Anthropologist Gregory Bateson once worked for the OSS (CIA precursor) and his recognition and elucidation of “schismogenesis” has been employed by high-powered players in the devastating (enriching for some) chess games that are proxy wars of empires and the rest. The term literally means “creation of division” (Bateson defined schismogenesis as “a process of differentiation in the norms of individual behavior resulting from cumulative interaction between individuals”). Schismogenesis is an important concept to consider in the profound task of removing the veils placed upon us. Regardless of Bateson’s coining of the term, such a dynamic has shaped society for thousands of years. It’s also behind a lot of what fuels our current red-team/blue-team alienation from one another as well as our struggles with chauvinism, bigotry, and sexism: relationship in general. The stakes are no lower than society, and relationships, persisting; or simply breaking apart.
From his study of the Iatmul society in Papua New Guinea, Bateson concluded that certain concrete ritual behaviors either inhibited or stimulated the schismogenic relationship in its various forms.
These “ritual behaviors” are obviously the devil in the details, and thus don’t provide a ready-made prescription for kumbaya-bliss. However, what might indeed be of value is understanding that behavior X from one side elicits a behavior Y from the other side. The two behaviors complement one another (not compliment, like: “Hey. Nice shoes Bob!” more like: “Bob, you stand for everything I HATE!)
Let’s add Shaman Pat (catch the non-binary there?) who intones, “Jeez, you two a-holes are creating a split in a mutually aggravating way. The effect is causing you two well-meaning individuals, having a conversation, to ramp up different styles, resulting in a disagreement that DOES NOT STEM FROM ACTUAL DIFFERENCE OF OPINION.”
This is a significant way that poisoning the well happens. Once you become conscious of the schismogenesis in play, you either realize what a doofus you can be … or you go full DOOFUS with the cold comfort of Mutually Assured Destruction. (And yes, actual different opinions exist. This post is about the lesser recognized contributions of schismogenesis.)
Island Notes 