As I announced some time ago, I was invited to write a review paper
on cybernetics for the Encyclopedia of Physical Science & Technology
(3rd ed.), (Academic Press). The final version of the paper is now
ready, and available at
http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/Papers/Cybernetics-EPST.pdf
Although it is obviously very difficult to summarize all the main
ideas of cybernetics in a single paper without remaining very
superficial, I think my co-author Cliff Joslyn and I have managed to
do a quite decent job, and I would recommend the paper to anybody who
wants to get an introduction to and overview of the main concepts
(e.g. variety, feedback, closure, control, constructivism, ...) and
principles (e.g. law of requisite variety, requisite hierarchy,
self-organization, ...) of cybernetics.
Where possible, the ideas have been made explicit using simple
formulas and diagrams. Since this is meant for a "hard science"
encyclopedia, we have focused more on the "hard" ideas, and less on
the philosophical, social and psychological implications, although
these are implicit throughout the article.
We thank Val Turchin and Ranulph Glanville for reviewing the
manuscript and suggesting improvements. Although the Encyclopedia
requested us to write the paper in an "authoritative" manner, as if
we were expressing the general consensus in the field, it is obvious
that such a consensus does not really exist, and therefore the paper
should be read as our own view on cybernetics. Still, I think we have
managed to include most of the ideas that cyberneticians generally
agree upon, although other authors might have liked to put the
emphasis differently.
-----------------------------------------
Cybernetics and Second-Order Cybernetics
Francis Heylighen
Free University of Brussels
Cliff Joslyn
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Contents
I.Historical Development of Cybernetics
I.1.Origins
I.2.Second Order Cybernetics
I.3.Cybernetics Today
II.Relational Concepts
II.1.Distinctions and Relations
II.2.Variety and Constraint
II.3.Entropy and Information
II.4.Modelling Dynamics
III.Circular Processes
III.1.Self-Application
III.2.Self-Organization
III.3.Closure
III.4.Feedback Cycles
IV.Goal-Directedness and Control
IV.1.Goal-Directedness
IV.2.Mechanisms of Control
IV.3.The Law of Requisite Variety
IV.4.Components of a Control System
IV.5.Control Hierarchies
V.Cognition
V.1.Requisite Knowledge
V.2.The Modelling Relation
V.3.Learning and Model-Building
V.4.Constructivist Epistemology
Bibliography
--_________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Francis Heylighen <fheyligh@vub.ac.be> -- Center "Leo Apostel" Free University of Brussels, Krijgskundestr. 33, 1160 Brussels, Belgium tel +32-2-6442677; fax +32-2-6440744; http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/HEYL.html ======================================== Posting to pcp-discuss@lanl.gov from Francis Heylighen <fheyligh@vub.ac.be>
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