International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics

The reciprocal relation which appears when two partners of communication, that Luhmann calls Ego and Alter, start their relationship. In L. QVORTRUP words: "Ego communicates, but it communicates with the other as a projection of ego, i.e. with Alter ego. Here, contingency becomes mutual, or doble contingency"(1993, p. 15). It may become a kind of mirroring mirrors.

This is quite similar to G. PASK concept of conversation. In fact, Ego and Alter are trying to understand each other, i.e. trying to express themselves in terms understandable to the other. If any result is to be obtained, it can be only in terms of reciprocal adjustments of meanings. Or in other words, the internal reference frame of both experiences an adaptation in order to represent the other. It is a kind of experimental construction of a significant relationship: one must be able to interprete the other, in terms that allow for an evermore fluid exchange. It means that Ego's own reference frame must ideally reflect in an adaptable way what one perceives of Alter's reference frame.

Moreover, only if this works in a satisfactory way, can it become a sound basis for social systems. As a result, in LUHMANN's words (as translated and quoted by Qvortrup): "… cognition has to be understood as the recursive processing of symbols (however materialized) in systems which are closed through the conditions of the connectability of their operations" (Ibid)

Anyhow Luhmann considers "that the social systems cannot think". This is probably the root of all social problems: thoughtful communication is scattered in a multidinous way and "public opinion" is that self-produced and reproduced unconscious monster made of myriad of small monsters described in BÖCKLIN's engraving. The results are generally enigmatic and sometimes frightful