Readable atlas · Release 0.35
What changed when we learned?
Information, learning levels, and governing assumptions
Distinguish a changed response from changes to the premises through which responses are chosen.
Follow this journey interactively
Find the difference taken up
Bateson's account directs attention to differences selected within receiving pathways. Trace what changed in expectation or action when a report arrived. This question differs from measuring a channel's information capacity.
Describe the kind of change
Learning I corrects choices within a set of alternatives; Learning II changes aspects of that process, including the set or the punctuation of experience. The levels classify changes. They do not certify that a new premise is desirable.
Improve action within a framework
In Argyris's organisational account, error can be corrected while governing values and arrangements remain in place. Many tasks need this capacity. Count what changed in practice, rather than the number of feedback arrows drawn.
Make governing assumptions open to inquiry
Examine whether action can change the governing framework itself. Compare espoused commitments with theories-in-use, including what happens when someone challenges the rules. Comparing this with Bateson is useful, but Learning II and double-loop learning are not interchangeable labels.
Taylor, B. P. (2026). What changed when we learned?. The Necessary Tangle, release 0.35. https://transduction.systems/journeys/journey_learning_changes/