The Cybernetic Brain

by Andrew Pickering

  9. Latour's (2004) institutional blueprint for a politics of nature includes mechanisms for continual monitoring and reassessment of how plans are working out. J. Scott's (1998, 345) recommendations for development planning and practice are "take small steps," "favor reversibility," "plan on surprises," and "plan on human inventiveness."

  10. This field now extends in many and sometimes surprising directions. This might be the place to mention Donna Haraway's (2003) brilliant, performative, and very cybernetic analysis of love. She focuses on relations between humans and dogs, but the analysis is readily extended to purely human relations, relations with nature, and so on.

  11. A range of examples different from that discussed below can be found in software engineering and developments in information technology: see Marick (2008) and Neff and Stark (2004). We could also think of the literature on engineering design: see McGrail (2008) for an analysis that connects design and ontology along the lines discussed here.

  12. There is a subtlety that needs to be thought through here concerning the meaning of "experiment." In the modcrn sciences, this refers to a detour away from and back to the world as found, isolating specific segments of the world and producing knowledge of them in small-scale laboratory experiments which can then be transferredback to the world in the fashion of enframing. Latour's (1983) essay on Pasteur and anthrax remains the canonical study of this maneuver. Latour does not, however, discuss the fact that sometimes the translation back into the world works and sometimes it fails. The nonmodern sense of "experiment" we need here is that of performative experimentation on the thing itself (e.g., the Colorado River) without any detour through the laboratory. The contrast is between experiment as part of a strategy of enframing and experiment as revealing.

  13. J. Scott (1998, 327) quotes from a 1940 account of water management in Japan: "Erosion control is like a game of chess [or a dance of agency]. The forest engineer, after studying his eroding valley, makes his first move, locating and building one or more check dams. He waits to see what Nature's response is. This determines the forest engineer's next move, which may be another dam or two, an increase in the former dam, or the construction of side retaining walls. Another pause for observation, the next move is made, and so on, until erosion is checkmated. The operations of natural forces, such as sedimentation and revegetation, are guided and used to the best advantage to keep down costs and to obtain practical results. No more is attempted than Nature has already done in the region."

  14. In a discussion of situated robotics, Brooks (1999 [1991], 97) includes a heading "It Isn't German Philosophy": "In some circles much credence is given to Heidegger as one who understood the dynamics of existence. Our work has certain similarities to work inspired by this German philosopher . . . but our work was not so inspired. It is based purely on engineering considerations. That does not preclude it from being used in philosophical debate as an example on any side of any fence, however."

  15. Jeff Nuttall's (1968, 253–55) classic report from the British underground ends with the topic of robustness, lamenting a lack of lasting material achievements by the counterculture and looking forward to the construction of more enduring cultural elements, including some that are familiar from chapter 7: "It's time to come away from the mobile arts, poetry, jazz, theatre, dance, clothes. Too great a preoccupation with mobility constitutes a refusal of existence. Movement, like drugs is good tactics but a poor alternative to the established culture. . . . Canwe build and think and organize with the passions of perpetual inner illumination? Of course we can. . . . Let us turn away from the contemplators and listen to the architects, the activists, the engineers, the Archigram Group with their Plug-In City scheme, Cedric Price the Fun Palace designer, Geoffrey Shaw and his constructions in plastic, Keith Albarn and his furniture sculpture. . . . Let's . . . build our own damn future." It is symptomatic of the structural weakness of the sixties that Nuttall never once mentions cybernetics in his book—history might have been different.

  16. I thank Frederick Erickson and Kris Gutierrez, professors of education at UCLA, for a brief conversation about the ideas discussed below. Each thought such an addition to the school curriculum would be possible and desirable. Kris mentioned that the No Child Left Behind Act might be an obstacle in the United States, because she thought of this sort of course as unexaminable. Actually, if it were taught in terms of concrete examples I think there would be no problem in constructing an assessment system and even in setting formal examinations.

  17. "Ontology" is an intimidating word, but "how the world is" is plain English.

  18. The truly difficult intellectual maneuver is coming to see modern science and engineering as a particular stance in the world. It has taken me a long time to be able to do so, and I am not sure how one would begin to teach young children about this.

  19. The question of who would teach such a course (besides me) then arises, and it takes us back to the question of the social basis. I think one can find scholars with the right sort of interests and expertise scattered around most universities, and the course itself might serve both to bring them together and to reduce their marginality. This kind of initiative in undergraduate education might even act as a center of condensation for what I once referred to as a department of emergency studies (Pickering 1995, chap. 7).

