Cybernetics

nes and living organisms. The founder is thought to be Norbert Wiener, an American mathematician, who published a book in 194 called !"bernetics# $r the !ontrol and !ommunication in the Animal and the %achine. !"bernetics underwent different development in various countries. &n the West, it more or less merged with the general s"stems theor", and a number of disciplines that were regarded as part of c"bernetics have been developing as independent fields ' e.g. informatics or neural networks. &n the ()ocialist bloc* countries, c"bernetics was regarded as a (bourgeois pseudo+ science*, for purel" ideological reasons. &t onl" began to be accepted in the mid+19,-s. After that, it turned into an umbrella discipline for man" fields that had become independent in the free world. .ven informatics was considered part of c"bernetics.

The key principles of cybernetics

Feedback: The feedback principle was known earlier in regulation technolog" and was used in the design of feedback amplifiers for the purposes of communication technolog". /owever, the founders of c"bernetics recogni0ed this to be a ver" general principle. &t is a special merit of c"bernetics that it became widel" known, making possible the e1planation of a series of phenomena taking place in various d"namic s"stems. Information: 2raduall", an e1act theor" of information came to e1istence as a branch of probabilit" theor". &nformation has enriched our ph"sical image of the world in that it represents as important an entit" as matter or energ". &nformation is probabl" the ma3or concept brought b" c"bernetics. &nformation processing is becoming increasingl" important, graduall" changing the character of our lives. Model: The s"stematic stud" of various s"stems led to the knowledge that s"stems of various ph"sical essence can displa" ver" similar behaviour, and that the behaviour of one s"stem can be studied b" means of another, more easil" implemented s"stem under completel" different time and space conditions. &t became obvious that man" mechanical h"draulic, pneumatic, etc. s"stems are formall" described b" the same differential e4uations as electrical circuits. This led to the creation of special electrical circuits if analog computers. 5er" soon, however, these were replaced b" s"mbolic models on digital computers.

Cybernetics Today
The term 6c"bernetics6 has been widel" misunderstood, perhaps for two broad reasons. 7irst, its identit" and boundar" are difficult to grasp. The nature of its concepts and the breadth of its applications, as described above, make it difficult for non+practitioners to form a clear concept of c"bernetics. This holds even for professionals of all sorts, as c"bernetics never became a popular discipline in its own right8 rather, its concepts and viewpoints seeped into man" other disciplines, from sociolog" and ps"cholog" to design

methods and post+modern thought. )econd, the advent of the prefi1 6c"b6 or 6c"ber6 as a referent to either robots 96c"borgs6: or the &nternet 96c"berspace6: further diluted its meaning, to the point of serious confusion to ever"one e1cept the small number of c"bernetic e1perts. /owever, the concepts and origins of c"bernetics have become of greater interest recentl", especiall" since around the "ear ;---. <ack of success b" A& to create intelligent machines has increased curiosit" toward alternative views of what a brain does =Ashb" 19>-? and alternative views of the biolog" of cognition =%aturana 19@-?. There is growing recognition of the value of a 6science of sub3ectivit"6 that encompasses both ob3ective and sub3ective interactions, including conversation =Aask 19@>?. Besigners are rediscovering the influence of c"bernetics on the tradition of ;-th+centur" design methods, and the need for rigorous models of goals, interaction, and s"stem limitations for the successful development of comple1 products and services, such as those delivered via toda"Cs software networks. And, as in an" social c"cle, students of histor" reach back with minds more open than was possible at the inception of c"bernetics, to reinterpret the meaning and contribution of a previous era.

