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In an effort to shed light on recent developments in sociocybernetic research, this volume represents recent and advanced thinking in this rapidly developing field. The authors address the core problems in social science caused by increasing societal complexity and analyze the inadequacy of many of the methodological tools still used for grappling with nonlinear, self-organizing systems. Together, the 18 contributors propose elements of a new methodology based on sociocybernetic principles aimed at describing and explaining the growth of societal complexity, the contribution of autopoiesis of societal subunits to more societal complexity, and the new simulation-based methodology needed to observe complex social systems. This unique volume contributes to a greater understanding of sociocybernetics and its uses as a method for researching modern problems of increasing complexity and interdependence. The first part of the book deals with increasing societal complexity and contains chapters on its overall development, the complexity of brain-environment interaction loops, organizational change, the development of human values, and the increasing interpenetration of societal subsystems. The second part concentrates on a current issue in sociocybernetics: autopoiesis, or self-production. The chapters included in Part II concentrate on embodied cognition, on the applicability of autopoiesis to business firms, on its roots in Aristotelian philosophy, and on the possibility of societal control and steering in democratic societies. Part III, more focused on methodology, discusses the difficulties inherent in observing complex social systems. The chapters deal with the problems of cross-cultural comparative research, simulation of the evolution of social systems, longitudinal simulation of education systems, and the methodological difficulties associated with analyzing the unexpected complexities of mutually interacting nonlinear systems.
In Sociocybernetics and Political Theory in a Complex World, Roberto Mancilla offers new takes on known ideas of political and constitutional theory; the advent of information technology and globalization puts them in crisis, as many stem from centuries past.
"...a very fine volume & a welcome contribution to the burgeoning literature on sociocybernetics."--Prof. Kenneth D. Bailey, University of California, Los Angeles. "...an excellent introduction to the kind of thinking that students need to master in order to grasp the complexity of our global society."--Prof. Michael Schwalbe, North Carolina State University. What leads so many of us to try & use magic bullets to solve our social & personal problems? How do we know that our way of thinking is correct? The sociocybernetic perspective provides a view of the world that can help us understand this increasing complexity & manage it in our personal & group life. SOCIOCYBERNETICS compares scientific approaches & other ways of understanding the material world noting the weaknesses in each. Sociocybernetics is the humanistic application of the principles of cybernetics to understanding people & human societies. It is the task of SOCIOCYBERNETICS to show the awesome power of perspective, introduce new ideas concerning the scientific understanding of the human condition & to make this introduction accessible to the average person. Anyone interested in the foundations of any of the social sciences or in a perspective permitting interdisciplinary general education will find this perspective invaluable.
The fifteen papers comprising this book were chosen out of the sixty-one contributions to the Symposium and Section on Social Systems held in the context of the Fourth International Congress of Cybernetics and Systems (Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 21-25 August, 1978). These papers, as sembled here on the basis of their topicality, depth and originality, cover a wide range of problems, ranging from 'Societies and Turing machines' to 'Dialectics and catastrophe'. An interesting array of themes is considered by authors from six countries. It is felt that these papers, some of them thought-provoking and of great merit, will cast new light on social problems. Though the contributions consider a wide variety of topics, the underlying trend is apparent in many instances. Of special value is the discussion of the relevance of cybernetics and systems to a wide spectrum of social problems. I think the treatment and the approach adopted by the contributors merit wide attention, since their contributions constitute an appreciable advance in a fairly novel field. 1. ROSE BLACKBURN (U.K.) May, 1978 Acknowledgements First of all, we want to thank the authors for their contributions to these volumes, often produced under severe time pressure. We are particularly indebted to publisher Hans van der Sluijs and desk editor Judy Marcure for their helpful cooperation in having both volumes edited and published on schedule.
Bernard Scott’s book explains the relevance of cybernetics for the social sciences. He provides a non-technical account of the history of cybernetics and its core concepts, with examples of applications of cybernetics in psychology, sociology, and anthropology.
In this stimulating work, thirteen distinguished scholars examine and aim to reconcile the paradox that social systems tend to steer themselves with the knowledge that they are, at the same time, subject to steering and control from outside. 'Sociocybernetics' is the term they have coined to describe the tools used in the analysis of this paradox; tools which have themselves evolved from and influenced cybernetics and general systems theory. Sociocybernetic Paradoxes surveys both the possibilities and limitations of cybernetics in the analysis and treatment of social problems: Part One looks at concrete experiences of the steering of specific social systems; Part Two examines the planning, hierarchy and views of soci
By now, most academics have heard something about the new science of complexity. In a manner reminiscent of Einstein and the last hundred years of physics, complexity science has captured the public imagination. ® One can go to Amazon. com and purchase books on complexification (Casti 1994), emergence (Holland 1998), small worlds (Barabási 2003), the web of life (Capra 1996), fuzzy thinking (Kosko 1993), global c- plexity (Urry 2003) and the business of long-tails (Anderson 2006). Even television has incorporated the topics of complexity science. Crime shows ® ® such as 24 or CSI typically feature investigators using the latest advances in computational modeling to “simulate scenarios” or “data mine” all p- sible suspects—all of which is done before the crime takes place. The ® World Wide Web is another example. A simple search on Google. Com using the phrase “complexity science” gets close to a million hits! C- plexity science is ubiquitous. What most scholars do not realize, however, is the remarkable role sociologists are playing in this new science. C- sider the following examples. 0. 1 Sociologists in Complexity Science The first example comes from the new science of networks (Barabási 2003). By now, most readers are familiar with the phenomena known as six-degrees of separation—the idea that, because most large networks are comprised of a significant number of non-random weak-ties, the nodes (e. g. , people, companies, etc.
This introduction to the world of cybernetics provides the basics and discusses the most important thought leaders, models as well as theories. Practical examples from the fields of biology, ecology, technology, society, and politics are used to illustrate the theoretical material. Questions at the end of the chapters stimulate reflection, and the author does not owe the answers. A central theme in all cybernetic considerations and a guiding theme of the book are information exchange and communication.