ABSTRACT
The idea of anticipatory systems emerged from considering the nature of life in biological systems. An anticipatory system has a modelling function which is able to carry out time path mapping faster than the unfolding of ‘real’ time. A second-order cybernetic approach to anticipatory systems includes the observer. Since anticipation incorporates the capacity to act in accord with as well as perceive the future, from a second-order perspective, the state of the observer is a key factor in the functioning of an anticipatory system. A second-order development of the anticipatory system includes as part of the system an observer who is able to reflect and act on the consequence of anticipatory model assumptions. A challenge in understanding the notion of the anticipatory present moment as an integrated concept is that it is embedded in a second-order perspective, meaning it is a concept of a system with consciousness.
