
Introduction to Cybernetics (1957) - quazar
http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/ASHBBOOK.html
======
empath75
Fun trivia: Cybernetics and Kubernetes have the same etymology, as does the
word ‘government’

All of them ultimately are derived for the Greek word for ‘steer’

~~~
leoc
The negative-feedback device that fixes the speed of a steam engine is
actually called a governor:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrifugal_governor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrifugal_governor)
.

~~~
bcaa7f3a8bbc
It's also why a software algorithm that controls CPU frequency scaling is
called a "CPU governor" [0] in Linux kernel. Although the mechanism is
completely different, but the analogy is used here since it controls the
speed.

[0]
[https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/CPU_frequency_scaling#S...](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/CPU_frequency_scaling#Scaling_governors)

------
platz
cybernetics links:

What is cybernetics? [https://vimeo.com/41776276](https://vimeo.com/41776276)

DESIGN FOR A SELF-REGENERATING ORGANIZATION
[https://www.pangaro.com/ashby+design-for-self-
regenerating-c...](https://www.pangaro.com/ashby+design-for-self-regenerating-
corporation.htm)

NOTES 358 ON THE ROLE OF LEADERSHIP & LANGUAGE IN REGENERATING ORGANIZATIONS
[http://www.pangaro.com/littlegreybook-
dom.pdf](http://www.pangaro.com/littlegreybook-dom.pdf)

Towards a theoretical foundation for agile development
[https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7302798](https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7302798)

Viable system model
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viable_system_model](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viable_system_model)

Conversation, Education, Constructivism and Cybernetics
[https://people.well.com/user/elin/edhom.htm](https://people.well.com/user/elin/edhom.htm)

Cybernetics in the 3rd Millennium — Vol. 9 No. 2 — Apr. 2011
[https://people.well.com/user/abs/Cyb/archive/c3m_0902.html](https://people.well.com/user/abs/Cyb/archive/c3m_0902.html)

2017 Cybernetics Conference - Internet Society
[https://livestream.com/internetsociety2/cybercon](https://livestream.com/internetsociety2/cybercon)

How cybernetics connects computing, counterculture, and design
[http://www.dubberly.com/articles/cybernetics-and-
countercult...](http://www.dubberly.com/articles/cybernetics-and-
counterculture.html)

A Tale of the Mirror World, Part 1: Calculators and Cybernetics
[https://www.filfre.net/2017/06/tales-of-the-mirror-world-
par...](https://www.filfre.net/2017/06/tales-of-the-mirror-world-
part-1-calculators-and-cybernetics/)

~~~
Optimal_Persona
Brian Eno's development of Ambient music and generative art/music systems was
strongly influenced by cybernetics, especially the work of Norbert Wiener and
Stafford Beer.

[http://www.trustmeimascientist.com/2014/03/03/brian-eno-
ambi...](http://www.trustmeimascientist.com/2014/03/03/brian-eno-
ambient-1-music-for-airports/)

[https://rhizome.org/editorial/2009/oct/21/brian-eno-peter-
sc...](https://rhizome.org/editorial/2009/oct/21/brian-eno-peter-schmidt-and-
cybernetics/)

[https://books.google.com/books?id=rxcqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT402&lpg=...](https://books.google.com/books?id=rxcqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT402&lpg=PT402&dq=generating+and+organizing+variety+in+the+arts&source=bl&ots=nz3KijZAZh&sig=ACfU3U2VHKtnqxFL5hdvGTiO0Jxu7dWAjg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjBu4_q8N_oAhXSoFsKHcaJBrgQ6AEwB3oECAsQKQ#v=onepage&q=generating%20and%20organizing%20variety%20in%20the%20arts&f=false)

Not ambient, but Eno name-checks Wiener in the cheeky "Seven Deadly Finns"
:-):
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaLrS0WG7Z0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaLrS0WG7Z0)

------
neonate
PDF:
[http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/books/IntroCyb.pdf](http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/books/IntroCyb.pdf)

~~~
ethanwillis
You have one of the like, two good comments in this discussion. To add to this
I'd broadly recommend in (loose order) for people interested in Cybernetics.

Maxwell, "On Governors":
[https://www.maths.ed.ac.uk/~v1ranick/papers/maxwell1.pdf](https://www.maths.ed.ac.uk/~v1ranick/papers/maxwell1.pdf)

Wiener, "Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the
Machine pdf" : [https://sci-hub.tw/10.2307/1266498](https://sci-
hub.tw/10.2307/1266498)

Also the following is a _very interesting_ read, "Cybernetics and Information
Theory in the United States, France and the Soviet Union":
[https://www.infoamerica.org/documentos_word/shannon-
wiener.h...](https://www.infoamerica.org/documentos_word/shannon-wiener.htm)

~~~
amatic
The third link was a very interesting read, thanks!

------
kitotik
For an esoteric but practical offshoot, checkout the Cynefin Framework [0] by
Dave Snowden(no relation to that other Snowden).

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin_framework](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin_framework)

------
ipnon
Has the potential for this approach been stripped, or does it just have a
different name now? There are matrices and feedback loops. What was the key
insight that kept cybernetics from following machine learning towards neural
nets?

~~~
lidHanteyk
Second-order cybernetics happened, and as a result there was a split. Like
neighboring comments say, there is control theory and game theory for first-
order cybernetics, but second-order cybernetics is extremely philosophical and
failed to make an impact aside from broad ideas like the emergence of complex
behavior from simple designs. The Constructivist movement has a journal [0]
and is still alive, but I'm not sure what impact they are having.

[0] [https://constructivist.info/](https://constructivist.info/)

~~~
someguyorother
It feels like elements of that split was always there. You have, on the one
hand, very practical engineering cybernetics, what's standard control theory
now (PID, optimal linear control, impulse responses and transfer functions,
and so on). On the other hand, you have the more general (philosophical,
"woolly") part that's filled with comparisons to biology, that deals with
society and variety, general patterns, etc.

I once gave a friend of mine Medina's "Cybernetic Revolutionaries", and I
think he found it hard to get through because of the latter kind of
cybernetics, even though he was very familiar with the former kind.

~~~
zozbot234
> On the other hand, you have the more general (philosophical, "woolly") part
> that's filled with comparisons to biology

But see, that "other" part is also really a
generalized/philosophical/speculative etc. take on control theory. "Systems
theory" in the cybernetics-related sense is basically a name for 'this control
theory stuff is so cool/impressive, let's see if we can generalize it beyond
its standard engineering domain and draw any uselful conclusions from it.' Of
course this kind of interdisciplinarity would be seen as standard nowadays,
you wouldn't need to call attention to it by trying to name a new field.

------
Rzor
I read this thread and I have no idea how this relate to the (little) reading
that I have from Prometheus Rising, though I'm told that it also deals with
Cybernetics.

~~~
Talanes
How'd you like Prometheus Rising? Did you humor the exercises or just read? I
read like half of it a few years back and got a little fatigued, but the ideas
stuck.

