International Journal of Semiotics and Visual Rhetoric Volume 2 • Issue 1 • January-June 2018 Fractal Entanglement Between Observer and Observed Terry Marks-Tarlow, Insight Center, Los Angeles, USA & Italian Universita Niccolo Cusano, London, UK ABSTRACT -Thisarticleexploresparadoxicaldynamicsembeddedinthefabricofexistence.ThelogicofSpencer Brown,asextendedbyFranciscoVarela,isplacedwithinthehistoricalcontextofcybernetics.Varela’s conceptofreentryprovidesabridgetofractalgeometrythroughrecursiveiterationonthecomplex numberplane.Fractalsaredynamicprocess-structuresthatnegotiatespatialandtemporalinterfaces betweenvariousforcesanddimensionsofexistence.Thisarticlearguesthatfractalreentrydynamics ,providecontradictoryfoundationsbywhichdifferentlevelsofnature,includingmindandmatter bothseparateandconnect.Finally,naturalfractalsrevealanewlevelofreflexivityinscience,by .whichtheobserverisparadoxicallyembodiedwithintheobserved KEywordS Fractal Geometry, Imaginary Numbers, Jung, Paradox, Recursive Dynamics, Reentry, Reflexivity, Second-Order Cybernetics, Spencer-Brown, Varela INTROdUCTION Do what you will, this life’s a fiction/And is made up of contradiction. -William Blake Weeasilytakeforgrantedtheabilitytodistinguishbetweenourselvesasobserversandwhatwe observeintheworld.Outwardlyourskinseemsvisibleproofofaclearboundarythatencasesand ,protectsourorgans.Inwardlyoursenseofself,whenintact,alsofeelslikearelativelyclearboundary attimeseventothepointofisolationfromothers.Yetwhetherweconsiderourbodiesorminds,the subjectiveexperienceofclosedboundariesrestspreciselyontheoppositestateofaffairs–wide-open .portalsthatcontinuallyallowtransactionbetweeninsideandoutside,bodyandworld,selfandnot-self Openportalsareevidentinour“posthuman”existence(seeHayles,1999),wheretheinterface betweenhuman being and machine presents boundaries which have grown ever more complex overtime,witheachtechnologicaladvance.Weplugourconsciousnessintovirtualrealities,aswe augment,eveninvadeourbodieswiththepresenceofmachines.Thisintenseexchangebetweenflesh .andmechanismdemandsnothingshortofaredefinitionofhumansubjectivity Mysticalpoets,likeWilliamBlakeintheaboveepigraph,alludetolifeasfictioninherentlymade upofcontradiction.HinduismofferstheconceptofMayatodescribethefalseperceptualveilbywhich ,weshieldourselvesfromanultimatelymysteriousreality.Athigherlevelsofcognitiveorganization DOI: 10.4018/IJSVR.2018010101  .Copyright©2018,IGIGlobal.CopyingordistributinginprintorelectronicformswithoutwrittenpermissionofIGIGlobalisprohibited  1 International Journal of Semiotics and Visual Rhetoric Volume 2 • Issue 1 • January-June 2018 psychologistsstudyrelatedphenomena.Forinstance,ShellyTaylor(1989)identifiesself-deception intheformof“positiveillusions,”thoseoverlyoptimisticattitudesandexpectationstowardsthe .futurethatmaybeentirelyunrealistic,butneverthelesswhichcanhelpustobeatthemedicalodds ,Despitethecomplexitiesofourallegedposthumanexistence,mostofusliveasifconsistency certainty,predictabilityandclearboundaries,especiallybetweentruthandfalsity,resideatthe .baseofthings,fromtheworkingsofourbodiesandmindstotheworkingsoftheuniverseatlarge Boundariesareeverywhere,yetmostarepermeable.Byfocusingonthishighlycontradictorystate ofaffairsthatextendsinvisiblyunderthesurface,IfollowBlake’sleadtoexploretheparadoxical .dynamicsembeddedintheveryfabricofexistence Thispapertracesalineofsemioticsandlogic,begunbyGeorgeSpencer-Brownandcontinued byFranciscoVarela,whichputsparadoxattheheartandseamofthings.IplaceVarela’sideasabout reentrywithinthecontextofabranchofcontemporarymathematicscalledfractalgeometry.Iargue thatadeepunderstandingoffractalshelpstoilluminatetheprofoundyetinvisibleparadoxesthat .permeateordinarylife Tosetthestagehistorically,Ibeginbybrieflydescribingthecyberneticsrevolutionandhow reflexivityfirstenteredsocialsciences.TheprimitivelogicofGeorgeSpencer-Brown,plusextensions addedbyFranciscoVarela,arefittedintothishistoricalcontext.Varela’sdynamicsofreentryarticulate paradoxicalfoundationsnotonlyforlogicandbutalsoforthecreationofallstructure.Next,Iconnect theselogicalassertionswithmathematicsofthecomplexplane,whereimaginarynumbersareused ,tomodelextraorhiddendimensionality.Imaginarynumbersprovidethebridgetofractalgeometry .whosemathematicsinvolvesrecursiveiterationofsimpleformulasonthecomplexplane Fractalsaredynamicprocess-structuresthatetchtimeintospace.Theyareboundarykeepersthat negotiatespatialandtemporalinterfacesbetweendifferentforcesanddimensionsofbeing.Mythesis isthatfractalsprovidetheparadoxicalfoundationbywhichdifferentlevelsofnaturebothconnect andseparate.Everyboundarybecomesadoor,everyborderaportal.Becausethesamedynamics holdinsideaswellasoutsidethepsyche,fractalgeometryprovidesabridgeandlanguageforlinking insideandoutsideworlds.Whethertheyoccurinnature,ourbodiesorminds,fractalseparatrices .orboundariesrevealinfinite,hiddenfrontiersinthespacebetweenordinary,Euclideandimensions Iconcludethispaperbyexaminingthemechanicsoffractalproductiontorevealanewtwistin thereflexivemarchofscience.Inaworldfilledwithfractals,notonlyistheobserverdetectablein ,theobserved,buttheobserverisalsoembodiedthere,inaprimordial,concreteway.Naturalfractals likeshorelines,revealhowtheembodimentoftheobserverintheobservedparadoxicallyprecedes .thepresenceofconsciousobservers THE CyBERNETIC REVOLUTION TheperiodfollowingWorldWarIIwasatimeoftremendousintellectualgrowthinAmerica.Emerging fromtechnologydevelopedduringthewar,severaltrendsconvergedtolegitimatethescientificmeritof psychology,includingthebirthofcybernetics,thescienceofinformation.Thisnewfield,spearheaded bythemathematicianNorbertWiener,mushroomedoutoftheinterdisciplinaryMacyConferences heldyearlybetween1946and1953(SeeHeims,1991).Cyberneticsbroughtanewvariantofthe metaphorofthemindasmechanism.RootsofthisideaextendatleastasfarbackasRenaissance times,whenthenaturalsciences,onebyone,splitofffromphilosophy.Asmoreempiricalstudies .began,theheartresembledapump,thebodyamachine,andthewholeuniverseranlikeclockwork MechanisticmetaphorsareevidentwithinthepsychoanalytictheoriesofFreud,where,for ,example,theprimitiveinstinctsofdrivetheoryresemblehydraulicsofthesteamengine(seeDraaisma Thecyberneticassociationbetweenmindandmachinemadeinthemid-20thcentury.(1995/2000 .provedaboosttotheneurosciences,whenneuralloopsinthebrainweremodeledaslogicalchains Mechanisticmetaphorsalsousheredinthecognitivistrevolution,asactivityinthepsychewaslikened .toinformationprocessingincomputers 2 International Journal of Semiotics and Visual Rhetoric Volume 2 • Issue 1 • January-June 2018 Ashumanisticthinkersragedagainstthe‘cold’,mechanical,andattimesreductionistviews beingespoused,withintheMacyConferencesprotestsofadifferentkindbegantosurface.Lawrence Kubie,apsychoanalystandrecentretreadfromthe“harder”fieldofneuroscience,stimulatedheated .(discussion among his colleagues by pointing to the problem of reflexivity (See Heims, 1991 ”,Reflexivity,bywhichanassertionpointsself-referentiallytoitself,e.g.,“WhatIsaynowisfalse involvesaconfluenceormeldingbetweenobserverandobserver.Reflexivityisinherentinthevery subjectmatterofpsychology.Itoccurs,forexample,wheneverresearchersuseconsciousnessto understandthenatureofconsciousness,narrativestostudythenarrativesofothers,orbehavioral repertoirestoexaminebehavioralresponsesinothers.Researchinpsychologyislikethemythical Uroborus,asnakeeatingitsowntale/tail.Despiteeveryattempttoremainobjectivebysidestepping .subjectivity,evenbehavioristscanfindlittlerelieffromtheUroboricbeastofreflexivity DuringtheMacyconferences,Kubieobjectedtotheearlycyberneticagendaofseparating informationfullyfromitsmaterial,embodiedsources.Thepsychoanalystprotestedthatwithinany theory,eveninsidethe“hardest”ofsciences,reflexivitylurks,andtheobserverlieshiddenwithinthe observed.Kubieclaimedthatalltheoriesabouttheoutsideworldsayasmuchabouttheunconsciousof thesubjectwhoespousesthemastheydoabouttheoutsideuniverseasconsciouslyperceived.When itcomestotheoryandmeaningmaking,nomatterwhatisobserved,theobserverwindsupimplicated intheobserved.AlthoughKubie’sprotestsweredismissedbymostofhisfellowscientists,hisideas aboutreflexivitylaterbecameingrainedwithinthehistoryofpsychoanalysis.RobertStolorowand hiscolleagues(Atwood&Stolorow,1979/1993),cofoundersofintersubjectivitytheory,arguethat everytheoryofpersonalityisself-reflexiveinthatituniversalizesthetherapist’spersonalsolution