CYBERNETICS (The scope of)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 791 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Epistemology, ontology or semantics |
G. PASK formulated the following opinions about the scope of cybernetics:
- “… tough I can see the difference between cybernetics, General Systems Theory and Cognitive Information Science, I fail, completely, to see its practical significance unless a very specific piece of work is in mind; and, as a result of that, fail also to get in the least irritated if these terms are misapplied…
- “I believe that Cybernetics (and the allied sciences) are peculiarly concerned with well formed analogies, the manipulation of metaphor and the epistemological/psychological/social problems that attend these pursuits.
- “… Cybernetic theories comment upon these processes, which are excluded, strictly, from consideration by the run of other sciences, except when viewed from the special perspectives of metaphysics or of metamathematics…
- “As a result, all Cybernetics theories are relativistic and some of the more interesting theories are also reflective (becoming ”objective“ only at specific points, where sharp valued independent measurement is possible). For example, with my psychological hat on, but still retaining a Cybernetic orientation, I insist upon dealing with consciousness, not excluding it (hence, with self-referential and other referential systems).
- “… I am prone to regard the use of information measures and statistical accounts as only one (quite useful) way of dealing with the situation. Since such methods are apt to objectify the phenomena, I think they are somewhat overrated. The chief hazard, is the temptation to use appeals to ”complexity“ as an excuse for not tackling the real issue of ”reflective“ theories and their interpretation.
- “… Amongst the more important growing points are: a) Theory of reproductive automata… b) The theory of metagames… c) Fuzzy logics and concurrent computation… d) Categorical algebras… e) Aspects of topology… able to accomodate or represent knowable relations and cultural patterns” (1973, p.5).
As to Artificial Intelligence, in PASK's opinion: “Perhaps the subject should be called ”General Intellect“ instead of Artificial Intelligence” (Ibid). As early as 1973, PASK perceived that the process of learning was of paramount importance and that it was not possible to limit the subject to “… the clever application of problem solving techniques” (Ibid).
According to F. ROBB, general cybernetics includes:
- Conversation theory (G. PASK)
- Autopoiesis (MATURANA and VARELA)
- Deviation amplifying mutual causal processes (M. MARUYAMA) (see also 2nd cybernetics)
- Self-organizing systems (I. PRIGOGINE)
- Self-steering systems
- Meta-system theory (J.van Gigch)
which ROBB considers as “much intermingled streams of cybernetic thought” (1989, p. 51).
Of course, none of these concepts and theory can ignore the original basic concepts of feedback, regulation and control.