On Constructing a Reality - Understanding Understanding: Essays on Cybernetics and Cognition - page 227

concede that they themselves may insists that they are the sole reality and
everything else is only a concoction of their imagination. In that case their
imaginary universe will be populated with apparitions, one of which may
be he , the gentleman with the bowler hat.
According to the principle of relativity, which rejects a hypothesis when
it does not hold for two instances together, although it holds for each
instance separately (Earthlings and Venusians may be consistent in claim-
ing to be in the center of the universe, but their claims fall to pieces if they
should ever get together), the solipsistic claim falls to pieces when besides
me I invent another autonomous organism. However, it should be noted
that since the principle of relativity is not a logical necessity—nor is it a
proposition that can be proven to be either true or false—the crucial point
to be recognized here is that I am free to choose either to adopt this prin-
ciple or to reject. If I reject it, I am the center of the universe, my reality is
my dreams and my nightmares, my language is monologue, and my logic
monologic. If I adopt it, neither I nor the other can be the center of the uni-
verse. As in the heliocentric system, there must be a third that is the central
reference. It is the relation between Thou and I, and this relation is
identity :

reality

= community

What are the consequences of all this in ethics and aesthetics?
The ethical imperative : Act always so as to increase the number of choices.
The aesthetical imperative : If you desire to see, learn how to act.

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