Frequently Asked Questions

About Cybernetics

Question

What is the contribution of cybernetics to our understanding of systems which determine their own goals? 

Answer

My interpretation of the question would depend on how he is using the words system, determine, and goal. From the point of view of an external observer, any entity that adapts to changing circumstances by adjusting the limits on its "essential variables" is altering its goals, if we, as observers, choose to use the word "goal" to describe what we see (the ultra stable system). Many scientists/philosophers talk about living systems, and some other adaptive systems, as having this capability. I have some reservations about whether the use of the word "system" would be appropriate here. These entities--living and adaptive--may better be referred to as organisms or mechanisms which, in the context of an environment, form an ecosystem. However, I question whether the word "goal" is appropriate when talking about an ecological system--an organism(s) AND its environment.

The use of the word "determine" leads me to think that the questioner may have in mind something else, namely entities that experience choice. The phenomenon of choice--the conscious selection from alternatives--is experienced by an observer, arising from within themselves as autonomous entities/systems. The experience of choice among alternatives also includes  the experience of choice among goals. When I observe this in other entities, I am projecting my experience onto that which I am observing.  Without my own experience of choice, I would have no basis for observing it in others. I may describe the behavior of another entity from either the point of view of choice or the point of view of adaptation, depending on what is useful to me at the time, but I refuse to give up the notion that I have the ability to choose. 

About Education

Question

Greetings!
I'm a high school student researching the profession of the cyberneticist. I would like some help. Could you please send me information on necessary training, cost of that training, job opportunities, available pay, and anything else which you may think is relevant. 

Answer

"Cyberneticist" is not really a profession but a scientific specialization in which you can do research on various topics concerned with complex systems and their organization and behavior. There are no official BSc or MSc degrees in cybernetics as far as I know, but some universities offer MSc programs in systems science, which is closely related, or PhD's in cybernetics. For a partial list of centers providing such education see http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/CYBSYSLI.html. Most people doing cybernetics research have a degree in a related discipline, e.g. computer science, engineering, mathematics, biology or psychology, and then have specialized in cybernetics afterwards.
Job opportunities and related pay depend on your specific specialization. Applications in computer technology or web development are likely to offer many job opportunities while specializations in the more theoretical side of cybernetics will offer much less. For all other information, please check the web page http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/CYBSYSTH.html and the pages linked to it. 

General Systems Theory

Question

Could you please, very briefly, compare and contrast general systems theory and cybernetics?

Answer

Cybernetics looks at communication and decision-making (control). General systems theorists are interested in similarities among systems, for example biological organisms and social systems. General systems theorists think their interests are more broad since they look at matter/energy relationships in addition to information relationships. Cyberneticians think their interests are more broad because general systems theory is, afterall, only a theory and hence is an object of study by cyberneticians. Cyberneticians have lately used a constructivist epistemology (theory of knowledge) whereas general systems theorists usually use a realist epistemology.