Observing Systems PDF
Preview Observing Systems
OBSERVING SYSTEMS r-- r-- CJ) "D 0 0 ..0 Ol C :::J 0 > (I.) C (I.) ('.J HEINZ VON FOERSTER ,- THE SYSTEMS INQUIRY SERIES Systems inquiry is grounded in a philosophical base of a systems view of the world. It has formulated theoretical pos tulates, conceptual images and paradigms, and developed strat egies and tools of systems methodology. Systems inquiry is both conclusion oriented (knowledge production) and decision oriented (knowledge utilization). It uses both analytic and synthetic modes of thinking and it enables us to understand and work with ever increasing complexities that surround us and which we are part of. The Systems Inquiry Series aims to encompass all three domains of systems science: systems philosophy, systems theory and systems technology. Contributions introduced in the Series may focus on any one or combinations of these domains or develop and explain relationships among domains and thus por tray the systemic nature of systems inquiry. Five kinds of presentations are considered in the Series: (1) original work by an author or authors, (2) edited compen dium organized around a common theme, (3) edited proceed ings of symposia or colloquy, (4 ) translations from original works, and (5) out of print works of special significance. Appearing in high quality paperback format, books in the Series will be moderately priced in order to make them acces sible to the various publics who have an interest in or are in volv.ed in the systems movement. Series Editors BELA H. BANATHY and GEORGE KUR HEINZ VON FOERSTER OBSERVING SYSTEMS WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY FRANCISCO J. VARELA (Second Edition) THE SYSTEMS INQUIRY SERIES Published by Intersystems Publications 1 j ~---J Copyright © 1984 (Second Edition) by Heinz Von Foerster Copyright © 1981 (First Edition) by Heinz Von Foerster All Rights Reserved. Published in the United States of America by lntersystems Publications PRINTED IN U.S.A. This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy ing, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of INTERSYSTEMS PUBLICATIONS (Seaside, California 93955, U.S.A.) ISBN 0-914105-19-l Prelaee SECOND EDITION When Axel Duwe, the man responsible for lntersystems Publications, asked me to write a preface for a second edition of Observing Systems, I was glad to have the chance to answer some questions that have been raised by readers of the previous edition, and to add a few comments. I was frequently asked what I meant with the title of this book. I intended to leave it to the readers to decide for themselves whether this kaleidoscope of papers is about systems that observe, or about how to observe systems (including systems that observe, for instance, the observant reader). Then there were the questions about the choice of papers, and about the sequence of their presentation. I could have turned to Francisco Varela who made these chdices to provide us with answers, but by going through these articles again I could see a pat tern. With the exception of two papers (No. 2 and No. 6) all articles of this collection are based on lectures, addresses, comments, etc., made at various conferences, meetings, or symposia. In hindsight this pattern appears to be obvious; speaking for me is never a monologue, it is always a dialogue: I see myself through the eyes of the other. When I see comprehension, I may have comprehended; when I see puzzlement, I apparently have yet to clarify that point for myself. Moreover, when I speak to a large audience, it is mostly my adrenalin that is speaking; hence, adrenalin seems for me the best ink to write with. Therefore, in this edition occasion and date of presentation is given as a footnote on the titlepage of each paper. The chosen sequence of papers is (almost) that of the progression dates of presen tation. However, as one reader commented, we should have taken more seriously the last phrase of my earlier preface: " ... the End is supposed to be a Beginning". That is, she suggested reading this collection by beginning with the last paper first, and then going backwards in reverse order, because the full grown organism may contemplate the seed, but not the seed the organism. On the other hand, with the last paper in this collection, "On Constructing a Reality", I had made common cause with those who prefer to see realities being inven ted, rather than discovered. In the more than ten years since this paper was given, the number of those who hold this position has grown. Thus I see the notion of an observer independent "Out There", of "The Reality" fading away very much like other erstwhile notions, "the phologiston", "the imponderable caloric fluid", "the ding-an-sich", "the ether", etc., whose names may be remembered, but whose meanings have been lost. H.V.F. Pescadero, California April, 1984 Prelaee FIRST EDITION Francisco Varela took it upon himself not only to select from my writings the papers for this collection and finding a publisher for it, but also to write an introduction to these articles that were written over a period of twenty-five years. I am not in the habit of reading my papers, so when I went for the first time through this collection I had difficulties believing that it was I who had supposedly written all that. It was more like being transported in time to those days and nights of questioning, disputing, debating, arguing the issues before us at the Biological Computer Laboratory, a circle of friends, that is, my students, teachers and colleagues. For me the articles of this collection appear to be frozen instants of an ongoing dialogue, frames of a movie entitled "Observing Systems," whose jerks and jumps backwards and forwards are not to be blamed on the actors, the artists, or the participants, but on the shorcomings of the raporteur, that is me. When I began writing the credits for this sequence of frames and realized they would always be incomplete, I abandoned this idea in the hope that the references to each article could give a clue as to the main participants in that dialogue. A more complete account is, of course to be found in the Microfiche Collection of the BCL Publications mentioned in Part 111. Whatever the critics may say about this movie, I wish they could see the tre mendous joy I had in participating in its creation, and that its End is supposed to be a Beginning. H.V.F. Pescadero, California May, 1982 •
The list of books you might like
