1. Some Examples of how Cybernetics is Contributing to Traditional Disciplines
Stuart A. Umpleby
President of the Executive Committee
International Academy for Systems and
Cybernetic Sciences

2. Introduction
In this presentation I shall describe how three bodies of knowledge are benefitting from work in cybernetics
The ideas from cybernetics have been developed over many years but are not yet widely known

3. I assume a three level structure of knowledge
Philosophy
Theory
Practice
Theories guide practice and philosophy guides the construction of theories

4. Importance of the structure
Systems and cybernetics endeavor to advance all three bodies of knowledge and action
Most academic work is limited, both by field and by types of knowledge
This structure of knowledge explains how knowledge fits together, how it grows, and hence how to make a contribution

5. Contributions to other fields
Systems and cybernetics, by creating more general concepts and theories of the informational domain have made contributions to a wide range of fields
In this presentation I’ll focus on contributions to three fields
Management (practice)
Social science (theory)
Philosophy of science (philosophy)

6. I. CONTRIBUTIONS TO MANAGEMENT

7. Three models used in management
Work in management cybernetics tends to use one of three models A. Regulation uses two basic elements – a regulator and the system being regulated B. Self-organization involves many elements in a system; as the elements go to equilibrium they organize themselves (e.g., an ecosystem, an economy) C. In reflexivity the elements of a system act on two levels, both observing and acting (e.g., a person in a society)

8. A. Regulation Regulation or control is essential to cybernetics
It involves two entities – a regulator and a system being regulated
Homeostasis refers to multiple instances of regulation in the body via many feedback loops
Similar negative feedback processes occur in businesses and government
Cybernetics emphasizes circularity and stability rather than independent and dependent variables

9. Some variations of regulation
Ashby’s theory of adaptive behavior
The Law of Requisite Variety
Amplification of management capability
Stafford Beer’s Viable System Model

10. Ashby’s theory of adaptive behavior
Ross Ashby’s theory of adaptation is based on two nested feedback loops, one inside the other
The first feedback loop enables learning – does an action have the desired effect?
However, when the environment changes, the learned behavior must change. The second feedback loop is the recognition of the need for change
Adaptation requires learning again, correcting previous knowledge

11. The law of requisite variety
Ashby’s Law of Requisite Variety (LRV) provides a quantitative relation between information and decision-making
LRV also states a quantitative relation between the variety in a system to be regulated and the variety in the regulator
Examples are games like soccer, managing a business, or government regulation of an economy

12. How to amplify management capability
LRV provides a foundation for the amplification of management activities
There are two possible strategies
Increase the capacity of the regulator
Decrease the variety in the system to be regulated
There is great power in the second strategy
It is possible to reduce the variety in the system to be regulated because the observer can decide what he or she wants to control

13. Imagine that you want to manage the global economy
1. At the lowest level there is the regulation of actors in the economy (1 to 1) 2. Passing laws enables the government to regulate only illegal activities, which greatly increases what government can accomplish (1 to 1000) 3. A further amplification of regulatory capability is achieved by letting business firms regulate each other through innovation and competition. This is achieved by outlawing price-fixing and by breaking up monopolies. In this way government sets the rules of the game (1 to 1,000,000)

14. Changing the game
4. A further amplification of management capability can be achieved by changing the goals of nations, for example moving from ideological and military competition to competing through productivity and trade. This is a change in the game itself. At the global level the work of the Club of Rome moved international relations from ideological and military competition to control of population & environment (about 1 to 1 billion)

15. Comments on amplifying management capability
In this example at each step an amplification of about a factor of a thousand is achieved
Regulatory activities are passed on to other actors, not necessarily the government
Note that it is possible to manage a social system composed of many millions of people, even though human beings are limited by “the magical number 7 plus or minus 2”

16. Similarities in power amplification
A similar process of power amplification occurs in engineering in amplifiers for loud speakers and in hydraulic lifts in auto repair shops
Power amplification occurs the same way; a large flow is controlled by a small valve

17. Beer’s Viable System Model
Another idea from management cybernetics is Stafford Beer’s Viable System model -- a multi-level decision-maker that is based on the structure of the human nervous system
Beer’s model has five levels
In accord with Ashby’s theory of adaptive behavior, Systems 1,2 and 3 handle day to day learning and management
Systems 4 and 5 create new goals and methods when needed

18. The VSM is recursive
The Viable System Model recurs at each level of an organization – individual, group, factory, division, company
Each level in an organization can be described using the same functions and thereby is capable of adaptation
When used in an organization, the model provides a common language that aids communication among levels and departments

19. B. Self-organization
The idea of self-organization was developed in the 1950s during discussions about artificial intelligence
One approach was to tell the machine what it should do step by step
A second approach was to create the capability within a machine to learn by interacting with its environment

20. A model of self-organization
In self-organization the basic model has not two components but many, for example species competing in an ecosystem or firms competing in an economy
Given a set of interaction rules, the elements go toward their stable equilibrial states, thereby organizing themselves
Change the interaction rules and the self-organizing system goes to a different equilibrium