1955
M. Rozental, P. Judin: A Concise Dictionary of Philisophy, !P"
Cybernetics 9from the Ancient 2reek word meaning (controlling*: ' a reactionar" pseudo+science which emerged in the D)A after the )econd World War and spread widel" to other capitalist countries8 a form of contemporar" mechanicism. The adherents of c"bernetics define it as a universal science about links and communications in technolog", about living organisms and social life, about (general organi0ation( and control of all processes in nature and societ". Thus, c"bernetics regards mechanical, biological and social principles and their mutual interconnections and as identical. As ever" mechanistic theor", c"bernetics denies the 4ualitative specificit" of laws of various forms of e1istence and the development of matter and reduces them to mechanical laws. !"bernetics originated on the basis of modern development of electronics, especiall" the latest mechani0ed computing machines, automation and telemechanics. !ontrar" to the old 1@+1 th centur" mechanicism, c"bernetics does not stud" ps"choph"siological and social phenomena analogicall" with the simplest mechanisms, but with electronic machines and devices, e4uating brain work with the work of a computing machine and social life with the s"stem of electrodes and radio communications. &n its essence, c"bernetic runs against materialistic dialectics, against modern scientific ph"siolog" founded b" &.A. Aavlov, as well as against the %ar1ist scientific concept of social life laws. This mechanistic metaph"sical pseudo+science gets along magnificentl" with idealism in philosoph", ps"cholog" and sociolog". !"bernetics clearl" e1presses one of the main features of the bourgeois world+view, its inhumane character and attempt to convert workers into machine parts, into work tools and the instrument of war. At the same time, c"bernetics t"picall" displa"s imperialist utopianism according to which a living thinking human fighting for his interests should

be replaced b" a machine in both production and war. The instigators of a new world war use c"bernetics for their dirt" practical interests. Dnder the veil of propaganda, researchers in imperialist countries are being involved in the preparation of new means of mass e1termination of humans ' electronic, telemechanic and automatic weapons whose construction and production have turned into a huge branch of the war industr" of the capitalist countries. Thus, c"bernetics is not onl" an ideological weapon of imperialist reaction but also a means for implementing their aggressive war plans.

1996
Co#prehensi$e %ncyclopaedia Diderot in four $olu#es, &P Publishin' (ouse
Cybernetics + a science dealing with the s"stems of controlling processes in animate and inanimate ob3ects, organisms, machines. The name is derived from the 2reek word k"bernetes, i.e. helmsman. !"bernetics studies the problem of control s"stems building and the processes in automatons, computers, living organisms as well as social s"stems. &t creates a unified view of animate and inanimate s"stems in that it encompasses knowledge of various fields, e.g. biolog", ph"siolog", ps"chiatr", ps"cholog", logics, mathematics, machine data processing, automation and regulation technolog", control theor". ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Cybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of complex systems, especially communication processes, control mechanisms and feedback principles. Cybernetics is closely related to control theory and systems theory.

Contemporary cybernetics began as an interdisciplinary study connecting the fields of control systems, electrical network theory, mechanical engineering, logic modeling, evolutionary biology and neuroscience in the 1940s. ther fields of study which have influenced or been influenced by cybernetics include game theory, system theory !a mathematical counterpart to cybernetics", psychology !especially neuropsychology, behavioral psychology, cognitive psychology", philosophy, and architecture. #1$ &$er$ie) %he term cybernetics stems from the &reek !kybernetes, steersman, governor, pilot, or rudder the same root as government". Cybernetics is a broad field of study, but the essential goal of cybernetics is to understand and define the functions and processes of systems that have goals, and that participate in circular, causal chains that move from action to sensing to comparison with desired goal to action. 'tudies of this field are all ultimately means of examining different forms of systems and applying what is known to make the design and function of any system, including artificial systems such as business management, more efficient and effective.

(orbert )iener Cybernetics was defined by (orbert )iener, in his book of that title, as the study of control and communication in the animal and the machine. 'tafford *eer called it the science of effective organi+ation and &ordon ,ask extended it to include information flows -in all media- from stars to brains. .t includes the study of feedback, black boxes and derived concepts such as communication and control in living organisms, machines and organi+ations including self/ organi+ation. .ts focus is how anything !digital, mechanical or biological" processes information, reacts to information, and changes or can be changed to better accomplish the first two tasks #0$. 1 more philosophical definition, suggested in 1923 by 4ouis Couffignal, one of the pioneers of cybernetics, characteri+es cybernetics as -the art of ensuring the efficacy of action- #5$. %he most recent definition has been proposed by 4ouis 6auffman, ,resident of the 1merican 'ociety for Cybernetics, -Cybernetics is the study of systems and processes that interact with themselves and produce themselves from themselves- #4$. Concepts studied by cyberneticists !or, as some prefer, cyberneticians" include, but are not limited to7 learning, cognition, adaption, social control, emergence, communication, efficiency, efficacy and interconnectivity. %hese concepts are studied by other sub8ects such as engineering and biology, but in cybernetics these are removed from the context of the individual organism or device. ther fields of study which have influenced or been influenced by cybernetics include game theory9 system theory !a mathematical counterpart to cybernetics"9 psychology, especially neuropsychology, behavioral psychology,cognitive psychology9 philosophy9 anthropology and even architecture. (istory The Roots of Cybernetic theory %he word cybernetics was first used in the context of -the study of self/governance- by ,lato in %he 4aws to signify the governance of people. %he words govern and governor are related to the same &reek root through the 4atin cognates gubernare and gubernator. %he word -cybernati:uewas also used in 1;54 by the physicist 1ndre/<arie 1mpere !1==/1;53" to denote the sciences of government in his classification system of human knowledge.

