The purpose of such a study is analogous to the purpose of the study of biological ecology. Bateson called this means of understanding ideas ”ecology of mind.”Įcology of mind as Bateson envisioned it, refers to an interdisciplinary approach to probing the way in which consciousness changes and forms patterns, both on a social and individual level. In that year, Gregory Bateson introduced a theory that proposed the need to change not just our actions, but our thoughts as well-to think about how we think. What can be done to motivate individuals and societies to take action? How can we ensure that those actions are beneficial? One potential source of answers to today’s questions was proposed back in 1972. Before action, however, stands the perplexing question: ”How?” Many individuals are eager, even desperate, to dive into the fray of the struggle to save our Earth, but even when a desirable course of action is clear (which is rare), how to achieve that goal is often unclear. Yet although awareness of the issues is crucial to solving them, it is only the first step toward greater ecological health, and the next step must be action.

Growing public awareness of Earth’s environment is the one slender benefit of the imminent nature of the ecological crises facing our world’s population. Within the last decade, environmental concerns have seized public awareness to a previously unachieved degree. If we understand a little bit of what we’re doing, maybe it will help us to find our way out of the maze of hallucinations that we have created around ourselves.

Gregory Bateson, author of Steps to an Ecology of Mind.

Steps to an ecology of mind