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

— Heinz von Foerster

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More quotes by Heinz von Foerster

The world, as we perceive it, is our own invention.

Heinz von Foerster (1988)

I shall act always so as to increase the total number of choices

Heinz von Foerster (1984)

Objectivity is a subject's delusion that observing can be done without him. Involving objectivity is abrogating responsibility – hence its popularity.

Heinz von Foerster cited in: Bernhard Poerksen (2004)

Either Stone Age man was a technological wizard, who carefully removed his technological achievements so as not to upset his inferior progeny, or our population dwindled from a once astronomical size to the mere three billions of today.

Mora and Amiot (1961)

Mein background bestand ja darin, daß ich ein Labor gegründet hatte, das Biological Computer Lab an der University of Illinois – da sind sehr viele freaks gewesen, also Leute, die nicht so denken wie alle anderen.

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