AM ERICAN SO CIETY FOR CYBERNETICS

Edited by Allenna Leonard

EFLECTIONS ON THE FESTIVAL By Shelly Clemson

NEWSLETTER

Participants in the First Annual Cybernetics estival at Sunset, Maine basked in sunshine, omaraderie, and participative labor for two ovely days. Roger and Shirley Conant, hosts f the "happening", survived the brief trans­ormation of their summer homestead into a onference center. ASC folk from Washington, D.C. aryland, Virginia, Orono, ME., Chicago (Conant's Lnter home), New Hampshire (Larry Heilprin's nmner home), Boston and Jakarta, Indonesia ~arry Clemson's parents) gave the meeting a Lobal perspective.

Despite the overall mood of casual raillery, ~ighty issues were the order of the day. Basic ;sumptions, such as the proper role of profess­>nal societies, the unique mission of ASC, and te desirability and rate of membership expansion !re on the agenda. Strategy sessions concent~ tted on implementation of a fall membership :ive, short and long range conference partic­>ation for 198ü-82 and beyond, the role of the >urnal and the Forum, and exchange activities .th other organizations. One popular proposal LS the increased use of the News Letter as .a >rum for ideas; a kind of medium for cybernetic .alogue. Roger Conant suggested the inclusion : 'fundamental questions 1 as a thought-provoking :arting point. Another intriguing Suggestion ts an idealproblern exchange with Soviet rberneticians.

Cybernetics, when not explicitly discussed, :ill simmered noisily beneath the surface. The Lestion of whether or not we were organizing trselves cybernetically (i.e. practicing what ! profess) was raised frequently, and the >ncepts of self-organization, autopoiesis, !edback, and requisite variety provided the >gnitive breakthroughs that moved the group >ward consensus at several points during the !ekend.

People who had attended the April Planning >nference in Washington were eagerly looking >rward to the implementation of more of the >nference's recommendations. Frank Leonard ; planning a follow-up meeting in Toronto this tnuary. At that time, some of us hope to tve additional opportunities to get tagether in 1all, stimulating discussion groups that >ncentrate on cybernetics theory and ideas. ~tails of organizational logistics will be 1nned from these sessions!! It's amazing how 1ch details tend to expand and devour all railable time and space. Only strict vigilance Lll check their growth! CLEMSON (cont 'd)

~- ~

Number 3

August 1980

AFTERTHOUGHTS - EDITORIAL COMMENT By Roger Conant

We will not convince the world tha t we have anything worthwhi le to offer as a group/disci­pline, if we cannot apply our understandings tc ourselves. Do we understand self-organization! Then we should be able to bootstrap and self­organize into a li:vely society. Do we under­stand circular causality? Then we should be able to apply positive feedback to our own op­erations. Do we understand control and commun­ications? Then we need to modify the design of our own existing channels of communications anc develop new ones to enhance both our internal interactions and those wh;ich we have with the external environment. Tf we fail we shall not only be an organizational flop, we shall as practitioners have given a'l!lple evidence that cybernetic insight is just an airy notion. Could that be? I like to think not and offer a few thoughts on the society's communications.

We are a loosely coupled system, widely scattered, lacking in critical mass of members except in a few places such the D.C. area where tight personal bonds are _possible . through reg­ular informal meetings. To succeed as a societ communication through printed media is crucial. To meet this need our present formal publicat­ions are only peripher ally useful and for a number of reasons. They are only published in­frequently, they have long lead times, they ad­mit only of well reasoned polished final drafts and thus do not foster spontaneaus discussion, and last but not least they are prohibitively expensive. I believe that this· newsletter offe· the best vehicle for dynamic printed communic­ations. I predict that ASC will succeed or fai according to the success of. the newsletter.

For the newsletter to succeed it must a) have very rapid turnaraund and it must be published frequently·, b) be both interesting and informal so that all or most members will both read and contribute to it and c) it must not impose such an overwhelming task that no on will be willing to serve as editor and take on the responsibility of getting i .t out.

