Join us on Wednesday October 7th
for a Double Book Launch
Sponsored by the
New York Society for General Semantics
Co-Sponsored by the
Institute of General Semantics
Registration Via the NYSGS Event Page Required
Daughter, Father and a New Way of Thinking
On Wednesday, October 7th the New York Society for General Semantics is hosting an unusual double book launch bringing together the pioneering work of writer and filmmaker Nora Bateson and her late father, British-born thinker Gregory Bateson. Many of the ideas now familiar in conversations about systems, like "feedback loops", "differences that make a difference", and "orders of change", come from their work.
The launch runs from 6 to 9 PM at the Players, 16 Gramercy Park South, NYC, 10003. It includes short readings from both books, conversation with Nora Bateson and editor Phillip Guddemi, and a signing. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required for admittance. A cash bar serving wine and beer will be available.
To register, click here.
The launch introduces two new books, conceived half a century apart, both of which explore how we can live, learn and relate to one another and to the wider living world in a time of rapid change.
Belly by Nora Bateson, is a collection of stories, essays, images, poems, and reflections about families, food, grief, celebration, and the ways we make sense of the world together. It invites us to notice the subtle patterns in our own relationships, homes and communities. This work requires us to rethink what it means to "make a change". Nora Bateson is known for developing the concept of "warm data"—ways of noticing the many overlapping contexts that shape our lives. Her writing offers us a language for feelings and experiences we may already recognize but never quite had words for.
Gregory Bateson’s ‘Ecology of Mind’: The Course, is based on a series of university lectures given in the 1970s by Nora Bateson’s father. Gregory Bateson worked across anthropology, psychology and environmental thought, and was one of the early pioneers of systems thinking and cybernetics, the study of feedback and communication in living systems. Many everyday phrases about "patterns", "context" and mind" have roots in his work. This new volume presents his ideas in his own spoken voice, transcribed from the classroom and edited by his student, Philip Guddemi, is highly accessible for a general readership.
The event is open to anyone interested in culture, ecology, community life, or new ways of thinking about how our lives connect with one another and with the wider environment.
Nora Bateson is a writer, filmmaker and educator. She works internationally with communities, organizations and institutions, helping people think together about complex issues such as climate, education, and social change. She is president of the International Bateson Institute, and a Trustee of the Institute of General Semantics.
Gregory Bateson (1904–1980) was a British-born anthropologist and thinker whose work has influenced psychology, communication theory, ecology and cybernetics. He is best known for his book Steps to an Ecology of Mind. He delivered the 1970 Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture.
