plateau

geology

is a continuous, self-vibrating region of intensity.

Gregory Bateson uses the word 'plateau' to designate something special: a continuous, self-vibrating region of intensities whose development avoids any orientation toward a culmination point or external end. . . .It is a regrettable characteristic of the Western mind to relate expressions and actions to exterior or transcendent ends, instead of evaluating them on a plane of consistency on the basis of their intrinsic value. . . .We are writing this book as a rhizome. It is composed of plateaus' (D&G 1987:21-2)

is a culturally constructed system where the tendency for a system to run out of control (an arms race, crime rates, environmental degradation) is countered by a plane of stability that coexists with constant change.

For Bateson, a plateau is a culturally constructed system where the tendency for a system to run out of control an arms race, crime rates, environmental degradation is countered by a plateau or plane of stability that coexist with constant change. What we sense as the stability of place is often a plateau of development produced by locally sustainable limits'

plateau, n.All

plateau