Another vehicle for communications that we have is conferences. Too often our meetings and conferences have centered on organizational housekeeping matters and/or on the eternal que­stion What is cybernetics? Too seldom do we get to address the sum and subs·tance of cybernetics

CONANT (cont'd)

AMERICAN SOCI ETY FOR CYBERNETICS

Edited by Allenna Leonard

REFLECTIONS ON THE FESTIVAL By Shelly Clemson

NEWSLETTER

Participants in the First Annual Cybernetics Festival at Sunset, Maine basked in sunshine, comaraderie, and participative labor for two ovely days. Roger and Shirley Conant, hosts

of the "happening", survived the brief trans­f ormation of their summer homestead into a bonference center. ASC folk from Washington, D.C.

ryland, Virginia, Orono, ME., Chicago (Conant's inter home), New Hampshire (Larry Heilprin's

home), Boston and Jakarta, Indonesia Clemson's parents) gave the meeting a

1lobal perspective. Despite the overall mood of casual raillery,

eighty issues were the order of the day. Basic ~sumptions, such as the proper role of profess­anal societies, the unique mission of ASC, and he desirability and rate of membership expansion ere on the agenda. Strategy sessions concent~ ated on implementation of a fall membership rive, short and long range conference partic­pation for 1980-82 and beyond, the role of the Jurnal and the Forum, and exchange activities Lth other organizations. One popular proposal 3.S the increased use of the News Letter as .a Jrum for ideas; a kind of medium for cybernetic Lalogue. Roger Conant suggested the inclusion E 'fundamental questions 1 as a thought-provoking tarting point. Another intriguing Suggestion 3.S an idea/problem exchange with Soviet rberneticians.

Cybernetics, when not explicitly discussed, till simmered noisily beneath the surface. The ~estion of whether or not we were organizing ~rselves cybernetically (i.e. practicing what : profess) was raised frequently, and the Jncepts of self-organization, autopoiesis, :edback, and requisite variety provided the Jgnitive breakthroughs that moved the group Jward consensus at several points during the :ekend.

People who had attended the April Planning Jnference in Washington were eagerly looking Jrward to the implementation of more of the Jnference's recommendations. Frank Leonard s planning a follow-up meeting in Toronto this 3.nuary. At that time, some of us hope to 3.Ve additional opportunities to get tagether in nall, stimulating discussion groups that oncentrate on cybernetics theory and ideas. etails of organizational logistics will be anned from these sessions!! It's amazing how uch details tend to expand and devour all vailable time and space. Only strict vigilance ill check their growth! CLEMSON (cont 'd)

Nurober 3

August 1980

AFTERTHOUGHTS - EDITORIAL COMMENT By Roger Conant

We will not convi.nce the world that we have anything worthwhile to offer as a group/disci­pline, if we cannot apply our understandings tc ourselves. Do we understand self-organization! Then we should be able to bootstrap and self­organize into a li:vely society. Do we under­stand circular causality? Then we should be able to apply positive feedback to our own op­erations. Do we understand control and commun­ications? Then we need to modify the design of our own existing channels of communications anc develop new ones to enhance both our internal interactions and those which we have with the external environment. If we fail we shall not only be an organizational flop, we shall as practitioners have given ample evidence that cybernetic insight is just an airy notion. Could that be? I like to think not and offer a few thoughts on the society's communications.

We are a loosely coupled system, widely scattered, lacking in critical mass of members except in a few places such the D.C. area where tight personal bonds are _possible through reg­ular informal meetings. To succeed as a societ communication through printed media is crucial. To meet this need our present formal publicat­ions are only peripher ally useful and for a number of reasons. Th.ey are only published in­frequently, they have lang lead times, they ad­mit only of well reasoned polished final drafts and thus do not foster spontaneaus discussion, and last but not least they are prohibitively expensive. I believe that this· newsletter offe· the best vehicle for dynamic printed communic­ations. I predict that ASC will succeed or fai accor.ding to the success of. the newsletter.

For the newsletter to succeed it must a) have very rapid turnaraund and it must be published frequently·, b) be both interesting and informal so that all or most members will both read and contribute to it and c) it must not impose such an overwhelming task that no on will be willing to serye as editor and take on the responsibility of getting it out.

