Ubiquitous computing has been continuously thinning the line between passive or end-user and active front and back-users (designers, programmers and professionals developing interfaces) through open source and server-based applications, app…Merleau-Ponty, M. (2015). Phenomenology of perception. London: Forgotten Books.
Maturana, H., & Varela, F. (1992). The tree of knowledge: The biological roots of human understanding. Boston: Shambhala Publications.
Mauldin, D. B. (2011). …
Francisco Varela
scientist · 2 mentions across 1 reading
In this course
Varela's concept of autopoiesis—self-organizing systems that define themselves through their own operation—provides crucial theoretical scaffolding for understanding how embodied cognition and enactive perception reshape both AI systems and human-machine relations in the contemporary moment. His collaboration with Maturana on The Tree of Knowledge bridges cybernetics and phenomenology, enabling the course to move beyond passive input-output models of intelligence toward frameworks where observers and systems are mutually constitutive. This perspective becomes essential for examining how artworks and digital interfaces function as autonomous agents rather than mere tools.
Background
Francisco Javier Varela García was a Chilean biologist, philosopher, cybernetician, and neuroscientist who, together with his mentor Humberto Maturana, is best known for introducing the concept of autopoiesis to biology, and for co-founding the Mind and Life Institute to promote dialog between science and Buddhism.
Wikipedia →Mentioned in 1 reading
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