1 86 Information Storage and Neural Control 



linguistics in which modulations of loudness of voice, emphasis, 

 rasp, etc., are going to be the key signals. 



Myron F. Weiner (Dallas, Texas) : Assuming that somebody 

 comes to you because he has had a breakdown of relationships 

 because, in turn, his metacommunications or metaconcepts, or 

 what he expects of the world, are somewhat different from what 

 he says he expects, do you think it would be of some value in 

 correcting his behavior to bring to his consciousness the fact that 

 his metaperception is quite different from what he thinks he 

 perceives? 



Bateson: This is a problem of technique of psychotherapy. 

 Let nie reword Dr. Weiner's question: "Does it help to give him 

 insight?" I would not agree that insight is necessary and sufficient. 

 It may be sufficient, but I do not think it is necessary. I think that 

 experiences of effect in communication at these levels probably 

 are therapeutically necessary, but I do not think it is necessary 

 that these communications take the form of providing a guide to 

 conscious insight into the mechanics of these levels. Surely it 

 never happens. I do not know of any school of psychotherapy that, 

 as yet, has enough language for talking about these levels to even 

 attempt to give insight at these levels. We just do not have the 

 language to give that insight. I think we know that psychotherapy 

 occurs; but since it occurs in a culture which does not have sufficient 

 language to say what is happening, it follows that linguistic insight 

 is certainly not necessary. 



W. R. Beavers (Dallas, Texas) : These remarks about the con- 

 text, or metalanguage, reminded me of Bion and his primitive 

 group concepts. He felt that in working with groups, he saw and 

 began to communicate with them, not about their intrapsychic 

 assumptions, but about the primitive group assumptions. As I 

 recall, there was an assumption of the fight-or-flight and of the 

 pairing group. This sounds very much like your ideas concerning 

 the basic mammalian assumptions underneath that which is con- 

 ventional conversation. 



Bateson: I am slightly familiar with the ideas, but have not 

 worked with them. 