Another vehicle for communications that we have is conferences. Too often our meetings and conferences have centered on organizational housekeeping matters and/or on the eternal que­stion What is cybernetics? Too seldom do we get to address the sum and subs·tance of cybernetics

CONANT (cont'd)

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR CYBERNETICS

Edited by Allenna Leonard

REFLECTIONS ON THE FESTIVAL By Shelly Clemson

NEWSLETTER

Participants in the First Annual Cybernetics Festival at Sunset, Maine basked in sunshine, comaraderie, and participative labor for two lovely days. Roger and Shirley Conant, hosts of the "happening", survived the brief trans­formation of their summer homestead into a conference center. ASC folk from Washington, D.C. Maryland, Virginia, Orono, ME., Chicago (Conant's winter home), New Hampshire (Larry Heilprin's surnmer home), Boston and Jakarta, Indonesia (Barry Clemson's parents) gave the meeting a global perspective.

Despite the overall mood of casual raillery, weighty issues were the order of the day. Basic assumptions, such as the proper role of profess­ional societies, the unique mission of ASC, and the desirability and rate of membership expansion were on the agenda. Strategy sessions concent~ rated on implementation of a fall membership drive, short and long range conference partic­ipation for 1980-82 and beyond, the role of the Journal and the Forum, and exchange activities with other organizations. One popular proposal was the increased use of the News Letter as .a forum for ideas; a kind of medium for cybernetic dialogue. Roger Conant suggested the inclusion of 'fundamental questions 1 as a thought-provoking starting point. Another intriguing suggestion was an idea/problem exchange with Soviet cyberneticians.

Cybernetics, when not explicitly discussed, still simmered noisily beneath the surface. The question of whether or not we were organizing ourselves cybernetically (i.e. practicing what we profess) was raised frequently, and the concepts of self-organization, autopoiesis, feedback, and requisite variety provided the cognitive breakthroughs that moved the group toward consensus at several points during the weekend.

People who had attended the April Planning Conference in Washington were eagerly looking forward to the implementation of more of the eonference's recommendations. Frank Leonard is planning a follow-up meeting in Toronto this January. At that time, some of us hope to have additional opportunities to get tagether in small, stimulating discussion groups that concentrate on cybernetics theory and ideas. Details of organizational logistics will be banned from these sessions!! It's amazing how such details tend to expand and devour all available time and space. Only strict vigilance will check their growth~ CLEMSON ( con t 'd)

Nurober 3

August 1980

AFTERTHOUGHTS - EDITORIAL COMMENT By Roger Cona,nt

We will not convince the world tha,t we have anything worthwhile to offer as a group/disci­pline, if we cannot apply our understandings tc ourselves. Do we unders·tand self-organization: Then we should be able to bootstrap and self­organize into a lively society. Do we under­stand circular causality? Then we should be able to apply positive feedback to our own op­erations. Do we understand control and cornmun ications? Then we need to modify the design o our own existing channels of communications an develop new ones to enhance both our internal interactions and those wh~ch we have with the external environment. Tf we fail we shall not only be an organizational flop, we shall as practitioners have given alJlple evidence that cybernetic insight is just an airy notion. Could that be? I like to think not and offer a few thoughts on the society's communications

We are a loosely coupled system, widely scattered, lacking in critical mass of members except in a few places such the D.C. area wher tight personal bonds are .possible through reg­ular informal meetings. To succeed as a socie communication through printed media is crucial To meet this need our present formal publicat­ions are only peripher ally useful and for a number of reasons. Th.ey are only published in frequently, they have lang lead times, they ad mit only of well reasoned polished final draft and thus do not fester spontaneaus discussion, and last but not least they are prohibitively expensive. I believe that this· newsletter off, the best vehicle for dynamic printed communic­ations. I predict that ASC will succeed or fa according to the success of. the newsletter.

For the newsletter to succeed it must a) have very rapid turnaraund and it must be published frequently·, b) be both interesting and informal so that all or most members will both read and contribute to it and c) it must not impose such an overwhelming task that no o will be willing to serve as editor and take on the responsibility of getting it out.

