Francisco J. Varela

organism information environment generate enact world

“Organisms do not passively receive information from their environments, which they then translate into internal representations. Natural cognitive systems...participate in the generation of meaning ...engaging in transformational and not merely informational interactions: they enact a world.”

― Francisco J. Varela (1946-2001)

living system ill health connect self

"When a living system is suffering from ill health, the remedy is found by connecting with more of itself."

― Francisco J. Varela (1946-2001)

construct reality dignity agreement planet

"If everybody would agree that their current reality is A reality, and that what we essentially share is our capacity for constructing a reality, then perhaps we could all agree on a meta-agreement for computing a reality that would mean survival and dignity for everyone on the planet, rather than each group being sold on a particular way of doing things."

― Francisco J. Varela (1946-2001)

knowledge world representation

"Many people would accept that we do not really have knowledge of the world; we have knowledge only of our representations of the world. Yet we seem condemned by our consitution to treat these representations as if they were the world, for our everyday experience feels as if it were of a given and immediate world."

― Francisco J. Varela (1946-2001)