>ames )att %he first artificial automatic regulatory system, a water clock, was invented by the mechanician 6tesibios. .n his water clocks, water flowed from a source such as a holding tank into a reservoir, then from the reservoir to the mechanisms of the clock. 6tesibios?s device used a cone/shaped float to monitor the level of the water in its reservoir and ad8ust the rate of flow of the water accordingly to maintain a constant level of water in the reservoir, so that it neither overflowed nor was allowed to run dry. %his was the first artificial truly automatic self/regulatory device that re:uired no outside intervention between the feedback and the controls of the mechanism. 1lthough they did not refer to this concept by the name of Cybernetics !they considered it a field of engineering", 6tesibios and others such as @eron and 'u 'ong are considered to be some of the first to study cybernetic principles. %he study of teleological mechanisms !from the &reek or telos for end, goal, or purpose" in machines with corrective feedback dates from as far back as the late 1=00s when >ames )att?s steam engine was e:uipped with a governor, a centripetal feedback valve for controlling the speed of the engine. 1lfred Aussel )allace identified this as the principle of evolution in his famous 1;2; paper. .n 1;3; >ames Clerk <axwell published a theoretical article on governors, one of the first to discuss and refine the principles of self/regulating devices. >akob von Bexell applied the feedback mechanism via his model of functional cycle ! Funktionskreis" in order to explain animal behaviour and the origins of meaning in general. The %arly *+th century Contemporary cybernetics began as an interdisciplinary study connecting the fields of control systems, electrical network theory, mechanical engineering, logic modeling, evolutionary biology and neuroscience in the 1940s. Clectronic control systems originated with the 190= work of *ell %elephone 4aboratories engineer @arold '. *lack on using negative feedback to control amplifiers. %he ideas are also related to the biological work of 4udwig von *ertalanffy in &eneral 'ystems %heory. Carly applications of negative feedback in electronic circuits included the control of gun mounts and radar antenna during )orld )ar %wo. >ay Dorrester, a graduate student at the 'ervomechanisms 4aboratory at <.% during )).. working with &ordon '. *rown to develop electronic control systems for the B.'. (avy, later applied these ideas to social organi+ations such as corporations and cities as an original organi+er of the <.% 'chool of .ndustrial <anagement at the <.% 'loan 'chool of <anagement. Dorrester is known as the founder of 'ystem Eynamics.