Another vehicle for communications that we have is conferences. Too often our meetings an conferences have centered on organizational housekeeping matters and/or on the eternal que stion What is cybernetics? Too seldom do we ge to address the sum and substance of cybernetic

CONANT (cont'd)

M. Brewster Abele 23 Russell Ct. Newtonvi1le, Mass. 02160

George Ainsworth-Land 1333 Lopaka Place Kailua, Hawaii 96734

l-1ichael G. Allen 721 Hollow Tree Ridge Rd. Darien, Conn. 06820

M.A. Arbib 164 Aubin Wood Rd. Amherst Mass. 01002

Geurge Au~tin Loma Linda Vnivcrsity Rm. 2539 School of Hedicine Loma Linda, Calif. 92350

Kosmas Balkus Dept. of Urban & Reg. Plan. Florida State University Tallahassee, Fla. 32306

Stafford Beer Cwarel ISAF Pont Creuddyn LLanbedr P.S. Dyfed SA48-8ppPG Wales U.K.

A. Bhanos 10402 Forest Avenue Fairfax, VA. 22030

Larry J. Bidinian Div. Behav.& Soc. Sei. Dept. Gov. & Politics University of Maryland College Park, Md. 20742

Alan H. Blair 1121 Pekay St. S.W. Vienna, ~· 22180

ASC Membership 1980

Jean A.H. Bourget /1211 2780 RO\o.'att Ottowa, Ontario, K2B 6PI

Jerald S. Brodkey 2074 Abington Rd. Cleveland, Ohio 44 106

Phylis Carr 30 \\falker Ave. Gaithersburg, Md. 20760

Barry Clemson 33 Pond Street Orono, HE. 04473

Roger Conant 08 Seo Wicc Box 4348

Q,icago, Ill. 60680

N.A. Coulter, Jr. 123 Clinical Sei. Bldg. 229H University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, N.C. 27514

Paul F. Dell Dept. of Psychiatry &· Behav. University of Texas Medical Galveston, Texas 77550

Don Driscoll 9021 Contee Road Laurel, Md. 20811

Vadim Drozin Dept. of Physics Buckwell University Lewisburg, PA . 17837

Bonnie Dunning 5363 Essex Ct. /1150 Alexandria~ v~. 223lt

Charles H. Dym 2511 Mass. Ave. Washington, D.C. 20008

Leila Engman 14908 Talking Rock Gaithersburg, MD. 20760

William C. Doak Jr. Apt. 1!411 2727 Duke St. Alexandria, VA. 22314

Kenneth L. Farrimond, HD . 914 Oak Hills Med. Bldg. San Antonio, Tx. 78229

Charles A. Fink 3305 Brandy Court Falls Church, VA. 22024

Lawrence Fleming P.O.Box 1843 Philadelphia, PA. 19105

Parker Foley 7501 Rhode Island Ave. #2 College Park, MD. 20740

Charles 0. Francais Defensa 113-8 Piso 1065 Buenos Aires Argentina

Belgian EHI

Nicholas H. Fritz, Jr. 2330 S. Queen Street Arlington, VA . 22202

Abe Goldblatt 3321 Stanford St. \\;1at. t.svi.\.1.e, l<ID. 2\ll '03

leby's suggestion probably reflects the the group at the conculsion of the Festi­

He exhorted us not to procrastinate an for next year's event, the Secend Annual •..

the Cönants said they~d be amenable to eat performance in Maine, perhaps there are suggestions out there for some alternative

additional sites or formats . (e.g. west coast). so, you may contact me at 33 Pond St., Orono

aine 04473, or write to ASC c/o Stuart at .W. in Washington D.C.

illBERSHIP LISTS

Please send lists of people you wish to tve ASC membership materials mailed to this Lll to Phyllis Carr at ·30 Walker Avenue, tithersberg, MD 20760. The lists can be either >rmal/organizational lists or just the names td addresses of friends you' d like to see tvolved.

lSITIONS OPEN

Three professional positions have been listed .th ASC' er Al Kreger. They are for two-three­!ar assignmentp with a large European firm L the Belgium/Netherlands/Luxembourg. If you ·e interested, contact him at ·Mashman Assoc. -00 Goldsbora Road, Washington, D.C.20034 - call at 229-3000 for more details or send m your resume. The positions are: :chnology Transfer Senior Staff This position requests a streng quantitative .ckground and strength in computer science and ucational theory, measul;'ement and evaluation. ·enty years experience is preferred. The job .tails structuring and evaluating training ograms for a variety of people at varying adernie and intellectual levels and includes nagement of technology transfer techhiques, eating feedback mechanisms _for continued sessment and revising programs on the basis the results.