  REFERENCES

  _ _ _ _ _

  Abraham, R., T. McKenna, and R. Sheldrake (1992) Trialogues at the Edge of the West: Chaos, Creativity and the Resacralization of the World(Santa Fe, NM: Bear & Co.).

  Adams, D. (1979) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy(London: Pan).

  Adrian, E. D., and B. H. C. Matthews (1934) "The Berger Rhythm: Potential Changes from the Occipital Lobes in Man," Brain, 57,355–85.

  Alexander, C. (1964) Notes on the Synthesis of Form(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).

  Alexander, C. (1983) "Linz Café: The Architect's Evaluation," and "Contrasting Concepts of Harmony in Architecture: Debate between Christopher Alexander and Peter Eisenman," Lotus International, 40,45–73.

  Alexander, C., et al. (1977) A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction(New York: Oxford University Press).

  Allen, M. (2005) "Décor by Timothy Leary, Dreams by You," New York Times,20 January, D1, 7.

  Anderson, W. T. (2004 [1983]) The Upstart Spring: Esalen and the Human Potential Movement: The First Twenty Years(Lincoln, NE: Authors Guild Backinprint.com).

  Artaud, A. (1993) The Theatre and Its Double(London: Calder).

  Asaro, P. (2007) "Heinz von Foerster and the Bio-computing Movements of the 1960s," in A. Müller and K. H. Müller (eds.), An Unfinished Revolution? Heinz von Foerster and the Biological Computer Laboratory, 1958–1976(Vienna: Edition Echoraum).

  Asaro, P. (2008) "W. Ross Ashby: From Mechanisms of Adaptation to Intelligence Amplifiers," in M. Wheeler, P. Husbands, and O. Holland (eds.), The Mechanical Mind in History(Cambridge, MA: MIT Press), pp. 149–84.

  Asaro, P., and G. Klir (eds.) (2009) The Intellectual Legacy of W. Ross Ashby,special issue of International Journal of General Systems, 38,no. 2.

  Ashby, W. R. (1933) "The Physiological Basis of the Neuroses," Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, 26,1454–60.

  Ashby, W. R. (1935) "The Thickness of the Cerebral Cortex and Its Layers in the Mental Defective" (MA thesis, University of Cambridge).

  Ashby, W. R. (1937a) "An Inquiry into the Incidence of 'Neuropath' Conditions in the Relatives of Normal Persons," Journal of Mental Science, 83,247.

  Ashby, W. R. (1937b) "Tissue Culture Methods in the Study of the Nervous System," Journal of Neurology and Psychopathology, 17,322.

  Ashby, W. R. (1940) "Adaptiveness and Equilibrium," Journal of Mental Science, 86,478–84.

  Ashby, W. R. (1941) "The Origin of Adaptation," unpublished notebook, British Library, London.

  Ashby, W. R. (1945a) "The Physical Origin of Adaptation by Trial and Error," Journal of General Psychology, 32,13–25.

  Ashby, W. R. (1
945b) "Effect of Controls on Stability," Nature, 155,242–43.

  Ashby, W. R. (1947) "The Existence of Critical Levels for the Actions of Hormones and Enzymes, with Some Therapeutic Applications," Journal of Mental Science, 93,733–39.

  Ashby, W. R. (1948) "Design for a Brain," Electronic Engineering, 20(December), 379–83.

  Ashby, W. R. (1949a) "Effects of Convulsive Therapy on the Excretion of Cortins and Ketasteroids," Journal of Mental Science, 95,275–324.

  Ashby, W. R. (1949b) "Adrenal Cortical Steroids and the Metabolism of Glutamic Acid in Gluconeogenesis," Journal of Mental Science, 95,153–61.

  Ashby, W. R. (1950a) "The Stability of a Randomly Assembled Nerve-Network," Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 2,471–82.

  Ashby, W. R. (1950b) "Cybernetics," in G. W. T. H. Fleming (ed.), Recent Progress in Psychiatry,special issue of Journal of Mental Science,2nd ed. (London: J. & A. Churchill), pp. 93–110.

  Ashby, W. R. (1951) "Statistical Machinery," Thalès, 7,1–8.

