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The relations that define a system as a unity, and determine the dynamics of interaction and transformations which it may undergo as such a unity constitute the organization of the machine.

— Francisco Varela Autopoiesis and cognition: The realization of the living (1980)

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More quotes by Francisco Varela

As Buddhist teachers often point out, knowledge, in the sense of prajña, is not knowledge about anything. There is no abstract knower of an experience that is separate from the experience itself.

The Embodied Mind (1991)

The cybernetics phase of cognitive science produced an amazing array of concrete results, in addition to its long-term (often underground) influence

The Embodied Mind (1991)

By autopoietic organization, Maturana and Varela meant the] processes interlaced in the specific form of a network of productions of components which realizing the network that produced them constitutes it as a unity.

Autopoiesis and cognition: The realization of the living (1980)

I’m a biologist who has been interested in the biological roots of cognitive phenomena

Varela (1990)

I'm interested in establishing empirical correlations between a long-standing interest in Buddhist practice and scientific work.

The Emergent Self (1995)

All Francisco Varela quotes →

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Francisco Varela (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.