the difference that makes a difference

When Bateson writes “the interaction between parts of mind is triggered by differences”, what are we to take this to mean? The first thing that would likely leap to you is the thought of an axon firing once it had acquired sufficient stimuli to cross its threshold. There is a line drawn such that passing it is considered a “difference”. It works in this on/off way, translating what is only a difference in degree into a difference in kind. The nervous system also codes differences in degree, but only after the signal has proved important enough to be coded in the first place. Variations in intensity are thereafter indicated by the frequency of firing. From Bateson’s point of view, it is that initial threshold that is crucial though, it discriminating the “difference that makes a difference”.

Bateson claims that that which occurs within the nervous system is but a minute fragment of what we should consider “mind” and that triggering by recognition of difference can occur at various points, not simply those within neurons. For example, a flock of animals may choose to migrate after the food supply has dipped below a threshold and any changes before that point are not deemed by them as relevant. In playing a musical instrument, the difference in the sound of the note just played leads one to play the next note.

Teaching may also be thought about as trying to create a “difference that makes a difference” -a pedagogical experience that becomes impactful enough to distinguish itself from the amorphous slurry of experiences that occur in every person’s life. As cultural workers, we also hope to make this difference when aspire to cross beyond a threshold, or a “tipping point” in our activism or advocacy. Our options and our strategies can be informed by the implications of this wider view of mind.

For instance, take the neuron firing as a negative example: all mental systems seem to have built-in mechanisms that prevent such differences from occurring as well. This is evident by the very fact that a threshold exists in the first place. If these mechanisms are gauging "relevance" too high, that part of the system becomes insensitive. Habit forming drugs, to which the body quickly acclimatize, require increasing doses to “make a difference” and thus desensitize the body to the substance. However, these mechanisms can operate as negative feedback as well as positive feedback. For example, humans within cultures become insensitive to experiences that question the cultural framework, and this insensitivity may itself be a part of the cultural framework itself. For these people, it may require a great deal of repeated stimuli to actually reach a threshold that is significant.