Cybernetics
The science of control and communication in animals, machines, and organisations.
Why it matters now
Cybernetics supplies the governance vocabulary this century needs: sensor, signal, comparator, actuator, lag. Ashby's law of requisite variety states that a controller must be at least as varied as what it controls, which is a precise argument for polycentric governance rather than a single global authority.
Where this is happening on Earth
- North AmericaNorbert Wiener, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyNamed the field and insisted from the start on its social consequences.
- EuropeW. Ross Ashby, EnglandFormulated the law of requisite variety, still the sharpest argument for distributed control.
- South AmericaProject Cybersyn, Santiago, ChileAn attempt at real-time economic feedback built by Stafford Beer, ambitious, flawed, and instructive.
- AsiaSmart grid demand response in South Korea and JapanContinuous sensing and correction balancing supply and demand at national scale.
- AfricaRemote sensing early warning systems for famine across the SahelSensors, thresholds, and triggered response, cybernetics applied to survival.
The idea itself
The encyclopedia entry first, then live searches at journals and magazines that keep returning current work on this specific idea.
Current reporting from around the world
Standing feeds at reputable periodicals. These stay fresh on their own, which is why they are here instead of a list of articles that would be out of date within a season.