ftware Engineering An expert in software engineering is needed advise cerparate organizations on measures

r implementing consultant 1 s reco~endations r quality improvement. Job includes oviding assistance in the design and develop­at of training packages from the remedial leyel and recognizing and smoothing communications

Jblems between technically and non-technically ained personnel in the management and software sineering areas. Personal qualities of tact i diplomacy are required. Other qualifications :lude an advanced degree in computer science, a years of experience including programming, ftware management, etc. Direct experience real time systems and distributed processing

ing networks involving combinations of hardware .eh as large processors and mini-computers is .so essential. -- - - · POS-ITIONS (cont'd)

CONANT (cont'd)

I suggest that we abandon the traditional aca­demic conference precedents, start fresh and begin tothink of newways to run a conference which will promote a return to the intellectua: excitement which was a hallmark of the early days in the field. How should such efforts be organized? In Maine we began to explore thE notion of piggybacking an conferences being rur by others rather than mounting large efforts o j our own. The topics to be covered should arisE out of overlaps between a) people who have somE knowledge about the application of cybernetics related to the theme of the conference and b) people who would be interested in further explc ing the particular topic at hand. The format and presentations should be organized in such c way as to maximize information transfer and thE personal involv.ement of all involved. We have an opportunity to do so in conjunction with thE AAAS/SGSR meeting in Toronto in January. I pet sonally am willirig to facilitate such an effort Please contact me directly if you would like tc participate in the development of this idea anc or in the workshop at the conference.

Hy impression is that although we are very interesting as individuals, we have not been too exciting as a society. Our meetings are dul and our publications stuffy. I tend to agree with Frank Leonard who said that our present efforts should be focused an re-creation. Ta this end in closing I would like to suggest tha it would be of interest to me • • • and I know to others to be able to find out what my ASC colleagues are thinking about. And so for the question of the month I ask "W'hat is your guiding question? ·11c Culloch asked "What is ma that he may know a number, and a number that ma may know it?" Ashby~s guiding question, althoug as far as I know he never explicitly stated it was "How· can a mechanical system, such as a br­ain, come to show intelligence and adaptability My own question is, "How is the flow of infor­mation within a system related to the structure of the system?'' Nearly everyone must have such a question which occupies most of their idle time and at least some of their central effort over the course of a lifetime. What is yours? Lets start a dialogue in the newsletter and follow it up at our conferences. Our collectiv thoughts may just reveal where it is that we ar and what it is that we should be doing in the future. R. Conant 1108 SEO, UICC,Box 4343

Chicago, Ill. 60680

EDITORIAL REQUEST

If possible, contributions to the News Letter should be typed single space in four inch columns. We've been using a Prestige typeface, 12 pitch (Elite) so if it matches that, so much the better. The fewer entries that need to be retyped, the faster the prepara· tion will go.

Dr. H.J.A. Goodman Rm. 732 Education Tower University of Calgary Calgary, Alberta Canada T2N IN4-

Constance Gordon 104 Denver Rd. Silver Spring, MD, 20910

Bill Halal 1550 44th Street N.W. Washington, D.C. 20007

Carl Hammer Sperry Univac 2121 Wisconsin Ave. N.W. Washington, D.C. 20007

John Hayman Auburn University Box 1018 Clanton, Ala. 35045

William E. Hanna Jr. 632 Crocus Drive Rockville, Md. 20850

L.B. Heilprin 4800 Berwyn House Rd. College Park Maryland 20740

Howard J. Hiltqn HUC 5480 Wisconsin Ave. Chevy Chase, MD. 20015

Paul S. Henshaw 6050 Camina Esquina Tucson, Ariz. 85718

S.R. Hoffman P.O. Box 3096 Burlingon, VT, 05401

Daniel Howland Bu3iness Administration Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio 43210

Iemp~, 1"\.L...LLoVU~

Harold K. Hughes Hannawa Rd. 12236 Potsdam NY 13676

George T. Jacobi 507 E. Michigan St. Box 423 Milwaukee, WI. 53201

P.T. Johnson-Lenz 695 Fifth Street Lake Oswego, Oregon 97034

Stuart Katz Psychology, Univ. of Georgia Athens, GA. 30602

Frederick Kile Res. Consultant for Social Aid Assoc. for Lutherans Appleton, Wisc. 54919

