Isophor

See Pille Bunnell's Metaphors and Isophors

​The word Isophor was invented by Maturana in a conversation with Kathleen Forsythe when she was presenting a paper with the title “Cathedrals in the Mind”. An isophor needs to be specific in what sense that which is carried from one domain to the other is “equivalent”.

See Observer Theory as Equivalencing and Void-Equivalent

<= Flexibility of Meaning

commutative

distinguishing something that applies to both domains

We are like chefs with words

Composing with Language

… the result depends on more than the ingredients

different chefs using the same ingredients get different results

a metaphor that reminds us that how we do what we do matters!

a metaphor of flow: small divergences have consequence

words act like objects in a stream directing the flow

(and the flow shifts them over time)

we organize the words to coordinate meaning

small changes have consequence

languaging as a flow of recurrent and recursive consensual coordination within a context

viable outcomes depend on viable conversations

=> Systemic Cognition