norbert wiener's pseudo pilots. a test and the antiaircraft (aa) predictor, 1941

It turned out that prediction worked rather badly for one operator based on another operator's data, but any given operator was enormously self-consistent. | peter galison, the ontology of the enemy: norbert wiener and the cybernetic vision, critical inquiry, vol.21, no.1, autumn, 1994

the core lesson for wiener, according to galison,

It does seem even remotely possible to eliminate the human element as far as it shows itself in enemy behavior. Therefore, in order to otain as complete a mathematical treatment as possible of the over-all control problem, it is necessary to assimilate the different parts of the system to a single basis, either human or mechanical."

well, even today the decision is still in favor of the latter. called no longer servomechanical but digital, producing more noise than ever. despite all the efforts for noise reduction by the mathematical crowd, right at the beginning.

yet, "fundamental" physicists (theoretical and quantum it seems) had a view, too. the idea of "suppressing noise and conveying information as the central electronic mission" wasn't part of it.

On the evening of 21 march 1942, Wiener in frsustration submitted his resignation from the laboratory, cut his relations with it, and handed in his identification badge."

"we tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run."

roy amara, 1925 - 2007

Bernard Scott Beyond Dogma: Heinz von Foerster’s Responsibilities of Competence

Monday, 10th November 2014, 19:00

Universität Wien, Campus Altes AKH / Aula, Spitalgasse 2 / Hof 1, 1090 Wien

based on a paper from HvF, 1972 in which he calls "on cyberneticians to accept their responsibilities for the realities they construct and to use their competencies as cyberneticians to act for the good."