Louise H. Klein ~

550 Coventry Rd. Berkely, CA. 94707

Douglas E. Knight 1000 Westchester Ave. White Plains, N.Y. 10604

· Felix Kopstein Science Center Wayne, PA. 19087

Klaus Krippendorf Annenberg Sch. of Commun. University of Penn ·. 19104

Frank and Allenna Leonard 10270 Wilde Lake Terrace Columbia, MD. 21044

Robert Leong Systems in Ed. & Training 1555W. Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA. 90015

Ralph Levine 1954 Riveria E. Lansing, Mich.

Gertrude Herrmann Life 1131 University Blvd.W. Silver Springs, Md. 20902

James R. Geiser, Assoc.Prof Math and Computer Science SUNY College at New Paltz New Paltz, New York 12561

Joyce C. Little 723 Nottingham RD Baltimore, MD. 21229

Al Kreger 5514 Westbard Ave. Bethesda, MD. 20016

Alfred Locker Hetzendorferstr 58- 60/7/5 A1120 Vienna, Austria

Christopher R. Longyear Univ. of Washington English, Dept. GN-30 Seattle, Wash. 98195

Anthony J. Menezes 6520 Chaffee Rd., Apt. 171 Des Meines, Iowa 50315

Jean F. Matthew 5666 Heathwood Ct~ Virginia Beach, VA. 23462

Allan Mitchell & Carol Gibsan 19333 Vallco Parkway Cupertino, Calif. 95014

Kumpati S. Narendra Dept. of Engineering & Ap.Sci. Yale Unive10sity New Haven, Conn.

(cont'd)

er Aided Manufacturing (CAM) individual with an engineering background

ferably a combination of mechanical and ctrical)with experience in applying CAM

l

n an electrical/electronics manufacturing etting is required to advise maRagement of oncepts and practicalities of CAM and related echnology. Responsibilities also include roviding substantive contributions to course ontent to the technology transfer training ffort and assisting in its evaluation.

SHINGTON, D.C. GROUP MEETINGS

Mark your calendars now for D.C. group !etings on September 17, October 15 and IVember 19 at the· Irbn Gate Inn at 1734 St. N.W. in Washington. Professor tbramaniam from India will be the September 'eaker. Cocktails will start at 5:30, dinner : 6:15 and his talk at about 7:00. The Iron .te is convenient to the L bus lines and is tar the Dupont Circle subway stop.

?ORTRAil 0~ TH~ ~TißT ~ ~BE.RNETrClAN

Orte idea that came out of the Maine 1rainstorming was to have an art show of ,sc presenters and participants. This rould add another dimenslion to -our percep­:ion of who we are. Poets, painters, photo­;raphers.potters and weavers are reported :o abound in ASC. Think about bringing ·our portable artwerk for axbibit at the ~oronto Conference. Apyone who has or rould like to have experience in setting tp an exhibit of this nature please get .n touch with Stuart or Bill Reckmeyer. iill is handling other conference plans tnd will know who to contact for space. re might also want to think about planning tn appropriate bash to celebrate our arts.

~OUND: One

In Maine, the round wa-s dubbed fitting :or the marehing and chowder songs of a iociety dealing in circular causality. A 'irst try was assembled by Stuart and ulenna. To the tune of Freres Jacques ...

Cybernetics. Cybernetics. Change appears. Change appears. See us now adapting. See us now adapting. Model: Beer's. Model: Beer's.

)ther entries are most earnestly solicited. 1lease submit to News Letter.

S~~rNG THE WORD OR FUNgus

The extremely broad applicability of cybernetics has led to the suggestion that content areas members work in and their conferences would be good places to set up cybernetics side workshops, publications, etc. This is the yeast or fungus model of organic growth. Please share your ideas for the advancement of symbiosis between ASC and other groups in a short piece for the News Letter or a longer one for the FORUM.

