CONTROL (Symbolic)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 697 ▶ |
| Object type | Human sciences, Methodology or model |
The collective maintenance of standard values of meanings in a culture.
Symbolic control is necessary to allow for the transgenerational transfer of meanings and general knowledge. It is obtained through syntactic, semiotic and semantic rules, generated through conversation among the participants of the culture and becomes stabilized by autopoietic closure. All kinds of schools, academies, etc…, as transmitters of all kinds of standardized languages are the most common symbolic controllers.
The idea was already clearly enounced by CONFUCIUS, when he insisted on the necessity of “correct designations” to maintain the “celestial order” in the chinese realms. He thus established the future cornerstone of imperial mandarinate, a typical symbolic control system.