Mary Catherine Bateson
Mary Catherine Bateson
Mary Catherine Batesonis an American writer and cultural anthropologist...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionScientist
CountryUnited States of America
graduation educational memorable
We are not what we know but what we are willing to learn.
loss echoes identity
Every loss recapitulates earlier losses, but every affirmation of identity echoes earlier moments of clarity.
age important way
Improvisation and new learning are not private processes; they are shared with others at every age. We are called to join in a dance whose steps must be learned along the way, so it is important to attend and respond. Even in uncertainty, we are responsible for our steps.
goal blinkers defined
Goals too clearly defined can become blinkers.
caring animal self
A glad welcome to this affirmation by a group of psychologists that the self does not stop at the skin nor even with the circle of human relationships but is interwoven with the lives of trees and animals and soil; that caring for the deepest needs of persons and caring for our threatened planet are not in conflict.
inspirational thinking stories
The human species thinks in metaphors and learns through stories.
knowledge giving sometimes
Sharing is sometimes more demanding than giving.
commitment democracy politics
The capacity to combine commitment with skepticism is essential to democracy.
understanding looks metaphor
The family is changing not disappearing. We have to broaden our understanding of it, look for the new metaphors.
inspirational memorable stopping
Of any stopping place in life, it is good to ask whether it will be a good place from which to go on as well as a good place to remain.
color vision world
What would it be like to have not only color vision but culture vision, the ability to see the multiple worlds of others.
food humans human-beings
Human beings do not eat nutrients, they eat food.
reflection trying elements
...a disgruntled reflection on my own life as a sort of desperate improvisation in which I was constantly trying to make something coherent from conflicting elements to fit rapidly changing settings.
sacred natural conventions
Human beings tend to regard the conventions of their own societies as natural, often as sacred.