21. Applications of self-organization
An incentive system for sales persons is an example of a self-organizing system
Government regulation of an economy is an example – make pollution illegal
A new technology changes the way people and organizations behave
When the interaction rules are changed, the elements of the system adjust their behavior

22. Uses of self-organization
When management defines procedures or government writes laws, they are using the idea of self-organization to change the behavior of a social system
Self-organization is also the idea underlying agent-based models in complexity theory
It has led to a new method of computer simulation

23. C. Reflexivity
In a reflexive system the elements of a system both observe and participate
The elements operate on two levels
Each element observes, orients itself, decides and acts
Examples are a businessman seeking to grow his business or a politician running for public office

24. Group decision-making methods
Group decision-making methods are an example of reflexivity
The task is to lead a group through a conversation with the result being a plan of action that they work on together
Various participatory methods have been created in order to do action research
Action research is often considered to be outside of or different from academic research

25. Group decision-making methods
A facilitator leads a group of people through a conversation
At the end of the process the group has a strategic plan
These methods can be used with companies, government agencies, universities, and charitable organizations
They are a way of holding a conversation about how to make the organization more effective

26. An example of steps in a conversation
What is your vision of a desirable future? What do you want to see in 5 years?
If that is what you want, why do you not already have it? What are the obstacles?
What strategies would remove the obstacles?
What tactics are needed to implement the strategies?
Who will do what, when, where and how?

27. After a few months of implementation
Read the planning document and ask:
What did we say we were going to do?
What did we actually do?
What was more difficult than we expected?
What was easier than we expected?
What additional resources do we need?
Then repeat the planning process
This is a way an organization learns

28. II. CONTRIBUTIONS TO SOCIAL SCIENCE

29. How social science has been done
Most social science research has used an approach borrowed from the physical sciences:
The observer was outside the system of interest
The emphasis was on making objective observations in order to eliminate bias
There was a search for quantitative measures
Statistics were used to find relationships among variables

30. Problems with the social sciences
The doctrine of the unity of method has distracted social scientists from noting the different types of basic elements in social systems – variables, ideas, groups, events
They have looked for cause and effect relationships while paying less attention to circularity and stability
A recent study of academic articles on financial crises found that economists look for causes of financial crises or consequences financial crises

31. Ways that disciplines describe social systems
Variables – physics, economics
Events – computer science, history
Groups – sociology, political science
Ideas – psychology, philosophy, cultural anthropology
Interaction between ideas and events, a “shoelace model”

32. A model of social change using four methods for describing systems
Ideas
Variables Groups
Events
A model of social change using four methods for describing systems

33. Advantages of using several descriptions
The theories and methods of several social science fields are used
There is less chance of missing something important
The four methods of description provide a theory of how social change occurs

34. Reflexivity and group methods
Reflexivity theory and group methods provide an alternative to “objective” social science
Observers are included
Multiple perspectives arise naturally
Relative to the earlier social science research the new social science research is more participative and more conceptually varied

35. III. CONTRIBUTIONS TO PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

36. Changes in philosophy of science
A goal of philosophy of science was to teach scientists how to create “justified true belief”
The problem of induction was seen as an obstacle
The solution was to reject a null hypothesis and accept the alternate hypothesis
Also, eliminate observer effects
However, if the scientist is excluded, who formulates hypotheses, designs experiments and interprets results?
What is the foundation of scientific knowledge?

37. Abandon or redefine the effort?
The difficulties in describing a path to “justified true belief” led philosophers to lose interest in philosophy of science
Warren McCulloch suggested “experimental epistemology” – using neurophysiological experiments to understand how the brain works
“How to do science” became not a normative endeavor but rather an experimental inquiry
Include the observer in what is observed

38. Reconsidering philosophy of science
Emphasize the difference between inanimate objects and thinking participants
Create a multi-disciplinary theory of social change
Emphasize general theories
With a biological foundation for knowledge science began to critique philosophy rather than philosophy critiquing science
There has been greater interest in cross-disciplinary theories and unification of science

39. Contributions of cybernetics to philosophy of science
Cybernetics provides a foundation for philosophy in neurobiology and mathematics
Clarify what is achievable, seek not certainty but an understanding of cognition
Explain how to expand science using the Correspondence Principle
Resume the practice of critiquing the progress of science

40. Concerning the future of knowledge
Norbert Wiener said the 1st industrial revolution occurred when machines replaced human muscle power; the 2nd industrial revolution would use machines to augment human intelligence
Science has shifted from an emphasis on matter and energy to an emphasis on control and communication
More attention is now being given to learning, adaptation, purposes, consensus, understanding, and narratives rather than matter and energy

41. Conclusion: Systems and cybernetics contribute to traditional disciplines
By creating more general theories
By creating a science of control and communication in addition to a science of matter and energy
By showing similarities among ideas in traditional disciplines, e.g., biology, social systems and machines
By integrating knowledge from many fields
By providing a transdisciplinary language for the informational domain and for science itself
By contributing to philosophy, theory and practice

42. Contact information
Stuart A. Umpleby, Professor Emeritus Department of Management The George Washington University Washington, DC USA blogs.gwu.edu/umpleby

43. A presentation for the
annual meeting of the
American Society for Cybernetics
Vancouver, B.C., Canada
June , 2019