CIRCUIT (Causal)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 440 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Methodology or model |
A circuit which “will generate a non-random response to a random event” (G. BATESON, 1973, p.380).
BATESON emphasizes that this will happen “at that position in the circuit at which the random event occurred” … and adds: “This is the general requisite for the creation of cybernetic restraint in any variable at any given position”.(Ibid)
ASHBY's concept of constraint is obviously synonym of BATESON's one of restraint.
The causal circuit as a cybernetic device “will be activated by changes in rate and…, when activated, will operate upon some variable … in such a way as to diminiish the change in rate” (Ibid).
The notion of causal circuit introduces necessarily the system's view and, moreover, the dynamic dimension of systems.
W.R. WINBURN puts it as follows: “(logical dilemma, like the Epimenides paradox) arise from the inability of logic to consider time in the description of a causal process. When time is not considered, the ability of a circuit to issue opposite responses to identical stimuli presents a contradiction. The difference between the description of a linear causal process independent of time and a description of a causal circuit in which time matters is analogous to a difference of logical type. The time-dependent behavior of circuits forces us to abandon the level of individual parts and see instead a ”system“ that responds as a whole” (1991, 559).