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     * [3]Web Dictionary of Cybernetics and Systems
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                                    SELF-REFERENCE

   In the [4]context of [5]language, a statement that refers to itself or contains
   its own referent (see [6]reference). Self-referential statements may be
   redundant, e.g., "this is an English sentence", in the sense that the statement
   informs (see [7]information) what a speaker of the English language already
   presumes in order to interpret it (see [8]redundancy). They may also be
   manifestly false or contradictory, e.g., "this is a French sentence" or "this
   sentence contains four words". Self-referential statements may also be e.g.,
   "this sentence is false". Paradoxical self-reference is said to exhibit a vicious
   cycle (see [9]paradox). In the more general sense, self-reference is involved in
   a description which refers to something that affects, [10]controls or has the
   power to modify the form or the validity of that description. The circularity
   which the statement implies involves non-linguistic contexts as well. E.g., a
   [11]self-fulfilling prophesy, [12]double bind, the description of a [13]system by
   an observer who is part of the system observed, the cognitive [14]organization of
   biological organisms. In this general sense, self-reference establishes a
   circularity that may involve not only referential but also causal, interpersonal
   or instrumental [15]relations and thereby constitute (see [16]constitution) a
   [17]unity of its own. ([18]Krippendorff)
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