The purpose of this paper is to connect two discourses, the discourse of cybernetics and that of design.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to connect two discourses, the discourse of cybernetics and that of design.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper takes a comparative analysis of relevant definitions, concepts, and entailments in both discourse, and an integration of these into a cybernetically informed concept of human‐centered design, on the one hand, and a design‐informed concept of second‐order cybernetics, on the other hand. In the course of this conceptual exploration, the distinction between science and design is explored with cybernetics located in the dialectic between the two. Technology‐centered design is distinguished from human‐centered design, and several axioms of the latter are stated and discussed.
Findings
This paper consists of recommendations to think and do things differently. In particular, a generalization of interface is suggested as a replacement for the notion of products; a concept of meaning is developed to substitute for the meaninglessness of physical properties; a theory of stakeholder networks is discussed to replace the deceptive notion of THE user; and, above all, it is suggested that designers, in order to design something that affords use to others, engage in second‐order understanding.
Originality/value
The paper makes several radical suggestions that face likely rejection by traditionalists but acceptance by cyberneticians and designers attempting to make a contribution to contemporary information society.
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Keywords
Attention is drawn to an announcement of two publications relating to the work of Humberto Maturana, and to a new online encyclopedia of systems and cybernetics. The latter uses…
Abstract
Purpose
Attention is drawn to an announcement of two publications relating to the work of Humberto Maturana, and to a new online encyclopedia of systems and cybernetics. The latter uses Wikimedia technology for free interaction, and this is discussed. Advice on combating spyware and other forms of malware is reviewed, as well as surveys of how to make computers quieter in operation, and of the worrying question of when to switch off between periods of use.
Design/methodology/approach
The aim is to review developments on the internet, especially those of general cybernetic interest.
Findings
Some of the developments reported have research value, while others bear on practical aspects of computer use and internet access.
Practical implications
The comments on security may prompt urgent action by readers. Otherwise the implications are for access to information and for computer quietness and economy.
Originality/value
It is hoped this is a valuable periodic review.
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A recent discussion on the CybCom discussion list is reviewed, making a comparison of views of information due to Bateson and Shannon. The discussion extends to theories involving…
Abstract
Purpose
A recent discussion on the CybCom discussion list is reviewed, making a comparison of views of information due to Bateson and Shannon. The discussion extends to theories involving cellular automata and their relationship, as well as that of mathematics in general, to the real world. A recent suggestion that messages from extraterrestrials may be coded in DNA is discussed.
Design/methodology/approach
The aim is to review developments on the internet, especially those of general cybernetic interest.
Findings
The discussion is essentially philosophical and thought‐provoking.
Practical implications
A passing reference is made to methods for pattern recognition, and to the Bremermann limit with its bearing on ultimate computing capability. Attitudes to information exchange have a bearing on sociological theories, and behaviour of cellular automata is claimed to model communication between bacteria. The final note on extraterrestrial communication via DNA may redirect activity in the search for such communication and is evidence of an increasingly liberal attitude to scientific publication.
Originality/value
It is hoped this is a valuable periodic review.
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This paper is an overview of reconstructability analysis (RA), an approach to discrete multivariate modeling developed in the systems community. RA includes set‐theoretic modeling…
Abstract
This paper is an overview of reconstructability analysis (RA), an approach to discrete multivariate modeling developed in the systems community. RA includes set‐theoretic modeling of relations and information‐theoretic modeling of frequency and probability distribution. It thus encompasses both statistical and nonstatistical problems. It overlaps with logic design and machine learning in engineering and with log‐linear modeling in the social sciences. Its generality gives it considerable potential for knowledge representation and data mining.
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W. Ross Ashby’s elementary non-trivial machine, known in the cybernetic literature as the “Ashby Box,” has been described as the prototypical example of a black box system. As far…
Abstract
Purpose
W. Ross Ashby’s elementary non-trivial machine, known in the cybernetic literature as the “Ashby Box,” has been described as the prototypical example of a black box system. As far as it can be ascertained from Ashby’s journal, the intended purpose of this device may have been to exemplify the environment where an “artificial brain” may operate. This paper describes the construction of an elementary observer/controller for the class of systems exemplified by the Ashby Box – variable structure black box systems with parallel input.
Design/methodology/approach
Starting from a formalization of the second-order assumptions implicit in the design of the Ashby Box, the observer/controller system is synthesized from the ground up, in a strictly system-theoretic setting, without recourse to disciplinary metaphors or current theories of learning and cognition, based mainly on guidance from Heinz von Foerster’s theory of self-organizing systems and W. Ross Ashby’s own insights into adaptive systems.
Findings
Achieving and maintaining control of the Ashby Box requires a non-trivial observer system able to use the results of its interactions with the non-trivial machine to autonomously construct, deconstruct and reconstruct its own function. The algorithm and the dynamical model of the Ashby Box observer developed in this paper define the basic specifications of a general purpose, unsupervised learning architecture able to accomplish this task.
Originality/value
The problem exemplified by the Ashby Box is fundamental and goes to the roots of cybernetic theory; second-order cybernetics offers an adequate foundation for the mathematical modeling of this problem.
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Lionel Taito-Matamua, Simon Fraser and Jeongbin Ok
This research addresses the grave issue of plastic waste in the Pacific. By using Samoa as a case study, it was considered that distributed recycling combined with 3D printing…
Abstract
This research addresses the grave issue of plastic waste in the Pacific. By using Samoa as a case study, it was considered that distributed recycling combined with 3D printing offers an opportunity to (1) repurpose and add new value to this difficult waste stream and (2) engage diverse local communities in Samoa by combining notions of participatory design with traditional Samoan social concepts. Fieldwork in Samoa established the scope of the issue through interviews with stakeholders in government, waste management businesses, the arts and crafts community and education. Based on the information obtained from the fieldwork, potential product areas and designs were explored through material and 3D printing experiments using low-cost, open-source equipment. The experiments informed the design of speculative scenarios for workable, economically viable, socially empowering and sustainable systems for repurposing and upcycling plastic waste, which then enabled production of practically useful and culturally meaningful 3D printed objects, artefacts and products. Building upon the outcome and with a view towards implementation, Creative Pathways, an educational initiative aimed at propagating 3D printing and contextual design, was established and is being delivered in local schools.
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– The aim of this paper is to answer the question: how can judgment about good and bad behavior of a device or service under development be included in the development process?
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to answer the question: how can judgment about good and bad behavior of a device or service under development be included in the development process?
Design/methodology/approach
By distinguishing between detached good/bad judgment, called “ethics of the eye”, and judgment about good and bad behavior embedded in doing and dialogue, called “ethics of the hand”, two examples of designer judgment are examined, one embedded and one detached. The outcome is explained by means of an application of Ricoeur's hermeneutics, where he shows how narration comprises pre-figuration, con-figuration and re-figuration. An examination of collaborative prototyping in Krzysztof Wodiczko's work on building a vehicle together with homeless people in Manhattan, New York, is contrasted with an example of the detached evaluation of use in Joseph Weizenbaum's account for use of his computer therapy program Eliza.
Findings
The difference is identified as the difference between joint making and dialogue, resulting in re-configuration, and detached evaluation, which sticks with the pre-figuration. The paper concludes that for engineering and design at large “ethics of the hand”, the collaborative doing and dialogue, where the engineering and the designerly way of understanding come together over a prototype, brings out a shared frame, which makes ethics an integrated part of the development process.
Originality/value
The paper discusses how judgment about good and bad behavior of a device or service under development can be included in the development process and shows that the answer is collaborative prototyping.