"What we need now is the description of the "describer" or, in other words, we need a theory of the observer."

--

Source : Heinz von Foerster (2007). “Understanding Understanding: Essays on Cybernetics and Cognition”, p.247, Springer Science & Business Media

Heinz von Foerster

#Needs Quotes #Description Quotes #Theory Quotes

“Let there be no inscription upon my tomb; let no man write my epitaph: no man can write my epitaph.”

Source : Robert Emmet (1803). “The trial of Robert Emmet: upon an indictment for high treason. Special commission”, p.111
“You can victimize yourself by wallowing around in your own past.”
“You possess an intuitive intelligence so powerful it can help you heal, relieve stress, and find emotional freedom”
“Carl Yastrzemski was the best all-around player. He could run, throw and hit. He had the ability to play a number of different positions. He signed as a shortstop. He could play the outfield, of course, and third base and first, too. He was a tremendous athlete. Mickey Mantle was unbelievable, too.”
“I wish I could fly. Or speak fluent Chinese. Both I think are equally impossible.”
“Success is never ending, failure is never final.”
“In a certain sense I made a living for five or six years out of that one star [Ï… Sagittarii] and it is still a fascinating, not understood, star. It's the first star in which you could clearly demonstrate an enormous difference in chemical composition from the sun. It had almost no hydrogen. It was made largely of helium, and had much too much nitrogen and neon. It's still a mystery in many ways ... But it was the first star ever analysed that had a different composition, and I started that area of spectroscopy in the late thirties.”
“People can choose between the sweet lie or the bitter truth. I say the bitter truth, but many people don't want to hear it.”

Source : "'It Is a Clash of Civilizations'". Interview with Martin Doerry, Christoph Schult, www.spiegel.de. March 21, 2010.

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