"Science, like art, religion, commerce, warfare, and even sleep, is based on presuppositions"
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Gregory Bateson, the anthropologist and systems thinker, points to the hidden scaffolding beneath every human practice. Knowledge, judgment, and action do not float free; they rest on prior commitments about what counts as real, valuable, or knowable. Science is not exempt. It depends on tacit axioms: that nature exhibits regularities, that measurements can capture them, that mathematical formalisms map salient patterns, that controlled isolation clarifies causes, and that observers can correct for their own biases. These premises shape what questions get asked, what counts as a fact, and which explanations feel satisfying.
The comparison to art, religion, commerce, and warfare underscores that each domain also leans on a frame. Art presupposes shared senses of pattern and aesthetic value. Religion presumes an order of meaning beyond immediate experience. Commerce presumes property, exchange value, and trust in contracts. Warfare presumes an enemy, legitimate authority, and the morality of force. By adding even sleep, Bateson stresses how deep presuppositions run: to sleep is to trust that the world persists when we relinquish vigilance, to lean on bodily rhythms and a social environment that guards vulnerability.
Batesons cybernetic lens emphasizes that information is a difference that makes a difference, and differences only matter inside a frame. If the frame is wrong or too narrow, we get systematic error, not just isolated mistakes. Treating ecological systems as linear and divisible, for instance, presupposes separable parts and short feedback loops, a stance that can generate destructive consequences. The point is not to dismiss science but to make its premises explicit, compare them across cultures and disciplines, and revise them when they produce paradox or harm. That stance allies with the idea of paradigms while refusing cynicism: acknowledging presuppositions is a discipline of epistemological humility. It opens space for better questions, creative cross-fertilization, and more responsible action in a world of interlocking systems.
The comparison to art, religion, commerce, and warfare underscores that each domain also leans on a frame. Art presupposes shared senses of pattern and aesthetic value. Religion presumes an order of meaning beyond immediate experience. Commerce presumes property, exchange value, and trust in contracts. Warfare presumes an enemy, legitimate authority, and the morality of force. By adding even sleep, Bateson stresses how deep presuppositions run: to sleep is to trust that the world persists when we relinquish vigilance, to lean on bodily rhythms and a social environment that guards vulnerability.
Batesons cybernetic lens emphasizes that information is a difference that makes a difference, and differences only matter inside a frame. If the frame is wrong or too narrow, we get systematic error, not just isolated mistakes. Treating ecological systems as linear and divisible, for instance, presupposes separable parts and short feedback loops, a stance that can generate destructive consequences. The point is not to dismiss science but to make its premises explicit, compare them across cultures and disciplines, and revise them when they produce paradox or harm. That stance allies with the idea of paradigms while refusing cynicism: acknowledging presuppositions is a discipline of epistemological humility. It opens space for better questions, creative cross-fertilization, and more responsible action in a world of interlocking systems.
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| Topic | Science |
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