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The aim of this paper is to elaborate the connection between the evolution of cybernetics and the development of scientific rationality (classical, non-classical, post-non-classical) and to emphasize the relevance of the formation of post-non-classical cybernetics for self-developing reflexive-active environment (the third-order cybernetics).

This paper includes interdisciplinary analysis of the evolution of cybernetics and possible directions of its development.

A connection between the types of scientific rationality (classical, non-classical and post-non-classical) and the stages of the development cybernetics is presented. Classical rationality is first-order cybernetics dealing with observed systems (an external observer). Non-classical rationality is second-order cybernetics dealing with observing systems (built-in observer). Post-non-classical rationality is third-order cybernetics dealing with the self-developing reflexive-active environment (distributed observer).

This is an initial theoretical conceptualization, which needs a broader assessment and case studies.

This proposed direction for the analysis of cybernetics opens new approaches to social control on the basis of the subject-focused models and integration of traditional cybernetic tools.

Third-order cybernetics will promote the development of civil society. Direct democracy receives new tools for development.

The value of this research is in the interdisciplinary analysis of the cybernetics evolution and in new possible directions for its development.

The statement that evaluation works differently in different contexts might seem fairly obvious, but given how central it is to virtually all aspects of modern life, it is important to understand how these differences affect the objects of evaluation and the people doing the evaluation. Drawing on a mixed-methods study of evaluation in figure skating and classical music, the author addresses how evaluation practices affect judging and performance. In the early- to mid-2000s, the figure skating world transitioned from a judging system where judges used two overall marks to rank skaters to a much more rigid system where judges rate very specific aspects of performances without actively ranking them. These changes have impacted judges and skaters. In the classical music competitions the author focuses on, judges use deliberations to rank performances. The relative flexibility of these evaluation practices generally does not affect judges or performances as much. Building on research on the effects of measurement and evaluation systems, the author argues that formal, specific rules surrounding evaluation shape judging and performance more than informal, diffuse rules. Focusing on competition settings in skating and music, the author discusses how evaluation practices affect program and repertoire construction and the technical and artistic aspects of judging and performance in these fields. In addition to supplementing research suggesting that evaluation systems actively shape what they are designed to evaluate, this work highlights how different types of evaluation contribute to different responses in terms of the evaluation itself and the objects of evaluation.

The most powerful and effective forces of hierarchizing are those that naturalize difference so that it is beyond dispute and something to be tacitly accepted. In the Classic Maya world, this “social speciation” was materialized and naturalized through a complex web of ritual practice, deity emulation, enhancement of body aesthetics, and the fabrication and possession of hypertrophic goods. The architecture of Classic Maya royal courts broke with an older Maya residential pattern of accretional construction filled with ancestral burials in order to materialize more effectively social difference, to provide space for exclusive ritual performance, and to showcase the highly valued and gendered labor of textile production. Such instruments of authority are “weapons of exclusion” that can be wielded to fend off assaults on hierarchy. From this perspective, informed by the ritual economy approach, the profound transformations of the 9th century in the Maya lowlands are considered an assault that was not defendable.

For several years, the classic car market has been attracting considerable media and public attention, but the research literature is virtually nonexistent. The purpose of this paper is to address the factors that determine the values of classic car models and explain the remarkable price differences among them.

The paper develops and tests a set of research hypotheses about the effects of model characteristics on market values in the context of a generalized hedonic price model that also accounts for heterogeneity among classic car brands.

It is demonstrated that classic car model values reside at several levels and are determined by observable characteristics pertaining to aesthetics, rarity, engineering and performance. In addition, we show that classic car marques play a critical role in the determination of model values and account for considerable variation in values, even after controlling for observable model attributes

This is one of the first empirical studies to address classic car model value formation. The findings reveal how measurable, observable factors determine classic car model values and augment our understanding of a very interesting but understudied market.

The Norbert Wiener Memorial Gold Medal address delivered by the Nobel Laureate recipient. Considers Norbert Wiener and the idea of contingence. Refers to Wiener’s book The Human Use of Human Beings and in particular to the preface entitled “The idea of a contingent universe” and to the epilogue of the book by Rosenblith. This raises the question faced by Wiener: how to reconcile a deterministic world à la Newton with the intrinsically probabilistic universe of Gibbs, the relativistic universe of Einstein and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle? Notes the parallelism among the questions Wiener is asking with the ones to which the Gold Medallist has devoted most of his scientific life. Presents a different point of view, as a tribute to the visionary ideas developed by Wiener. Discusses the “new physics” and the problems facing physics today, at the end of the twentieth century.

Research on cultural entrepreneurship has explored the role of language in making and giving sense to novel ventures and market categories and in legitimating them. We analyze how an emerging de novo market category, quantum computing, is constructed through the use of analogies and metaphors. Through a multimodal analysis of interview and newspaper data, we find that in addition to using analogies and metaphors to highlight familiarity, actors also use such tropes to expound the weirdness of the new category, thus marking it as profoundly different and novel. Such tropes have a dual function; they draw the boundaries between science and laypeople but also arouse awe and curiosity among the audiences. Our study thus casts light on the cultural work during de novo category emergence.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a generic software framework for development of agricultural and forestry robots. The primary goal is to provide generic high‐level functionality and to encourage distributed and structured programming, thus leading to faster and simplified development of robots. A secondary goal is to investigate the value of several architecture views when describing different software aspects of a robotics system.

The framework is constructed with a hybrid robot architecture, with a static state machine that implements a flow diagram describing each specific robot. Furthermore, generic modules for GUI, resource management, performance monitoring, and error handling are included. The framework is described with logical, development, process, and physical architecture views.

The multiple architecture views provide complementary information that is valuable both during and after the design phase. The framework has been shown to be efficient and time saving when integrating work by several partners in several robotics projects. Although the framework is guided by the specific needs of harvesting agricultural robots, the result is believed to be of general value for development also of other types of robots.

In this paper, the authors present a novel generic framework for development of agricultural and forestry robots. The robot architecture uses a state machine as replacement for the planner commonly found in other hybrid architectures. The framework is described with multiple architecture views.