The First Recursion Is Language

Consensual Coordination is a normal, common way of two or more beings coordinating their living in the same space in realtime Structural Coupling. Their behaviour is coordinated without any need to think or evaluate - it is simply part of how beings behave together in workable a matrix of relations. page

Pille Bunnell had not studied Maturana’s work 35 years ago when she had a baby and was watching the development of his language, and that of all the other young ones around.

> Hence, a lot of what I have learned I learned from my dog through trying to discern to what extent she is capable of language. I am not interested in competing for a maximum vocabulary, I’m not interested in how well I can “train” this being; I want to “converse” with her as much as she is capable of. After all, her nervous system is adequate, and she is a social being, like most canids.

Early on Pille learned that Sindi responds to her sounds not according to what she thinks she says, but according to the action that the sound coordinates, from her perspective. For example, “rrrrope” which she thought meant “rope” turned out to mean “lets play pulling on something”. “Soon” means “wait” for her, and “soon, soon, soon” means “wait a while, be patient”, and “soon, soon, soon.... etc.... soon” means Pille is going out of town and she heads off to her bed and looks dejected. Pille sees now how “pidgin english” would naturally arise.

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Sindi has not been capable of engaging in the next recursion, the consensual coordination of consensual coordination of consensual coordination; ie. distinguishing and naming, discussed on the next page.