today, april 24, in rome, a conference @ john cabot university: umberta telfener, “the systemic frame. the teachings of heinz von foerster”
THE SYSTEMIC FRAME.
THE TEACHINGS OF HEINZ VON FOERSTER
a talk by
Umberta Telfener
today – April 24 at 6pm
John Cabot University
Via della Lungara 233, Rome
ROOM GL1
or online here:
LINK TO THE Teams MEETING
The systemic conceptual frame implies a change in the way we see the world, a non-linear causality, the utilization of multiple layers of observation and explanation. We do not look at the tree alone nor at the forest; we consider the relationship among the two and we get information by the differences which create a difference. This paradigmatic shift does not come immediately nor is it natural. Our western languages utilize a subject, an action and an object (the cat runs after the mouse) and we are used to a simplification of interactions.
The systemic point of view has as a mandate to respect complexity.
I was lucky enough to meet Heinz von Foerster, a Viennese physicist considered the father of constructivism and second order cybernetics. In the seminar I will start talking about his teachings and will develop their implications for everyday life.
What are the epistemological implications of von Foerster’s proposal? Respecting complexity, reflexivity, constructivism, the observing system, individuals as self-organizing systems, positioning, the isomorphism between micro and macro, the political and ethical stances, are all concepts that have to do with his theoretical perspective. We will talk about it.
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Umberta Telfener is a health psychologist, systemic psychotherapist, professor at the therapeutic school of Milan, Milan Approach, and President of the European Family Therapy Association (EFTA). She taught for ten years at the School of Specialization in Health Psychology at the University of Rome La Sapienza and since the 1980s has been a relationship manager for foreign relations at the Centro Milanese di Terapia della Famiglia.
https://neocyberneticcrew.org
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