A Cybernetic Theory of Representation « Matter Thinks: "A Cybernetic Theory of Representation December 17, 2009
Posted by mash in Consciousness, Cybernetics.
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When it comes to mental representation, I think the teleosemanticists are largely right, except that they are overfocused on biology and evolution rather than the more general underlying principles that I believe are in play."
Friday, December 18, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Cybernetics-and-Society - home
Cybernetics-and-Society - home: "Walker, your footprints
are the path and nothing else;
walker, there is no path,
the path is made as you walk.
Antonio Machado"
are the path and nothing else;
walker, there is no path,
the path is made as you walk.
Antonio Machado"
SpringerLink - Journal Article
SpringerLink - Journal Article: "The cybernetic institution: Toward an integration of governance theories
The cybernetic institution: Toward an integration of governance theories
Journal Higher Education
Publisher Springer Netherlands
ISSN 0018-1560 (Print) 1573-174X (Online)
Issue Volume 18, Number 2 / March, 1989
DOI 10.1007/BF00139183
Pages 239-253
Subject Collection Humanities, Social Sciences and Law
SpringerLink Date Saturday, November 06, 2004
The cybernetic institution: Toward an integration of governance theories
Robert Birnbaum1, 2
(1) National Center for Postsecondary Governance and Finance, USA
(2) Teachers College, Columbia University, Columbia, USA
Abstract This paper presents a new conceptual approach to institutional governance, management, and leadership based upon a cybernetic model of organizations. The cybernetic paradigm integrates existing models by suggesting how bureaucratic, collegial, political, and anarchical subsystems function simultaneously in colleges and universities of all kinds to create self-correcting institutions. The cybernetic paradigm posits that organization control systems can be described in terms of sensing mechanisms and negative feedback loops that collectively monitor changes from acceptable leve"
The cybernetic institution: Toward an integration of governance theories
Journal Higher Education
Publisher Springer Netherlands
ISSN 0018-1560 (Print) 1573-174X (Online)
Issue Volume 18, Number 2 / March, 1989
DOI 10.1007/BF00139183
Pages 239-253
Subject Collection Humanities, Social Sciences and Law
SpringerLink Date Saturday, November 06, 2004
The cybernetic institution: Toward an integration of governance theories
Robert Birnbaum1, 2
(1) National Center for Postsecondary Governance and Finance, USA
(2) Teachers College, Columbia University, Columbia, USA
Abstract This paper presents a new conceptual approach to institutional governance, management, and leadership based upon a cybernetic model of organizations. The cybernetic paradigm integrates existing models by suggesting how bureaucratic, collegial, political, and anarchical subsystems function simultaneously in colleges and universities of all kinds to create self-correcting institutions. The cybernetic paradigm posits that organization control systems can be described in terms of sensing mechanisms and negative feedback loops that collectively monitor changes from acceptable leve"
CYBERNETICS OF SOCIETY
CYBERNETICS OF SOCIETY: "Cybernetics and governance are quintessentially teleological.
As ontology (asking, What is?) called forth epistemology (asking, How do we know what is?), so these two coevolved, over time, to call forth the teleological question — ultimately the touchstone of human striving and the greatest philosophical question of any time and all times — So what?
What should I do with my ontology and epistemology this morning? How shall we live our lives? How can humankind best balance liberty and justice, here and now? How can our emergent planetary civilization find and pursue the path of virtue? In short, how can wisdom, sophia, put Logos — knowledge of the naturally found — into best service to the culturally made, the Nomos: knowledge, wisdom, understanding, and know-how focused on ordaining and establishing 'quality' governance that will sustain Regenerative Intelligence Still Evolving (RISE)?
***
The teleological quest for 'good government' was the preoccupation of the ancient Sophists, of whom (despite Plato's protestations) Socrates was the greatest. As cybernetics is quintessentially teleological, so law must advance as a quintessentially cybernetic 'calling' — transcending science as science transcends logic."
As ontology (asking, What is?) called forth epistemology (asking, How do we know what is?), so these two coevolved, over time, to call forth the teleological question — ultimately the touchstone of human striving and the greatest philosophical question of any time and all times — So what?
What should I do with my ontology and epistemology this morning? How shall we live our lives? How can humankind best balance liberty and justice, here and now? How can our emergent planetary civilization find and pursue the path of virtue? In short, how can wisdom, sophia, put Logos — knowledge of the naturally found — into best service to the culturally made, the Nomos: knowledge, wisdom, understanding, and know-how focused on ordaining and establishing 'quality' governance that will sustain Regenerative Intelligence Still Evolving (RISE)?
***
The teleological quest for 'good government' was the preoccupation of the ancient Sophists, of whom (despite Plato's protestations) Socrates was the greatest. As cybernetics is quintessentially teleological, so law must advance as a quintessentially cybernetic 'calling' — transcending science as science transcends logic."
Steinbruner, J.D.: The Cybernetic Theory of Decision: New Dimensions of Political Analysis.
