Graeber and Wengrow describe "schismogenesis" as "people's tendency to define themselves against one another" (a layperson's version of how Bateson himself defines the term, see separate note)
"Bateson suggested such processes can become institutionalized on a cultural level as well"
"If 'national character' can really be said to exist, it can only be as a result of such schismogenetic processes" (57)