[HN Gopher] Cybernetics A to Z (1974)
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Cybernetics A to Z (1974)
 
Author : the-mitr
Score  : 65 points
Date   : 2022-11-17 14:24 UTC (8 hours ago)
 
web link (archive.org)
w3m dump (archive.org)
 
| Pr0ject217 wrote:
| There's a section describing how perceptrons work. :)
 
| gdss wrote:
| Cybernetics needs a comeback. It was the most important and
| underexplored attempt of creating an unified attempt of
| interpreting reality having at its core ubiquitous concepts such
| as systems, information and complexity. Unfortunately we've been
| stuck with a reductionist paradigm for a long time, and most
| people don't seem to care much about the obvious presence of
| systems all around (and even inside) them.
 
  | salty_biscuits wrote:
  | Isn't the historical progression cybernetics turns into control
  | theory (via Norbert Weiner) and control theory turns into
  | reinforcement learning. So just had a few rebrandings and never
  | went away.
 
  | _glass wrote:
  | for me, systems theory is a potent heir of cybernetics, and
  | thriving. at least in my field the management sciences.
  | especially with new incarnations incorporating new materialism,
  | or the actor network theory.
 
  | mashygpig wrote:
  | You could argue that the resurgence of neural networks being
  | the dominant paradigm in "AI"/ML is a partial comeback of
  | cybernetics (dynamics of simple systems leading to complex
  | behavior). I'd like to understand the history of cybernetics
  | better, but my current impression is that much of cybernetics,
  | or at least ideas in the spirit of cybernetics, just became
  | rebranded after the original practitioners died.
  | 
  | I agree with your general take though. The history of aviation
  | safety is a good example of taking this systemic way of
  | thinking to heart, but most other fields don't seem to take
  | such a wholistic approach in their analysis. I.e. part of the
  | reason planes are so safe nowadays is that the people in the
  | field worked really hard to understand the systems from their
  | basic mechanisms to the psychological and physiological effects
  | on the pilots/crew (granted wanting to not kill people is a
  | great incentive to figure this out). I'm sure there are other
  | examples of intensive analysis throughout the system, but
  | that's the only good example I can think about.
 
  | ipc0nfg wrote:
  | I agree, it's unfortunate how it ended. My first real contact
  | with cybernetics while being younger was a book "Cybernetics
  | and character" by Marian Mazur (printed in 1976). Later
  | chapters bored me but the beginning of book had impact on me as
  | showed me a bit different mode of thinking which I believe
  | improved my understanding of complex systems.
  | 
  | In book he tried to model different psychological behaviors,
  | like conflicts, using cybernetics language and try to draw
  | conclusion and what such simple models can tell us.
  | 
  | Also in introduction Mazur argued that science should not have
  | artificial bounds as "subjects" and closed walls - there are
  | many problems that arise in many different fields, with many
  | different point of views. That also changed me in a way that I
  | started to actively engage with totally different fields of
  | science. At all, cybernetics is about abstract ideas that are
  | quite universal.
 
  | nanna wrote:
  | Couldn't agree more.
 
| lagrange77 wrote:
| This is the kind of book I'd rather have physically, preferably a
| copy from the time it was published.
 
| gglitch wrote:
| Beautiful design, illustrations, and typography.
 
  | toolslive wrote:
  | That's an understatement. It's utterly brilliant.
 
| gdss wrote:
| HELLL YAAA
 
| mr_luc wrote:
| I have a physical copy of this! My parents got it for me at a
| garage sale in the 80s when I was a little nipper.
| 
| It has a great programming language "tower of babel"
| illustration.
| 
| It wasn't until years later that I realized it was a Soviet
| science ecosystem book. Some of the content should have been a
| giveaway ...
 
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