). Aoss 1shby ). Cdwards Eeming, the %otal Fuality <anagement guru for whom >apan named its top post/ )).. industrial pri+e, was an intern at *ell %elephone 4abs in 190= and may have been influenced by network theory. Eeming made -Bnderstanding 'ystems- one of the four pillars of what he described as -,rofound 6nowledge- in his book -%he (ew Cconomics.(umerous papers spearheaded the coalescing of the field. .n 1952 Aussian physiologist ,.6. 1nokhin published a book in which the concept of feedback !-back afferentation-" was studied. %he Aomanian scientist GHtefan doble8a published Psychologie consonantiste !,aris, 195;", describing many cybernetic principles. %he study and mathematical modelling of regulatory processes became a continuing research effort and two key articles were published in 1945. %hese papers were -*ehavior, ,urpose and %eleology- by 1rturo Aosenblueth, (orbert )iener, and >ulian *igelow9 and the paper -1 4ogical Calculus of the .deas .mmanent in (ervous 1ctivityby )arren <cCulloch and )alter ,itts. Cybernetics as a discipline was firmly established by )iener, <cCulloch and others, such as ). Aoss 1shby and ). &rey )alter. )alter was one of the first to build autonomous robots as an aid to the study of animal behaviour. %ogether with the B' and B6, an important geographical locus of early cybernetics was Drance. .n the spring of 194=, )iener was invited to a congress on harmonic analysis, held in (ancy, Drance. %he event was organi+ed by the *ourbaki, a Drench scientific society, and mathematician '+olem <andelbro8t !1;99/19;5", uncle of the world/famous mathematician *enot <andelbrot. Euring this stay in Drance, )iener received the offer to write a manuscript on the unifying character of this part of applied mathematics, which is found in the study of *rownian motion and in telecommunication engineering. %he following summer, back in the Bnited 'tates, )iener decided to introduce the neologism cybernetics into his scientific theory. %he name cybernetics was coined to denote the study of -teleological mechanisms- and was populari+ed through his book Cybernetics, or Control and Communication in the Animal and Machine !@ermann I Cie, ,aris, 194;". .n the B6 this became the focus for the Aatio Club. .n the early 1940?s >ohn von (eumann, although better known for his work in mathematics and computer science, did contribute a uni:ue and unusual addition to the world of cybernetics7 Jon (eumann cellular automata, and their logical follow up the Jon (eumann Bniversal Constructor. %he result of these deceptively simple thought/experiments was the concept of self replication which cybernetics adopted as a core concept. %he concept that the same properties of genetic reproduction applied to social memes, living cells, and even computer viruses is further proof of the somewhat surprising universality of cybernetic study. )iener populari+ed the social implications of cybernetics, drawing analogies between automatic systems !such as a regulated steam engine" and human institutions in his best/selling The Human Use of Human eings ! Cybernetics and "ociety !@oughton/<ifflin, 1920".

)hile not the only instance of a research organi+ation focused on cybernetics, the *iological Computer 4ab at the Bniversity of .llinois, BrbanaKChampaign, under the direction of @ein+ von Doerster, was a ma8or center of cybernetic research for almost 00 years, beginning in 192;. The ,all and Rebirth of Cybernetics Dor a time during the past 50 years, the field of cybernetics followed a boom/bust cycle of becoming more and more dominated by the subfields of artificial intelligence and machine/ biological interfaces !ie. cyborgs" and when this research fell out of favor, the field as a whole fell from grace. .n the 19=0s new cybernetics has emerged in multiple fields, first in biology. 'ome biologists influenced by cybernetic concepts !<aturana and Jarela, 19;0"9 Jarela, 19=99 1tlan, 19=9" reali+ed that the cybernetic metaphors of the program upon which molecular biology had been based rendered a conception of the autonomy of the living being impossible. Conse:uently, these thinkers were led to invent a new cybernetics, one more suited to the organi+ations which mankind discovers in nature / organi+ations he has not himself invented. %he possibility that this new cybernetics could also account for social forms of organi+ation, remained an ob8ect of debate among theoreticians on self/organi+ation in the 19;0s. #2$ .n political science, ,ro8ect Cybersyn attempted to introduce a cybernetically controlled economy during the early 19=0s. .n the 19;0s, unlike its predecessor, the new cybernetics concerns itself with the interaction of autonomous political actors and subgroups, and the practical and reflexive consciousness of the sub8ects who produce and reproduce the structure of a political community. 1 dominant consideration is that of recursiveness, or self/reference of political action both with regards to the expression of political consciousness and with the ways in which systems build upon themselves.#3$ &eyer and van der Louwen in 19=; discussed a number of characteristics of the emerging -new cybernetics-. ne characteristic of new cybernetics is that it views information as constructed and reconstructed by an individual interacting with the environment. %his provides an epistemological foundation of science, by viewing it as observer/dependent. 1nother characteristic of the new cybernetics is its contribution towards bridging the -micro/macro gap-. %hat is, it links the individual with the society. &eyer and van der Louwen also noted that a transition from classical cybernetics to the new cybernetics involves a transition from classical problems to new problems. %hese shifts in thinking involve, among others, a change from emphasis on the system being steered to the system doing the steering, and the factor which guides the steering decisions. 1nd a new emphasis on communication between several systems which are trying to steer each other.#=$ Aecent endeavors into the true focus of cybernetics, systems of control and emergent behavior, by such related fields as &ame %heory !the analysis of group interaction", systems of feedback in evolution, and <etamaterials !the study of materials with properties beyond the newtonian properties of their constituent atoms", have led to a revived interest in this increasingly relevant field.#0$ -n .iolo'y Cybernetics in biology is the study of cybernetic systems present in biological organisms, primarily focusing on how animals adapt to their environment, and how information in the form of genes is passed from generation to generation#;$. %here is also a secondary focus on cyborgs.

