Meta

The mobius strip is a model of self-reference you can make with receipt paper

Meta is a prefix that can be added to any word to denote self-reference, recursion, and feedback loops.

Kurt Gödel is the patron saint of self-reference.

Meta can also represent transcendence and higher level orders of complexity, where individual actors at one level of organization create a new, self-organized fractal pattern of behavior when acting collectively.

Meta was also the name of this organization and website for nearly 20 years before certain social media crypto-bros decided it was cool.

A short list of cultural references that elicit this concept:

• Yin and Yang
• Snake eating its own tail (Ouroboros)
• Möbius strip
• Turtles All the Way Down
• The Trinity
• M.C. Escher

Why Mapping Reality is an Infinite Loop

Barry Manilow - I Write the Songs