Home / Quotes / Quote by Gregory Bateson

Quote by Gregory Bateson

“Science, like art, religion, commerce, warfare, and even sleep, is based on presuppositions. It differs, however, from most other branches of human activity in that not only are the pathways of scientific thought determined by the presuppositions of the scientists but their goals are the testing and revision of old presuppositions and the creation of new.”

Author

Gregory Bateson

Gregory Bateson was a prominent anthropologist whose research spanned across various fields such as culture, semiotics, systems theory, and cognitive science. His work has had a profound impact on interdisciplinary studies that followed. more

“We do not know enough about how the present will lead into the future. We shall never be able to say, "Ha! My perception, my accounting for that series, will indeed cover its next and future components," or "Next time I meet with these phenomena, I shall be able to predict their total course."”

Knows Enough Able Courses Next Perception Series Next Time Components Accounting

Author:Gregory Bateson

“Prediction can never be absolutely valid and therefore science can never prove some generalization or even test a single descriptive statement and in that way arrive at final truth.”

Way Prove Tests Finals Statements Predictions Generalization

Author:Gregory Bateson

“Let's not pretend that mental phenomena can be mapped on to the characteristics of billiard balls.”

Balls Characteristics

Book:Angels fear: towards an epistemology of the sacred

Source: Angels fear: towards an epistemology of the sacred

“If you are receptive and humble, mathematics will lead you by the hand. Again and again, when I have been at a loss how to proceed, I have just had to wait until I have felt the mathematics led me by the hand. It has led me along an unexpected path, a path where new vistas open up, a path leading to new territory, where one can set up a base of operations, from which one can survey the surroundings and plan future progress.”