Combining - by Nora Bateson (Paperback)

About the Book

"Like a mole in the garden of our times, velvet, sharp-eyed and half underground, Nora Bateson's Combining undermines our most precious certainties, offers nourishment, unseen circulation, surprises, mounds, chambers and drainage tunnels for our thinking, living and relating. Using multiple artistic and literary forms, resisting always the urgent request for answers, checklists and action points, Nora's work is the embodiment of the Warm Data approach that she teaches. It is the most telling example of what she has named aphanipoiesis: that prolific tendency (characteristic of all living systems) for things to come together or coalesce unseen towards vitality"--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

In 'Combining', Nora Bateson invites us into an ecology of communication where nothing stands alone, and every action sets off a chain of incalculable consequences. She challenges conventional fixes for our problems, highlighting the need to tackle issues at multiple levels, understand interdependence, and embrace ambiguity. Insisting on our collective responsibility to confront the looming threats to humanity' s survival, she advocates change through interconnectedness and challenges us to rethink our perspectives on relationships, community, and the very essence of being human. A blend of intellectual inquiry, essays, emotional engagement, storytelling, poetry and graphic art, 'Combining' is an invitation to nurture genuine connections and navigate a world brimming with " Warm Data" - the interrelationships that integrate elements of every complex system. The book calls on us to shed our linear thinking and embrace " Aphanipoiesis" - the unseen ways in which life comes together to foster vitality and propel evolution. In 'Combining', love, humor, curiosity, and vulnerability entwine amidst the trials of a world in flux. As we face the Polycrisis, Nora Bateson urges us to swerve from the traditional paths and to dismantle the illusions of fitting in. She beckons us to step into a world where learning, uncutness, and readiness converge, promising both revelation and revolution.

About the Author

Nora Bateson is an award-winning filmmaker, artist, lecturer, research designer and author. She is the founder and creator of Warm Data and the practices of the Warm Data Lab and People Need People Online. Nora wrote, directed, and produced the documentary, 'An Ecology of Mind', a portrait of her father, Gregory Bateson. Her work brings the fields of biology, cognition, art, anthropology, psychology, and information technology together into a study of the patterns in ecology of living systems.