Cybernetics and the Counterculture CHID 370/COM 302 Winter 2007 Lecture 2 Apollo 8, Earth Rise, 1968

Cybernetics-The Ontology of the Enemy Norbert Wiener During WWII worked on the automatic aiming and firing of Anti-Aircraft guns Cybernetics- “steersman” Control through feedback

Cybernetics in Society For Wiener “cybernetics” not just about computers -- a method for studying any complex system Gunner and Gun in all weather conditions Marketing a new product- analysis, design, focus group, product release.

Systems thinking 101 Input Output Function Input Output Function Feedback

Implications Studies relationships not just objects Dynamic--changes over time Offers predictive accuracy-- control –Control now through coercion not punishment Control at the level of the system –“Who is Number 1?”... “That would be telling”

Stewart Brand Example of how counterculture “plugged in” Communes and “back to earth movement” Paul Erlich’s Biology classes at Stanford learns of Cybernetics Realizes the potential for thinking in “wholistic” terms Ca. 1977

Whole Earth Catalog A type of information system Also a new form of consumer practice

Mission “We are as gods and might as well get good at it. So far, remotely done power and glory - as via government, big business, formal education, church — has succeeded to the point where gross defects obscure actual gains. In response to this dilemma and to these gains a realm of intimate, personal power is developing — power of the individual to conduct his own education, find his own inspiration, shape his own environment, and share his adventure with whoever is interested. Tools that aid this process are sought and promoted by the WHOLE EARTH CATALOG.”

Implications Information dissemination and retrieval considered a “tool” to remake society Need to liberate computers from military applications Move toward consumer applications

WELL Wired Whole Earth ‘lectronic link –One of the oldest “virtual communities” in existence (still going!) –Dial-up BBS started in 1985 WIRED magazine –Founding Editor Kevin Kelly Used to edit Whole Earth Catalog