Adaptation, acclimation, addiction, remedy, etc.

Abstract

Purpose

This piece seeks to reflect upon the nature of adaptation and our usage of it with relation to design, addiction, and final cause.

Design/methodology/approach

This previously unpublished document was found amongst the manuscript papers for Mind and Nature in the Bateson Archives at the University of Santa Cruz Library Special Collections.

Findings

It appears that “adaptation” was a concept generated by lineal thinking and that as we move forward into a world of causal circuits, i.e. of mental process as that notion is here defined, we discover that “adaptation” is only another face of addiction.

Originality/value

It reflects on the issue of adaptation from a very different angle than in the usual scientific discourse.

Citation

Bateson, G. (2007), "Adaptation, acclimation, addiction, remedy, etc.", Kybernetes, Vol. 36 No. 7/8, pp. 855-858. https://doi.org/10.1108/03684920710777379