On Cybernetics (1990-1999)

"[Systems science] does not aim to find the one true representation for a given type of systems (e. g. physical, chemical or biological systems), but to formulate general principles about how different representations of different systems can be constructed so as to be effective in problem-solving." (Francis Heylighen, "Classical and non-classical representations in physics" I, Cybernetics and Systems 21, 1990)

"It seems that cybernetics is many different things to many different people. But this is because of the richness of its conceptual base; and I believe that this is very good, otherwise cybernetics would become a somewhat boring exercise. However, all of those perspectives arise from one central theme; that of circularity. When, perhaps a half century ago, the fecundity of this concept was seen, it was sheer euphoria to philosophize, epistemologize, and theorize about its unifying power and its consequences and ramification on various fields. While this was going on, something strange evolved among the philosophers, the epistemologists and, the theoreticians. They began to see themselves more and more as being included in a larger circularity; maybe within the circularity of their family; or that of their society and culture; or even being included in a circularity of cosmic proportions!" (Heinz von Foerster, "Ethics and Second-Order Cybernetics", 1991)

"The cybernetics phase of cognitive science produced an amazing array of concrete results, in addition to its long-term (often underground) influence: the use of mathematical logic to understand the operation of the nervous system; the invention of information processing machines (as digital computers), thus laying the basis for artificial intelligence; the establishment of the metadiscipline of system theory, which has had an imprint in many branches of science, such as engineering (systems analysis, control theory), biology (regulatory physiology, ecology), social sciences (family therapy, structural anthropology, management, urban studies), and economics (game theory); information theory as a statistical theory of signal and communication channels; the first examples of self-organizing systems. This list is impressive: we tend to consider many of these notions and tools an integrative part of our life […]" (Francisco Varela, "The Embodied Mind", 1991)

"[...] that it views information as constructed and reconstructed by an individual interacting with the environment This provides an epistemological foundation of science, by viewing it as observer-dependent. Another characteristic of the new cybernetics is its contribution towards bridging the micro-macro gap. That is, it links the individual with the society." (Kenneth D Bailey, Sociology and the New Systems Theory: Toward a theoretical synthesis, 1994)

"At the very least (there is certainly more), cybernetics implies a new philosophy about (1) what we can know, (2) about what it means for something to exist, and (3) about how to get things done. Cybernetics implies that knowledge is to be built up through effective goal-seeking processes, and perhaps not necessarily in uncovering timeless, absolute, attributes of things, irrespective of our purposes and needs." (Jeff Dooley, "Thoughts on the Question: What is Cybernetics", 1995)

"Cybernetics is a science of purposeful behavior. It helps us explain behavior as the continuous action of someone (or thing) in the process, as we see it, of maintaining certain conditions near a goal state, or purpose." (Jeff Dooley, "Thoughts on the Question: What is Cybernetics", 1995)

"In sharp contrast (with the traditional social planning) the systems design approach seeks to understand a problem situation as a system of interconnected, interdependent, and interacting issues and to create a design as a system of interconnected, interdependent, interacting, and internally consistent solution ideas." (Béla H Bánáthy, "Designing Social Systems in a Changing World", 1996)

"With the subsequent strong support from cybernetics, the concepts of systems thinking and systems theory became integral parts of the established scientific language, and led to numerous new methodologies and applications - systems engineering, systems analysis, systems dynamics, and so on." (Fritjof Capra, "The Web of Life", 1996)

"Something of the previous state, however, survives every change. This is called in the language of cybernetics (which took it form the language of machines) feedback, the advantages of learning from experience and of having developed reflexes." (Guy Davenport, "The Geography of the Imagination: Forty Essays", 1997)

"Cybernetics is the science of effective organization, of control and communication in animals and machines. It is the art of steersmanship, of regulation and stability. The concern here is with function, not construction, in providing regular and reproducible behaviour in the presence of disturbances. Here the emphasis is on families of solutions, ways of arranging matters that can apply to all forms of systems, whatever the material or design employed. [...] This science concerns the effects of inputs on outputs, but in the sense that the output state is desired to be constant or predictable – we wish the system to maintain an equilibrium state. It is applicable mostly to complex systems and to coupled systems, and uses the concepts of feedback and transformations (mappings from input to output) to effect the desired invariance or stability in the result." (Chris Lucas, "Cybernetics and Stochastic Systems", 1999)