"It is of first-class importance that our answer to the Riddle of the Sphinx
should be in step with how we conduct our civilisation, and this should in
turn be in step with the actual workings of living systems.
A major difficulty is that the answer to the Riddle of the Sphinx is partly
a product of the answers that we already have given to the riddle in its
various forms. Kurt Vonnegut gives us wary advice - that we should be
careful what we pretend because we become what we pretend. And something
like that, some sort of self-fulfilment, occurs in all organisations and
human cultures. What people presume to be 'human' is what they will build in
as premises of their social arrangements, and what they build in is sure to
be learned, is sure to become a part of the character of those who
participate.
And along with this self-validation of our answers, there goes something
still more serious - namely, that any answer which we promote, as it becomes
partly true through our promoting of it, becomes partly irreversible. There
is a lag in these affairs."
gregory bateson
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