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Observer is what I call an instance whose behaviour I interpret - in the perspective of an interpreting observer - as explaining phenomena. As an observer I describe a phenomenon and a system with which I can create the phenomenon. The fact that I observe is shown to every observer precisely by the fact that I make - observable - descriptions of phenomena and systems. Of course, I myself also have a kind of introspection of my own observations, but I will explicitly refrain from that here. Observing always shows itself in this terminologically bound sense as describing (note 1).
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In the convention of everyday language, I interpret the term "observe" receptively, using it more for looking than for speaking. In systems theory terminology, however, I use the term "observer" - also in accordance with a convention - for a system that functionally represents the systems theorist (note 2). An observer in this sense must therefore not only be able to perceive, he must above all be able to describe his observations. Any animal may also be able to observe in a broader sense, but I will not talk about that in this terminology. Anyone who speaks to animals - like Francis of Assisi, for example - will simply include them in their conversation, and anyone who thinks that animals cannot speak will simply not consider them - and other creatures and intelligent computers, if at all - here. Colloquially I can also "observe" something by chance, but that is not meant here either. When I observe something in this terminological sense, I am interested in what I observe as a phenomenon, and it must have (or be embedded in) a potentially explainable behaviour. I cannot observe something that cannot change. But of course I can observe a cat sitting motionless in front of a mouse hole. The observed operation is then potential - until a mouse appears. In a certain sense I can also observe a picture or a colourful cloth, if I think of its origin. I can only see or look at the picture itself. |
An observer makes statements about systems |
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Observation is a pretty common word. Think about how you use it in everyday language and where you consciously speak of observing. |
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Examples:
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My explanations of the observer are written in a phenographic way, i.e. in the perspective of the interpreting observer. In the next chapter I will reconstruct the observer as a system. Only then will the phenographic descriptions receive a system-theoretical interpretation. As interpreting observer I describe phenomena from a functional point of view. I can therefore say colloquially that an observer observes his environment and processes information from the environment.
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