!"bernetics is the science of control. &ts name, appropriatel" suggested b" the mathematician Norbert Wiener 91 94+19>4:, is derived from the 2reek for (steersman*, pointing to the essence of c"bernetics as the stud" and design of devices for maintaining stabilit", or for homing in on a goal or target. &ts central concept is feedback. )ince the (devices* ma" be living or man+made, c"bernetics bridges biolog" and engineering. )tabilit" of the human bod" is achieved b" its static geometr" and, ver" differentl", b" its d"namic control. A statue of a human being has to have a large base or it topples over. &t falls when the centre of mass is verticall" outside the base of the feet. <iving people make continuous corrections to maintain themselves standing. )mall deviations of posture are signalled b" sensor" signals 9proprioception: from nerve fibres in the muscles and around the 3oint capsules of the ankles and legs, and b" the otoliths 9the organs of balance in the inner ear:. !orrections of posture are the result of d"namic feedback from these senses, to maintain d"namic stabilit". When walking towards a target, such as the door of a room, deviations from the path are noted, mainl" visuall", and corrected from time to time during the movement, until the goal is reached. The ke" to this process is continuous correction of the output s"stem b" signals representing detected errors of the output, known as (negative feedback*. The same principle, often called servo-control, is used in engineering, in order to maintain the stabilit" of machiner" and to seek and find goals, with man" applications such as guided missiles and autopilots. The principles of feedback appl" to the bod"Cs regulation of temperature, blood pressure, and so on. Though the principles are essentiall" the same as in engineering, for living organisms d"namic stabilit" b" feedback is often called (homeostasis*, following W. E. !annonCs pioneering book The wisdom of the body 919F;:. &n the histor" of engineering, there are hints of the principle back to ancient 2reek devices, such as self+regulating oil lamps. 7rom the %iddle Ages the tail vane of windmills, continuousl" steering the sails into the veering wind, are well+known earl" e1amples of guidance b" feedback. A more sophisticated s"stem reduced the weight of the upper grinding stone when the wind fell, to keep the mill operating optimall" in changing conditions. )ervo+s"stems using feedback can make machines remarkabl" life+like. The first feedback device to be mathematicall" described was the rotar" governor, used b" Games Watt to keep the rate of steam engines constant with var"ing loads. )ervo+s"stems suffer characteristic oscillations when the output overshoots the target, as occurs when the feedback is too slow or too weak to correct the output. !hanging the (loop gain* 9i.e. the magnitude of correction resulting from a particular feedback signal: increases tremor for machines and organisms. &t is tempting to believe that (intention tremor* of patients who have suffered damage to the cerebellum is caused b" a change in the characteristics of servo control. B"namic control re4uires the transmission of information. !oncepts of information are included in c"bernetics, especiall" following !laud )hannonCs important mathematical anal"sis in 1949. &t does not, however, cover digital computing. !"bernetic s"stems are usuall" analogue, and computing is described with ver" different concepts. .arl" Artificial &ntelligence 9A&: was analogue+based 9reaching mental goals b" correcting

abstract errors: and there has recentl" been a return to analogue computing s"stems, with self+organi0ing (neural nets*. A principal pioneer of c"bernetic concepts of brain function was the !ambridge ps"chologist Henneth !raik, who described thinking in terms of ph"sical models analogous to ph"siological processes. !raik pointed to engineering e1amples, such as HelvinCs tide predictor, which predicted tides with a s"stem of pulle"s and levers. The essential c"bernetic philosoph" of neuroph"siolog" is that the brain functions b" such principles as feedback and information, represented b" electro+chemical, ph"sical activit" in the nervous s"stem. &t is assumed that this creates mind# so, in principle, and no doubt in practice, machines can be full" mindfu. Richard L. Gregory Eibliograph"

!annon, W. E. 919F;:. The wisdom of the body. New Iork. !raik, H. G. W. 9194F:. The nature of explanation. !ambridge. %a"r, $. 919@-:. The origins of feedback control. !ambridge, %. A. )hannon, !. .. and Weaver, W. 91949:. The mathematical theory of information. Drbana. Weiner, N. 9194 :. ybernetics. New Iork