gregory Bateson's writings can be hard to make sense of (at least by me!) and this film makes for a great introduction to his work. The film is currently on tour around the UK, although I purchased it from Amazon in Germany. See www.anecologyofmind.com for more information.
