Foundations of a postmodern cybernetics based on Kabbalah

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to lay the computational and mathematical foundations for a “postmodern cybernetics” based on ancient Kabbalah. This new Kabbalistic cybernetics is introduced to act as an unifying science addressing simultaneously, in a common language and framework the triple nature of human, psychological, social, economic, financial, political, cultural systems and their present multi‐faceted crises and conflicts: cognitive objective level of attaining knowledge; subjective emotional level and physical action and behavioral level.

Design/methodology/approach

Feedback, hierarchical control and other system and control theoretic features in the Tree of Life (TL) of Kabbalah were identified. These were used to develop a general system theoretic framework of a new type to address human and societal system dynamics, evolution, interaction and feedback control by simultaneously taking into account their triple nature.

Findings

The postmodern cybernetics of the TL introduced here as a general system framework, exhibits feedback control with internal model principle, hierarchical control, system multi‐valued logic, category theory pullback and pushout mechanisms, advanced knowledge engineering to aggregate, learn, evolve and solve problems and crises in an integrated way.

Practical implications

“Kabbalistic postmodern cybernetics” proposed here for human and societal systems is the unified scientific framework to solve problems that led to or are just related to economic, financial, political, cultural, societal and human crises and conflicts by addressing their triple intertwined human nature.

Originality/value

Computational foundations for a postmodern cybernetics based on Kabbalah are introduced, where the cognitive, emotional and behavioral and physical action facets of human systems are dealt with in a unified integrated framework to address global problems and crises.

Citation

Burstein, G. and Virgil Negoita, C. (2011), "Foundations of a postmodern cybernetics based on Kabbalah", Kybernetes, Vol. 40 No. 9/10, pp. 1331-1353. https://doi.org/10.1108/03684921111169422