Steinbruner, J.D.: The Cybernetic Theory of Decision: New Dimensions of Political Analysis.: "In this classic work, John Steinbruner argues that the time is ripe for exploration of a new theoretical perspective on the decision-making process in government. He suggests that the cybernetic theory of decision as developed in such diverse fields as information theory, mathematical logic, and behavioral psychology generates a systematic but non-rational analysis that seems to explain quite naturally decisions that are puzzling when viewed from the rational perspective. When combined with the basic understanding of human mental operations developed in cognitive psychology, the cybernetic theory of decision presents a striking picture of how decision makers deal with the intense uncertainty and fundamental value conflicts that arise in bureaucratic politics. To illustrate the advantages of using cybernetic theory, Steinbruner analyzes the issue of sharing nuclear weapons among the NATO allies."
Synergy, Cybernetics, and the Evolution of Politics
Synergy, Cybernetics, and the Evolution of Politics: "THE EVOLUTION OF POLITICAL SYSTEMS
How does this theoretical framework relate specifically to the evolution of political systems? We begin with the perennial problem of defining politics. Charles Evans Hughes, a distinguished Chief Justice of the United States, was indiscreet enough in his pre-Supreme Court days to remark that 'The Constitution is what the judges say it is.' In like manner, or so it seems, politics is whatever political scientists, and political anthropologists, say it is. And, not surprisingly, there seem to be almost as many definitions of politics as there are theorists. The problem is that any given definition may rule in, or out, certain kinds of phenomena, or perhaps stress only one aspect of a multi-faceted class of phenomena.
Political Scientist Robert Dahl has written that a definition is in effect 'a proposed treaty governing the use of terms.' The treaty I advocate defines politics as isomorphic with social cybernetics: A political system is the cybernetic aspect, or 'sub-system' of any socially organized group or population. Politics in these terms is a social process involving efforts to create, or to acquire control over, a cybernetic sub-system, as well as the process of exercising control.
This definition is not original. The term 'cybernetics' can be traced to the Greek word kybernetes"
How does this theoretical framework relate specifically to the evolution of political systems? We begin with the perennial problem of defining politics. Charles Evans Hughes, a distinguished Chief Justice of the United States, was indiscreet enough in his pre-Supreme Court days to remark that 'The Constitution is what the judges say it is.' In like manner, or so it seems, politics is whatever political scientists, and political anthropologists, say it is. And, not surprisingly, there seem to be almost as many definitions of politics as there are theorists. The problem is that any given definition may rule in, or out, certain kinds of phenomena, or perhaps stress only one aspect of a multi-faceted class of phenomena.
Political Scientist Robert Dahl has written that a definition is in effect 'a proposed treaty governing the use of terms.' The treaty I advocate defines politics as isomorphic with social cybernetics: A political system is the cybernetic aspect, or 'sub-system' of any socially organized group or population. Politics in these terms is a social process involving efforts to create, or to acquire control over, a cybernetic sub-system, as well as the process of exercising control.
This definition is not original. The term 'cybernetics' can be traced to the Greek word kybernetes"
Puncturing Equilibrium: Radical Innovation As New Market Emergence | tvass on technology innovation
Puncturing Equilibrium: Radical Innovation As New Market Emergence | tvass on technology innovation: "Market selection in innovation economics is not neutral either, as Kimura suggests it is for genetic selection. Neutral selection works as a metaphor for equilibrium economics, not innovation. A new product in sustaining innovation that actually gets selected by consumers, however, is influenced by the genetic pattern of interaction in the technological procreation of the product.
As Kimura points out, in genetics “proximity,” not size, is what matters. In this case, close counts. “Probably, what determines the pattern of interaction between amino acids in evolution, says Kimura, “is their physical proximity or direct contact within the folded protein.”
Proximity matters both for small adaptive changes, which consumers select, and for the closeness in the one-way information flows in technological innovation that occurs in distinct geographical settings. The more the technological features of the new sustaining innovation look like the old product features, the greater the likelihood of consumer selection.
Technological closeness in sustaining product innovation for regional economics is analogous to closeness in amino acids in the DNA structure of the folded proteins. Sustaining innovation is like nearly neutral evolution because the technological genetics existed in the previous generation of products"
As Kimura points out, in genetics “proximity,” not size, is what matters. In this case, close counts. “Probably, what determines the pattern of interaction between amino acids in evolution, says Kimura, “is their physical proximity or direct contact within the folded protein.”
Proximity matters both for small adaptive changes, which consumers select, and for the closeness in the one-way information flows in technological innovation that occurs in distinct geographical settings. The more the technological features of the new sustaining innovation look like the old product features, the greater the likelihood of consumer selection.
Technological closeness in sustaining product innovation for regional economics is analogous to closeness in amino acids in the DNA structure of the folded proteins. Sustaining innovation is like nearly neutral evolution because the technological genetics existed in the previous generation of products"
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