Systems explained by Humberto Maturana (2021)

Understanding Computers and Cognition by Terry Winograd and Fernando Flores (Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing, 1986. ISBN 0-89391-050-3). Terry Winograd (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Winograd) wrote the early natural language program SHRDLU. The book examines the philosophical underpinnings of AI (as it was in 1986), using the work of Maturana. I enjoyed reading it years ago, but I don't know how much of it is relevant now (maybe some, since it is more about ideas than [say] programming). For instance, there's a section on "fifth generation systems" - who remembers that?

(A friend was using this book in the philosophy course he was teaching. He referred to it as "the book with the concerned man on the cover". The "concerned man" looks somewhat like Bob Dobbs [from the Church of the Subgenius].)

The Tree of Knowledge by Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela (Boston: Shambhala, 1987. ISBN 0-87773-373-2). This is an examination of the biological roots of understanding. I started reading it, and stopped - it's well-written and interesing on its own terms, but not something I want to follow up on (now). Might be good for people who want to know about their ideas.

One of the key concepts is Autopoiesis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autopoiesis) that got applied to social systems by Niklas Luhmann.

Maturana & Varela's concept of "autopoiesis" is not widely known but I think it should be part of biology programs in high school. It is a simple concept that opens the door for complexity and evolution in an open-ended course. It is relevant to this topic as it is foundational to the theoretical journey that is shared in all the videos of this page. I don't have a book reference at the moment so forgive me for the wikipedia reference. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autopoiesis

""" The term autopoiesis (from Greek αὐτo- (auto-) 'self', and ποίησις (poiesis) 'creation, production') refers to a system capable of producing and maintaining itself by creating its own parts.[1] The term was introduced in the 1972 publication Autopoiesis and Cognition: The Realization of the Living by Chilean biologists Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela to define the self-maintaining chemistry of living cells. """

I had the opportunity to attend a couple of his lectures when I was in the Biology program at the University of Chile. I must say hearing him, his students (neuroscience professors) and colleagues discuss different topics changed my view of the natural world by allowing me to understand "systems" in a way that is both holistic and practical (autopoiesis, natural drift, etc.). His laboratory was full of students that vibrated with the teachings of "The Santiago School of Cognition" and I will always be thankful for being able to interact with them.

open.edu does something annoying that breaks the browser back button :(