  Ashby, W. R. (1951–57) "Passing through Nature" (unpublished notebook).

  Ashby, W. R. (1952) Design for a Brain(London: Chapman & Hall).

  Ashby, W. R. (1953a) "The Mode of Action of Electro-convulsive Therapy," Journal of Mental Science, 99,202–15.

  Ashby, W. R. (1953b) "Homeostasis," in H. von Foerster, M. Mead, and H. L. Teuber (eds.), Cybernetics: Circular Causal and Feedback Mechanisms in Biological and Social Systems: Transactions of the Ninth Conference (March 20–21, 1952)(New York: Josiah Macy, Jr., Foundation), pp. 73–106. Reprinted in C. Pias (ed.), Cybernetics-Kybernetik: The Macy Conferences, 1946–1953,vol. 1 (Zurich: diaphanes), pp. 593–619.

  Ashby, W. R. (1954) "The Application of Cybnernetics to Psychiatry," Journal of Mental Science, 100,114–24.

  Ashby, W. R. (1956) An Introduction to Cybernetics(New York: Wiley).

  Ashby, W. R. (1959a) "The Mechanism of Habituation," in Mechanisation of Thought Processes: Proceedings of a Symposium Held at the National Physical Laboratory on 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th November 1958,2 vols. (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office), pp. 93–118.

  Ashby, W. R. (1959b) "A Simple Computer for Demonstrating Behaviour," in Mechanisation of Thought Processes: Proceedings of a Symposium Held at the National Physical

  Laboratory on 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th November 1958,2 vols. (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office), pp. 947–49.

  Ashby, W. R. (1960) Design for a Brain: The Origin of Adaptive Behaviour,2nd ed. (London: Chapman & Hall).

  Ashby, W. R. (1962) "Simulation of a Brain," in H. Borko (ed.), Computer Applications in the Behavioral Sciences,pp. 452–67.

  Ashby, W. R. (1963) "Induction, Prediction and Decision-Making in Cybernetic Systems," in H. E. Kyburg and E. Nagel (eds.), Induction: Some Current Issues(Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press), pp. 55–65. Reprinted in Ashby, Mechanisms of Intelligence: Ross Ashby's Writings on Cybernetics,R. Conant (ed.) (Seaside, CA: Intersystems Publications, 1981), pp. 275–86.

  Ashby, W. R. (1966) "Mathematical Models and Computer Analysis of the Function of the Central Nervous System," Annual Review of Physiology, 28,89–106. Reprinted in Ashby, Mechanisms of Intelligence: Ross Ashby's Writings on Cybernetics,R. Conant (ed.) (Seaside, CA: Intersystems Publications, 1981), pp. 325–42.

  Ashby, W. R. (1968a) "Some Consequences of Bremermann's Limit for Information Processing Systems," in H. Oestreicher and D. Moore (eds.), Cybernetic Problems in Bionics(New York: Gordon & Breach), pp. 69–76.

  Ashby, W. R. (1968b) "The Contribution of Information Theory to Pathological Mechanisms in Psychiatry," British Journal of Psychiatry, 114,1485–98. Reprinted in Ashby, Mechanisms of Intelligence: Ross Ashby's Writings on Cybernetics,R. Conant (ed.) (Seaside, CA: Intersystems Publications, 1981), pp. 343–56.

  Ashby, W. R. (1968c) Review of The Politics of Experience,by R. D. Laing, in Philosophy Forum, 7(September 1968), 84–86.

  Ashby, W. R. (1970) "Analysis of the System to Be Modeled," in R. M. Stogdill (ed.), The Process of Model-Building in the Behavioral Sciences(Columbus: Ohio State University Press), pp. 94–114. Reprinted in Ashby, Mechanisms of Intelligence: Ross Ashby's Writings on Cybernetics,R. Conant (ed.) (Seaside, CA: Intersystems Publications, 1981), pp. 303–23.

  Ashby, W. R., G. H. Collins, and N. Bassett (1960) "The Effects of Nicotineic Acid, Nicotinamide, and Placebo on the Chronic Schizophrenic," Journal of Mental Science, 106,1555–59.

  Ashby, W. R., and R. M. Stewart (1934–35) "The Brain of the Mental Defective: The Corpus Callosum in Its Relation to Intelligence," "The Brain of the Mental Defective: A Study in Morphology in Its Relation to Intelligence," and "The Brain of the Mental Defective," pt. 3, "The Width of the Convolutions in the Normal and Defective Person," Journal of Neurology and Psychopathology, 13,217–26; 14,217–26; 16,26–35.