QUESTIONMRE

The initial responses to the ASC Questionaire have oeen very interesting. I:f YßU haven 1 t yet mailed yours please do it as soon as you can. rf yDur questionaire is lost or strayed, let me (~llenna Leonard 10270 Wilde Lake Tr. Columbia, Md. 21044) know and I 1 11 send another. The sooner we get the responses the sooner we can analyze them and start making Connections.

Cartoonists Wanted These who are skilled at making drawings an

cartoons can contribute to the readability and humor of Cybernetics Forum by submitting occa s ional cartoons. See the book, What' s So Funny About Science, Los Altos~ Calif. William Kaufmann, Inc., 1970. as an example. Advertising Manager Wanted

Advertising in the Forum will improve our financial posture and provide useful informatir for our members. We need someone who will solicit ads for the Forum. Likely advertisers are publishers of books and other journals in the field, micro-computer manufacturers and companies making or programming industrial robc

If you would like to work on this important taE or contribute cartoons or photographs (or articles for that matter) please write Vadim Drozin, Cybernetics Forum editor, Department of Physics, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA. 17837

QUESTIONS

Please send your guiding question in for inclusion in an article (probably in the FORUM with a small B & W photo suitable for printing

ALSO FOR THE FORUM ••. Several of us who were in Maine (and else

where) have taken photographs of ASC people an. activities. Prints would be much appreciated for a write up in the FORUM on the festival and for inclusion in other articles.

Carolyn O'Connor 10009 Blue Coat Dr. Fairfax, VA. 22030

Akira Ishikawa 92 New Street Newark, NJ. 07102

Prof. Ada Luk P.O. Box 1860 Hong Kong

Clark J. Maust, JR. 5803 Wolf Road Orlando, FLA. 32808

Roy Mitchell 01-B.P. 1850 Abidjan - 01 Ivory Coast

Ursula Nogic 5227 42nd Place Hyattsville Maryland 20782

William C. Moore 1819 H. Street N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006

Mark Ozer 3000 Conn. Ave. N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006

WLiliam Paris 501 Slaters Lane #607 Alexandria, VA. 22314

Jeffrey Perrone 3685 17th Street San Francisco, CA. 94114

Dr. D. Pratt Faculty of Education Queens University Kino~tnn . ~RnRrlR K7M ~AA

Michael J. Quinn 287 Macpherson Avenue Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 1A4

Rammohan K. Ragade Systems Science Institute University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky 40292

James B. Rechen 7848 Briardale Terrace Derwood, MD 20855

Bill Reckmeyer 2374 Tulip Road San Jose, CA 95128

Allen H. Reid Aretee 8787 Frederick Road Ellicott City, MD 21043

Larry Richards 17204 Hoskinson Rd. Poolesville, MD. 20837

Dr. William D. Richards, Jr. Dept. of Communication Sirnon Fraser University Burnaby, BC Canada V5A 1S6

Herbert Robinson Box 17107 Fountain Hills, Ariz 85268

Fernando Rosas, M.D. Centro Me'dico Carrera 11 No. 9723 Ap 501 Bogata, Columbia

Steve Ruth 6204 Colmac Drive Falls Church, VA 22044

David C. Ryan, Jr. 2814 63rd Place Cheverly, MD 20785

Eugene W. Rypka, P.O. Box 8273 Albuquerque

Osvaldo Sangiori Rua Barao do Rio Pardo 05662-Morumbi Sae Paulo BRASIL

H.H. Sayani 5706 Gaueher Drive College Park, MD 20740

Rosalind Schulman The Philadelphian 2401 Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA

Gordon T. Shahin

8B25 Avenue 19130

2107 Callaway Street Washington, D.C. 20031

Elaine Shalowitz 5603 Huntington Pkwy Bethesda, MD 20014

Louise B. Speck, Ph.D. 2506 Palmer Avenue Glenwood Springs Colorado 81601

Leonard Starobin, Speech Dept Univ. of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104

Frederick Steir Annenberg School of Communica. University of Pannsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104

Doreen Stegg 1616 Hepburn Deive Villanova, PA 19085

Ellen G. Stolarik 4310 Van Buren Street University Park, MD 20782

T HOUGHTS FROM THE PAST Lest anyone think that our current efforts towards re-creation are breaking new ground , it seems fitting to do an instant re­play from the pages of the Autumn 1974 issue of the FORUM.

