Self Reference is a strange thing. Some examples:
The descriptions of the tables of a Relational Database are themselves stored in a table.
The descriptions of classes in languages like Smalltalk Language or Java Language are instances of themselves.
Software companies are using Dog Food.
So Self Reference is something which goes across the boundaries of distinctions.
(table vs row, class vs instance, developer vs customer).
[See Meta Pattern for a very similar page.]
Compare Recursion Recursion
See also Feedback Loop (as in Control System)
Compare Self Modifying Code.
See original on c2.com 