Introduction to Cybernetics

Join Scott Davies for a salon on cybernetics from its foundations to present.

Cybernetics is, according to one of its pioneers, Norbert Wiener, concerned with “Control and communication in the animal and the machine.” Cybernetics is, as its core, the study of feedback models in social and biological systems. While most closely related to systems theory, AI and complexity science, cybernetics can be applied to all manner of topics as varied as biology, economics, management theory and even architecture and the arts.

In this Salon, returning host Scott Davies will provide an introduction and overview to a field of study which is often misunderstood and at times maligned as a result. Starting from its origins in the middle of the twentieth century with Norbert Weiner and the legendary Macy Conferences, through the field’s heyday in the 1960s and 1970s, this Salon will explore the field’s development up to the present day. We’ll discuss the field’s relevance in the modern day and whether this field of study can help provide insight and perspective to the challenges of our day.

Suggested reads and useful explainers:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybernetics

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Norbert-Wiener

https://asc-cybernetics.org/foundations/history2.htm (Background on the Macy Conferences)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_bXlEvygHg (Overview of Cybernetics from Cybernetics pioneer Stafford Beer)

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