A Forum for Cybernetics What the world needs now is just one more learned joumal. It should be stodgy, recondite, arrogant

and humorless. Above all, its reasoning, preferably couched in arcane mathematical notation, should be subtly trivial or inconclusive. The persistent general reader's reward at the end of most articles should be an urge to yawn, or a quickly suppressed anxiety fit about the adequacy of his (or her) intelligence and education. Each author should find the articles preceding and following his own either irrelevant or incomprehensible, except that a few contributors should find here a comfortable place to rattle acadernic credentials at a very few others. The outward and inward aspects of this joumal, if it is to command a respected place in the vast morass of professional literature, must be formal and forbidding to invoke suitable feelings of awe and credulity.

It is in the shadow of this specter that the FORUM, this Summer, has been transmogrified from a merely chatty newsletter for a rather small society into a- yes!- journal. This quarterly, in the words of Roy Herrmann, " ... will become the arena for spiritual fights to clarify complex issues in a way that makes it dynamic, instructive and good reading material."

The "complex issues" are those of Cybernetics and o! tne world. The "spiritual fights" are likely to be over what Cybernetics is and may become. Shall we Iook, in the FORUM, to define Cybemetics by what cyberneticians do? Will non-technical English suffice to express and dispute the polyglot philo­sophic and scientific beliefs, concepts, techniques and actions which are uniquely Cybernetics? Are we embarking on an Old Testament journey?

"Let us build us ... a tower, whose top may reach Ünto heaven; and Iet us make us a name ... " Just such grand aspirations seem to motivate many cyberneticians. Warren McCulloch, in 1953, addressed a joint session of the American J\cademy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The theme of the meeting was the Unity of Science, and McCulloch's talk was entitled, "Mysterium Iniquitatis: Of Sinful Man Aspiring into the Place of God." Most strikingly and eloquently, he spoke of his profound faith in the view of organism as mechanism, and of his certainty that the enigma of the miild-or brain-is soluble at least partly through techniques used in other scientific domains to crack other problems.

Many of McCulloch's views and methods, if not his specific preoccupations and larger-than-life personal endowments, characterize other cyberneticians. He was driven by a restless, voracious hunger for knowledge and closure. In seeking keys to unlock the mysteries of the mind he was quick to grasp

and devour implications and applications from many scientific specialties. He saw science as a universal entity rather than as fragmented compartments. He had no hesitation in-and a large capacity for-learn­ing and extrapolating knowledge and techniques drawn from other fields of inquiry. His immense energy, dramatic presence and flair for language enabled him to carry off with superb grace the role of eclectic. In any sense that it is possible to be one in the twentieth century, he was a Renaissance Man.

Cyberneticians share-in addition to belief in the centrality and power of the concepts of communica­tion and control-the conviction that scientific methods, data and analogies constitute a practical unity. Whatever his specialized field of training or work, the cybernetician strives to be pan-disciplinarian in his attack on any problem. Nor is betonging to the classification of cybernetician limited to members of societies or graduates of programs which sport the term Cybernetics in their titles. As Cybernetics emerges more articulately and distinctly, more scientists will become aware that they are using cybernetic techniques and, indeed, are cyberneticians.

As recently as ten to 15 years ago, the designation Cybernetics was often regarded with some embarrassment as a usage which had been preempted by science-fiction writers, Europeans, con-men and cranks. Now there is a growing acceptance of the term in academic institutions and professional circles. If more cyberneticians would write of their thoughts and works in laymen's terms-for regardless of our best efforts to master other fields we remain, humanly, laymen in all but a few-the discipline of Cybernetics m:ight come into its own as a powerful master science. With all due respect to the growing technical Iiterature in Cybernetics, the FORUM addresses that part of the discipline which is most difficult-communications. Here is the challenge to cyberneticians: Can you describe your accomplish­ments without resorting to jargon and abstruse or superfluously technical exposition? This will be the FORUM.

BACK ISSDES AVAILABLE Mitton S. Katz

Back issues of the Forum and the Journal abound with such thought provoking stuff. The society has a fair supply of many back issues which are avail­able to ASC members at a discount. Contact Barry Clemson for additional information and details on how to complete your library and reference files. B. Clemson, 33 Pond Street, Orono, Maine 04473.

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