Abstract
Gregory Bateson's interdisciplinary work in Anthropology, Psychiatry, Evolution and Epistemology was profoundly influenced by the ideas set forth in systems theory, communication theory, information theory and cybernetics. Bateson used the single term cybernetics in reference to an aggregate of these ideas that grew together shortly after World War II. For him, cybernetics, and communication theory, and information theory, and systems theory, together constituted a unified set of ideas. Apparently, many scholars and practitioners of the social/behavioral sciences, as well as the humanities, were first introduced to the cybernetic paradigm through Bateson's work. Yet, he seldom offered his audience more than a cursory reference to the key principles underlying cybernetics. Hence, this essay incrementally and historically delineates the fundamental principles underlying the cybernetic paradigm as it was employed by Bateson.
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