My first meeting with Silvio Ceccato - A remembrance of 1981

Milan, February 7, 1981

“The mind constituted itself in a magical way, without awareness”: I find this phrase by Silvio Ceccato transcribed in my notes from one of his conferences in 1981. In 1980 in Zurich, where I had been living for 10 years, a friend (Luciano Persico) had told me about Ceccato and I was fascinated by him.
Shortly after, during the summer holidays, while I was browsing in the bookstore, I found "La Terza Cibernetica" (“The Third Cybernetics”, Ceccato, 1974). Reading this book was like a revelation for me, I found in it what I had unconsciously been looking for for years.

At the end of 1980, after reading other books by Ceccato, my enthusiasm was such that I decided to contact Ceccato himself. On January 3, 1981, I wrote him a long letter, declaring among other things that I even thought I had found my calling and that I dreamed of being able to collaborate with him. Ceccato replied to me on January 9, we exchanged some letters and at the end of the month he proposed to meet in Milan on the occasion of a conference he was going to hold at the Hotel Palace (7.2.1981) entitled “Magic seen by a cybernetician”. He wrote: “it will finish at 5 pm and we will be able to chat.”

During the conference, as usual, I took a lot of notes. I was so focused on writing that in the end I felt like I had understood little or nothing. I was so ashamed of it that when the conference was about to end, I even thought about leaving the room (!) and going home without speaking to Ceccato. I was saved by my sense of duty: I had confirmed to Ceccato that I would be happy to meet him after the conference and I had to fulfill this commitment!

That meeting changed my life! It was the beginning of a collaboration that lasted for 17 years (until Ceccato's death, 12/1997) during which I gradually managed to lift the "veil of ignorance" that initially prevented me from fully understanding Ceccato's thought and set up the basis of my future studies dedicated up to today to the cybernetics of the mind.

LTW - SIX BASICS EN-GR

Ζώντας σε δύο κόσμους  - ΕΞΙ ΒΑΣΙΚΑ ΤΗΣ ΘΕΩΡΙΑΣ ΤΗΣ ΓΝΩΣΗΣ ΜΟΥ

Living in Two Worlds - Six basics of my knowledge theory EN-GR

Εικόνα 1:  Έξι βασικές αξιώσεις του LTW

 

1. ΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΑ & ΓΝΩΣΗ - Για να κατανοήσουμε καλύτερα ο ένας τον άλλον πρέπει να κατανοήσουμε καλύτερα τον ανθρώπινο νου και την κύρια λειτουργία του: τη γνώση.

   SOCIETY & COGNITION - For better understanding each other we need to better understand the human mind and its main function: knowing (cognition).
   

2. ΥΛΗ & ΜΟΡΦΕΣ - Η γνώση έχει δύο κύρια συστατικά: ύλη και μορφές (όπως πρότεινε ο Αριστοτέλης). Δεν διαχωρίζουμε όμως τις μορφές από την ύλη. Αντίθετα, προσθέτουμε στην ύλη τις μορφές που δημιουργούμε (νοητικές κατασκευές, δημιουργίες)

   MATTER & FORMS - Knowing has two main components: matter and forms (as Aristotle suggested). But we do not separate forms from matter. Instead, we add to matter the forms that we create (mental constructs).
   
   
3. ΚΑΘΟΡΙΣΜΕΝΑ ΠΡΑΓΜΑΤΑ - Η ύλη γίνεται καθορισμένο πράγμα μέσω μορφών: αφού εγώ είμαι ο δημιουργός της μορφής, το καθορισμένο πράγμα είναι πάντα ένα πράγμα-για-μένα
   
   DEFINITE THINGS - Matter becomes a definite thing by means of forms: since I am the creator of the form, the definite thing is always a thing-for-me.
   
   
4. ΜΟΡΦΕΣ & ΠΡΑΓΜΑΤΑ - Η μορφή, που είναι η ουσία ενός καθορισμένου πράγματος (Αριστοτέλης), δεν υπάρχει στην ύλη έτοιμη να διαχωριστεί από αυτήν και να την πάρει: αντίθετα, είναι δημιούργημα του νου.
   
   FORMS & THINGS - The form, which is the essence of a definite thing (Aristotle), is not there in matter ready to be separated from it and to be taken: instead, it is a creation of the mind.
   

5. ΔΥΟ ΚΟΣΜΟΙ: ΦΥΣΗ & ΕΜΠΕΙΡΙΑ - Εάν η ύλη γίνεται ένα καθορισμένο πράγμα μέσω των μορφών μου, τότε ζω σε δύο κόσμους: τον κόσμο της ύλης (φύση) και τον κόσμο των μορφών μου (η εμπειρία μου). Και το ίδιο για τον καθένα μας.

   TWO WORLDS: NATURE & EXPERIENCE - If matter becomes a definite thing by means of my forms, then I live in two worlds: the world of matter (nature) and the world of my forms (my experience). And similarly, for each of us.
   
   
6.  ΑΝΕΠΑΡΚΗ ΕΠΙΓΝΩΣΗ - Δεν παρατηρούμε ότι ζούμε σε δύο κόσμους γιατί δεν έχουμε επαρκή επίγνωση του τι κάνει ο νους όταν γνωρίζει.
   
   INSUFFICIENT AWARENESS - We do not notice that we live in two worlds because we are not sufficiently aware of what the mind does when it knows.