Gregory Bateson - Favorite Quotes & Ideas

Gregory Bateson (9 May 1904 – 4 July 1980) was a British anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, semiotician and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. Some of his most noted writings are to be found in his books, Steps to an Ecology of Mind (1972) and Mind and Nature (1979). Angels Fear (published posthumously in 1987) was co-authored by his daughter Mary Catherine Bateson.
Gregory Bateson - Wikipedia


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Charlie Rose Interview with Malcolm Gladwell

Charlie Rose conversation with Malcolm Gladwell - Thoroughly enjoyed this Charlie Rose interview with Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell was relaxed, passionate, involved, articulate--and Rose didn't interrupt too much, letting Gladwell play jazz with his words and ideas.

At one point Rose asked Gladwell about his explanation for why people from Asian cultures are better at math than people from European, American, and other non-Asian cultures. Odd, seemingly racist topic, but apparently the research is clear--Asian cultures do better in math than most non-Asian cultures. Gladwell has an interesting theory as to why...

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Self-Made Man Norah Vincent - Journey Into Manhood


Two Sides of Norah Vincent

Norah Vincent was a gender spy.

To write her book Self-Made Man: One Woman's Journey into Manhood and Back, she transformed herself into a male alter-ego she named "Ned." To look the part, she got a haircut, added fake stubble to her face and 15 lbs. of muscle to her upper-body. She bound her chest, wore a suit and tie, and inserted a fake penis into her male briefs.

Norah Vincent pretended to be man for 18 months.

During that time she went to strip clubs, joined a bowling league, attended a men's monastery, and went out on dates -- all the while pretending to be a man named Ned.

In the end, Vincent suffered a nervous breakdown, angered some of those she deceived, and learned a lot about the culture of BOTH genders.

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Robert Pirsig - Last Interview

The interview: Robert Pirsig | By genre | Guardian Unlimited Books
"The Seventies bestseller Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was the biggest-selling philosophy book ever. But for the reclusive author life was bitter-sweet. Here, he talks frankly about anxiety, depression, the death of his son and the road trip that inspired a classic."

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Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Had Nassim Taleb been born in any other period, he would have certainly been put to death.
~ Carine Chichereau, co-translator of TBS.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb is one fascinating guy. His two books Fooled by Randomness and The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable have been sooooo thought provoking AND entertaining.

I read both in the span of a couple weeks (way too fast) and am now reading each again. The concepts are deceptively simple on the surface...and then so deep. Their counter-intuitive nature makes it hard to grasp their significance in a 30-second sound bite.

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