“To remove these one had to account for an “observer” (that is at least for one subject):
(i) Observations are not absolute but relative to an observer’s point of view (i. e., his coordinate system: Einstein);
(ii) Observations affect the observed so as to obliterate the observer’s hope for prediction (i. e., his uncertainty is absolute: Heisenberg).
After this, we are now in the possession of the truism that a description (of the universe) implies one who describes it”

— Heinz von Foerster

observes it
Source: 1980s, Notes on an epistemology for living things, 1981, p.258

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Heinz von Foerster 11

Austrian American scientist and cybernetician 1911–2002

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