This week a focus was placed on the radical, but useful, ideas expressed by great thinker Gregory Bateson to broaden our understanding and perception surrounding what it means to communicate.  The ideas expressed by Bateson are certainly complex and multifaceted.  As pointed out by his daughter, Mary Bateson, in the lecture video ‘An Ecology of the Mind’, Bateson was often accused of talking in riddles. His work, however, is very useful in broadening perceptions regarding what communication truly is, and the way in which we as individuals, and as a civilisation, work with it.

Bateson spotlights the idea that face-to-face communication has always been perceived as less ambiguous and more authentic than other ‘secondary’ forms of communication, such as emails and texts messaging. Bateson stated there was more redundancy in face-to-face communication, meaning more “extra stuff”- such as tone of voice, proximity, gesture, posture, and even the building in which the communication takes place – that enables the most effective form of communication. He believed that these redundancies added to a richer pattern, and that real communication had very little to do with the actual message, and a lot more to do with a rich pattern. The way in which we seek this sincere form of communication can be seen through adaptations of ‘secondary’ forms of communication such as text messaging, through aids such as emoticons and smilies. The integral role of the human body and external forces and surroundings in achieving true communication is stressed.

Bateson’s concept of play additionally highlights the importance of redundancies and cues that serves as almost a back up to ensure effective and accurate communication. Bateson uses the example of chimps playing to ask the question – if both play and combat demonstrate the same physical actions and cues, how do they know the difference between play and combat? how is this ultimately communicated? This question definitely challenged my understanding and perception of communication, and stressed the importance of redundancies in enabling effective and accurate communication.

Whilst some may argue Bateson takes somewhat of an extremist’s stance, some could also argue that our ever-changing media and communication landscape requires us to constantly be questioning, challenging, and dissecting, the ways in which we truly communicate and understand not only each other but also the world around us. As highlighted by Kate Milbery, “as our symbols and media have evolved significantly – so have our thinking processes, social and political structures, and conceptions of reality”. Whist critiques argue Bateson spoke in riddles, his daughter points out that his questioning did not always require an answer, but rather it was the act of questioning that was truly significant. It was Bateson’s belief that questioning and coming to terms with communicative challenges was integral in understanding the world around us, and modelling it accordingly.

 

References:

An Ecology of Mind A Daughter’s Portrait of Gregory Bateson, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-FC-ZzJTcA

 

Milberry, Kate (n.d.) ‘Media Ecology’, Oxford Bibliographies, <http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199756841/obo-9780199756841-0054.xml#> (you only have to read the opening paragraph of this article)