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cybernetics

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English

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Etymology

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From Ancient Greek κυβερνήτης (kubernḗtēs, “steersman”), from κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “to steer, drive, guide, act as a pilot”) (whence English govern). The term is attested since at least 1948 in the book Cybernetics by Norbert Wiener, influenced by the cognate term and doublet governor, the name of an early control device proposed by James Clerk Maxwell in 1868.[1] Note also the 1830s French cybernétique (“the art of governing”). Also doublet of Kubernetes.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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cybernetics (uncountable)

  1. The theory/science of communication and control in living organisms or machines.
    Near-synonym: control theory (not consistently differentiated)
    • 2018, Steven Pinker, “Chapter 2: Entro, Evo, Info”, in Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, Penguin, →ISBN:
      Chasing and fleeing, though, are not just sequences of muscle contractions—they are goal-directed. Chasing may consist of running or climbing or leaping or ambushing, depending on the circumstances, as long as it increases the chances of snagging the prey; fleeing may include hiding or freezing or zigzagging. And that brings up another momentous 20th-century idea, sometimes called cybernetics, feedback, or control. The idea explains how a physical system can appear to be teleological, that is, directed by purposes or goals. All it needs are a way of sensing the state of itself and its environment, a representation of a goal state (what it “wants,” what it’s “trying for”), an ability to compute the difference between the current state and the goal state, and a repertoire of actions that are tagged with their typical effects. If the system is wired so that it triggers actions that typically reduce the difference between the current state and the goal state, it can be said to pursue goals (and when the world is sufficiently predictable, it will attain them). The principle was discovered by natural selection in the form of homeostasis, as when our bodies regulate their temperature by shivering and sweating. When it was discovered by humans, it was engineered into analog systems like thermostats and cruise control and then into digital systems like chess-playing programs and autonomous robots.
  2. The art/study of governing, controlling automatic processes and communication.
  3. Technology related to computers and the Internet.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Translations to be checked

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Norbert Wiener (1948), Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine, New York: John Wiley, page 19:
    We have decided to call the entire field of control and communication theory […] by the name Cybernetics, which we form from the Greek κυβερνήτης or steersman. In choosing this term, we wish to recognize that the first significant paper on feed-back mechanisms is an article on governors, which was published by Clerk Maxwell in 1868, and that governor is derived from a Latin corruption of κυβερνήτης.
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