The Complete History of Cybernetics

Overall Learning

• Realized that the principle of ”Generalization and simple descriptions” may not always be the best approach
  • Connecting overly attractive concepts to unscientific discussions
  • Lack of specific information leads to meaningless generalizations
  • To put it in extreme terms, even stating “it exists” can be a generalization of all phenomena

Summary of the Whole

• In the field of EE, it is interesting to note the presence of both pessimism and optimism

Chapter 1

• Describes the era when the relationship between humans and machines changed (during WW2)#human-machine interface
  • Emergence of the concept of human-machine integration
  • How ideas were conceived and spread (in a science fiction-like manner)
• Wiener is portrayed quite unflatteringly
  • Descriptions likening him to being chubby
  • Depiction of him not being highly valued
    • Not in a tone of his value being misunderstood, but more like his value being nonexistent
  • Perhaps aiming to break down the public image of him as a genius MIT professor in the first chapter
• Feedback loops independently emerging and being used in various places
  • V2 rocket (V1 rocket as well)
  • Sperry Corporation
  • Wiener’s research
• “Cybernetics is one of the significant ideologies of the 20th century”

Chapter 2

• Whether in life or artificial entities, the idea that signals exist
• The initial Wiener conference lacked a common language, hindering inter-field dialogue
  • Over time, a common language gradually developed through repeated conferences
    • This can be likened to “cyberspeak” in “From Newspeak to Cyberspeak: A History of Soviet Cybernetics”
• p70

• Wiener had a tendency to anthropomorphize machines

• While control and feedback were technical, the third concept (interaction between humans and machines) was more science-fiction-like and exciting
  • Interaction between humans and machines
• p72
  • Fusion of humanities and engineering
    • Generalization
• p90
  • Discussion of the rise of computer cybernetics in the early Cold War era
  • The ”general theory”
  • Wiener (gaining popularity and influence) sounded the alarm about the “Rise of machines”
    • Increasing military applications

Chapter 3

• Discusses the anxieties and optimism surrounding automation

  • Mainly focuses on how society reacted
  • Concerns about job displacement
    • US government reactions around p126-140

• Also touches on military applications (such as nationwide networks)

• “Button Wars and the Dark Side of Automation” p121

• Flow of debates surrounding automation in the 1950s p122

  • Initially, excessive pessimism prevailed
  • Followed by a shift towards excessive optimism

• Pessimism p136

  • Robot factories, mass unemployment, disappearance of blue-collar jobs, loss of dignity, button wars decided by machines determining life and death
  • Wiener also

• However, ultimately no unemployment occurred in the 1960s p136

• Driving force behind automation in the 1960s

    - Both sides had to outdo each other in terms of productivity
        - Automation was crucial for a nation's survival p138
    - > The role of machines in society was one of the few issues shared by American conservatives and Soviet communists
    - This might be the essence of what this EE is aiming for
  

• Philosophical discussions are also interspersed

  • Wiener’s musings like “If machines, creations of humans, can surpass humans, can humans, creations of God, surpass God” around p118
  • Equating machines with humans
    • “Humans, once equated with apes by Darwin, are now equated with machines” p119
    • Materialistic perspective

Chapter 4

• Wiener is criticized again in comparison with Von Neumann
• 1950s-60s- Cybernetics was a major trend among engineers at the time (p152).
• Regarding research on cyborgs, “There are materials in Soviet technical literature studying many of the same fields” (p155).
• The latter half depicts the beginning of concepts like cyborg and cybernetics, emphasizing the importance of providing sensory feedback to humans. It also touches on its connection to space exploration (for surviving harsh environments) (p155, p173).
• On the other hand, the scientific concept of cyborg was “dead like a rotten log” due to a lack of technology not meeting ideals (p173).
• It was speculated in p177 that there could be a future where machines and humans coexist, which seems somewhat reflective of the present reality.
• In the 1980s, cybernetics resurfaced as a metaphor after scientists and engineers had moved on from the idea of creating cyborgs (p182).
• There is a discussion in p183 about the connection between socialist ideology and cyborgs in the 1980s. Cyborgs blur the boundaries between “man and machine,” challenging various dualisms like dominance/subjugation, nature/artificial, Truth/illusion, god/human.

Chapter 5

• Summary: The first half discusses general theories (1970?), while the second half delves into the hippie culture (1970s).

• The universal theory of cybernetics was so powerful and compelling that there were too many creative individuals who embraced it, ultimately unable to confine it within the boundaries of proper science (p195). Wiener described the holistic view as the “evil spirit of pseudoscience” (p194).

• Despite denials from Wiener and Walter, attempts to utilize the influence of cybernetics continued, such as self-help books written by surgeons.

• By the 1970s, cybernetics as a serious academic pursuit had already peaked and was beginning to decline, making it challenging to evaluate its legacy (p199). However, cybernetics’ ideas and terminology successfully influenced control engineering, artificial intelligence, and even fields like game theory.

• Cybernetics persisted not in Boston’s research institutes but in California’s counterculture communities.

• It existed as a counterculture to computer pessimism (p220). About 35 years ago, early cybernetics scholars like Wiener tried to protect their new science from holistic perspectives, but now, the High Frontiers (hippie culture) have elevated the holistic view to a new level (p225).

• There is a comparison between computers and drugs playing similar roles (around p222).

• While IBM’s computers had a Big Brother image, Apple’s computers represented a liberating image (p225). The internet is also mentioned (p223).

• It connects with Soviet ideology in an anarchism-like aspect.

#cybernetics