The Observer Observes the Observer
Reflection · 05 · From Dublin on Position, Perception and Relational Reality
Knowledge Summit Dublin evening gathering with Dave Snowden, Dawn, Alice Jing Shan, and a rainbow at the Guinness Storehouse.
Dave and I had been talking about the observer, reality, and how much depends on position at the dinner.
Suddenly, a rainbow appeared outside the window!
We both decided to capture the moment.
One moment.
Two observers. Two generations.
Two reactions to the same rainbow.
One looking outward to capture nature as he saw it,
One looking outward by looking inward, capturing the moment with humans in it through a selfie.
The rainbow appears outside the window,
and again through another interface.
It reminded me of Bian Zhilin’s 卞之琳 short poem Fragment 《断章》:
你站在桥上看风景，
看风景的人在楼上看你。
明月装饰了你的窗子，
你装饰了别人的梦。You stand on the bridge looking at the view,
The viewer on the balcony is viewing you.
The bright moon adorns your window,
And you adorn someone else’s dream.
Reality is not observed from nowhere. The observer is already in the relational field.
Reality is not observed from nowhere.
The observer is already inside the relational field.
Dave Snowden, Dawn, and Alice Jing Shan at the Guinness Storehouse during the Knowledge Summit Dublin evening gathering.
Yesterday was the first time Dave Snowden and I met in person. Until then, I had only encountered him through online exchanges. Suddenly, he was 3D. Technically, 4D, because time is the constitutive dimension of system trajectory.
Anyway, there was a moment when my system experienced a wee shock, followed by some recalibration. He was much taller than I had imagined, and I only realised I had said that out loud while we were walking side by side, when he replied that he used to be taller.
Then he said old people shrink. I said nothing while while my neck stretched my neck was stretched, but from my 5’3”, his current 6’1” is still very much operationally tall. Just like my husband, who casually puts things on top of the fridge. Yes, the fridge. Reality is relational.
Later, on the way back to the accommodation, Dawn and I spoke about how the world appears from a small child’s eyes. Height is not just a measurement; it changes access, proportion, distance, threat, comfort, and possibility. A room is not the same room from every body.
This is why I keep returning to relational dynamics under constraint over time. Reality is not experienced from nowhere. It is lived from a position, through an interface, under conditions.
