# Metapattern

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A **metapattern** is a pattern of patterns.

## Definition

The concept of a metapattern was introduced by [Gregory Bateson](/source/Gregory_Bateson) in the introduction to his 1979 book *Mind and Nature: A Necessary Unity.*[1] "My central thesis can now be approached in words: The pattern which connects is a metapattern. It is a pattern of patterns. It is that metapattern which defines the vast generalization that, indeed, it is patterns which connect."[2]

## Tyler Volk

[Tyler Volk](/source/Tyler_Volk), an [environmental scientist](/source/Environmental_scientist) at [New York University](/source/New_York_University) expanded on Bateson's description in his 1995 book, *Metapatterns: Across Space, Time, and Mind*.[3] "To me, a metapattern is a pattern so wide-flung that it appears throughout the spectrum of reality: in clouds, rivers, and planets; in cells, organisms, and ecosystems; in art, architecture, and politics." Volk further defines metapatterns as "functional universals for forms in space, processes in time, and concepts in mind."[4]

As Volk explains in his prologue, "I was fortunate to have studied with Bateson while he was writing *Mind and Nature*. It was the autumn of 1977, and he was a scholar-in-residence at the [Lindisfarne Association](/source/Lindisfarne_Association) in New York City."[5] At that time, Volk was teaching "Visual Science" and "Patterns in Time" as science and humanities courses at the [School of Visual Arts](/source/School_of_Visual_Arts).

Volk describes ten metapatterns: Spheres, Sheets/Tubes, Borders, Binaries, Centers, Layers, Calendars, Arrows, Breaks, and Cycles. Education collaborator Jeff Bloom developed a metapatterns website[6] exploring these themes.

## Pieter Wisse

The Dutch computer scientist Pieter Wisse proposed a method called Metapattern for [conceptual modeling](/source/Conceptual_modeling): a technique for meta-information analysis and modeling that emphasizes reusability. The method is described in his book *Metapattern: Context and Time in Information Models*[7] and other papers.

## References

1. Bateson, Gregory (1979). Mind and Nature: A Necessary Unity. New York: Dutton

1. Bateson, Gregory (1979). *Mind and Nature: A Necessary Unity (Advances in Systems Theory, Complexity, and the Human Sciences)*

1. Volk, Tyler (1995). *Metapatterns: Across Space, Time, and Mind*. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231067515.

1. Volk, Tyler,(1995) Metapatterns: Across Space, Time, and Mind, page viii-ix

1. Volk, Tyler,(1996) Metapatterns: Across Space, Time, and Mind, page viii

1. ["Welcome to Metapatterns: The Pattern Underground Wiki - Metapatterns"](http://metapatterns.wikidot.com/)

1. Wisse, Pieter (2000), Metapattern: Context and Time in Information Models, Addison-Wesley; 1st edition

## External links

- [Metapatterns wikidot](http://metapatterns.wikidot.com/start)
- Pieter Wisse: [Metapattern Primer](http://www.informationdynamics.nl/knitbits/htm/primer.htm)

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