  Ashby, W. R., R. M. Stewart, and J. H. Watkin (1937) "Chondro-osteo-dystrophy of the Hurler Type: A Pathology Study," Brain, 60,149–79.

  Ashby, W. R., H. von Foerster, and C. C. Walker (1962) "Instability of Pulse Activity in a Net with Threshold," Nature, 196,561–62. Reprinted in Ashby, Mechanisms of Intelligence: Ross Ashby's Writings on Cybernetics,R. Conant (ed.) (Seaside, CA: Intersystems Publications, 1981), pp. 81–84.

  Ashby, W. R., and C. C. Walker (1968) "Genius," in P. London and D. Rosenhan (eds.), Foundations of Abnormal Psychology(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston), pp. 201–25.

  Asplen, L. (2005) "Cybernetics, Ecology, and Ontology in the Writings of G. E. Hutchison, E. P. Odum, and H. T. Odum" (unpublished manuscript, University of Illinois).

  Asplen, L. (2008) "Going with the Flow: Living the Mangle through Acting in an Open-Ended World: Nature, Culture, and Becoming in Environmental Management Practice," in A. Pickering and K. Guzik (eds.), The Mangle in Practice: Science, Society and Becoming(Durham, NC: Duke University Press), pp. 163–84.

  Baker, J. (1976) "SIMTOS: A Review of Recent Developments," in G. Pask (ed.), Current Scientific Approaches to Decision Making in Complex Systems: Report of a Conference Held at Richmond, Surrey, Eng;and, 14–15 July 1975,ARI Technical Report TR-76-B1 (Arlington, VA: U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences), pp. 6–11.

  Barnes, B., D. Bloor, and J. Henry (1996) Scientific Knowledge: A Sociological Analysis(Chicago: University of Chicago Press).

  Barnes, M., and J. Berke (1971) Two Accounts of a Journey through Madness(New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich).

  Bateson, G. (1942) "Social Planning and the Concept of Deutero-Learning," in Science, Philosophy and Religion: Second Symposium(New York: Conference on Science, Philosophy, and Religion), chap. 4. Reprinted in Bateson, Steps to an Ecology of Mind,2nd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), pp. 159–76.

  Bateson, G. (2000 [1959]) "Minimal Requirements for a Theory of Schizophrenia," the second annual Albert D. Lasker Lecture, A.M.A. Archives of General Psychiatry, 2(1960), 477–91. Reprinted in Bateson, Steps to an Ecology of Mind,2nd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), pp. 244–70.

  Bateson, G. (ed.) (1961) Perceval's Narrative: A Patient's Account of His Psychosis, 1830– 1832(Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press).

  Bateson, G. (1968) "Conscious Purpose versus Nature," in D. Cooper (ed.), To Free a Generation: The Dialectics of Liberation(New York: Collier), pp. 34–49.

  Bateson, G. (1969) "Double Bind, 1969," paper presented at a Symposium on the Double Bind, American Psychological Association, Washington DC, August 1969. Reprinted in C. Sluzki and D. Ransom (eds.), Double Bind: The Foundation of the Communicational Approach to the Family(New York: Grune & Stratton, 1976), pp. 237–42; and in Bateson, Steps to an Ecology of Mind,2nd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), pp. 271–78.

  Bateson, G. (1972) Steps to an Ecology of Mind(New York: Ballantine).

  Bateson, G. (2000) Steps to an Ecology of Mind,2nd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).

  Bateson, G., D. Jackson, J. Haley, and J. Weakland (1956) "Towards a Theory
of Schizophrenia," Behavioral Science, 1,251–64. Reprinted in Bateson, Steps to an Ecology of Mind(New York: Ballantine, 1972), pp. 201–27.

  Bateson, M. C. (1984) With a Daughter's Eye: A Memoir of Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson(New York: HarperCollins).

  Bateson, M. C. (2000) "Foreword by Mary Catherine Bateson, 1999," in G. Bateson, Steps to an Ecology of Mind,2nd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), pp. vii–xv.

  Bateson, M. C. (2005) "The Double Bind: Pathology and Creativity," Cybernetics and Human Knowing, 12,11–21.

  Bear, G. (1997) Slant(New York: Tor).