Philosophy Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Cybernetics: Cybernetics is the study of systems that can control their own behavior. It is a multidisciplinary field that draws on concepts from mathematics, engineering, computer science, biology, and psychology._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Daniel W. Hillis on Cybernetics - Dictionary of Arguments
Brockman I 179 Cybernetics/Hillis: The goal of cybernetics was to create a tiny model of the system using “weak currents” to amplify and control “strong currents” of the real world. The central insight was that a control problem could be solved by building an analogous system in the information space of messages and then amplifying solutions into the larger world of reality. Inherent in the motion of a control system is the concept of amplification, which makes the small big and the weak strong. Amplification allows the difference that makes a difference to make a difference. In this way of looking at the world, a control system needed to be as complex as the system it controlled. Cyberneticist W. Ross Ashby proved that this was true in a precise mathematical sense, in what is now called Ashby’s Law of Requisite Variety, or some times the First Law of Cybernetics. >Cybernetics/Ashby. Brockman I 180 Cybernetics/Hillis: The analogy of structure between the controller and the controlled was central to the cybernetic perspective. Just as digital coding collapses the space of possible messages into a simplified version that represents only the difference that makes a difference, so the control system collapses the state space of a controlled system into a simplified model that reflects only the goals of the controller. Ashby’s Law (>Cybernetics/Ashby) does not imply that every controller must model every state of the system but only those states that matter for advancing the controller’s goals. Thus, in cybernetics, the goal of the controller becomes the perspective from which the world is viewed. Hillis, D. W. “The First Machine Intelligences” in: Brockman, John (ed.) 2019. Twenty-Five Ways of Looking at AI. New York: Penguin Press._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Hillis, Daniel W. Brockman I John Brockman Possible Minds: Twenty-Five Ways of Looking at AI New York 2019 |
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> Counter arguments against Hillis
> Counter arguments in relation to Cybernetics
Ed. Martin Schulz, access date 2024-04-20