LEARNING (Zero)
Charles François (2004). LEARNING (Zero), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(1): 1898.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1898 ▶ |
| Object type | Epistemology, ontology or semantics, Methodology or model |
- “The simple receipt of information from an external event, in such a way that a similar event at a later (and appropriate) time will convey the same information” (G. BATESON, 1973, p.255).
This definition needs at least one qualification: Zero-learning is not independent of context, which, in BATESON's definition is present through the words “similar” and “appropriate”. BATESON's own example indicates as much: “I ”learn“ from the factory whistle that it is twelve o'clock”. This implies:
1) that I have registerred former experience that the factory blows the whistle every day when my watch indicates 12 o'clock;
2) that the factory's whistle is not blown randomly for example again l0 minutes later, which, if I have no watch, would leave me in a state of doubt as to which of the whistles really marked 12 o'clock.