DOCSLIB.ORG

Perspectives on Information Routledge Studies in Library and Information Science

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Perspectives on Information Routledge Studies in Library and Information Science Perspectives on Information Routledge Studies in Library and Information Science 1. Using the Engineering Literature Previous titles to appear in Edited by Bonnie A. Osif Routledge Studies in Library and Information Science include: 2. Museum Informatics People, Information, and Technology Using the Mathematics Literature in Museums Edited by Kristine K. Fowler Edited by Paul F. Marty and Katherine B. Jones Electronic Theses and Dissertations A Sourcebook for Educators, 3. Managing the Transition from Students, and Librarians Print to Electronic Journals and Edited by Edward A. Fox Resources A Guide for Library and Information Global Librarianship Professionals Edited by Martin A. Kesselman Edited by Maria Collins and Patrick Carr Using the Financial and 4. The Challenges to Library Learning Business Literature Solutions for Librarians Edited by Thomas Slavens Bruce Massis Using the Biological Literature A Practical Guide 5. E-Journals Access and Edited by Diane Schmidt Management Edited by Wayne Jones Using the Agricultural, Environmental, and Food Literature 6. Digital Scholarship Edited by Barbara S. Hutchinson Edited by Marta Mestrovic Deyrup Becoming a Digital Library 7. Serials Binding Edited by Susan J. Barnes A Simple and Complete Guidebook to Processes Guide to the Successful Thesis Irma Nicola and Dissertation A Handbook for Students and Faculty 8. Information Worlds Edited by James Mauch Social Context, Technology, and Information Behavior in the Age Electronic Printing and Publishing of the Internet The Document Processing Revolution Paul T. Jaeger and Gary Burnett Edited by Michael B. Spring 9. Perspectives on Information Library Information Technology and Edited by Magnus Ramage Networks and David Chapman Edited by Charles Grosch Perspectives on Information Edited by Magnus Ramage and David Chapman New York London First published 2011 by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2011. To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk. © 2011 Taylor & Francis The right of Magnus Ramage and David Chapman to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereaf- ter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trade- marks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Perspectives on Information / edited by Magnus Ramage, David Chapman. p. cm. — (Routledge Studies in Library and Information Science ; 9) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Information theory. I. Ramage, Magnus (Magnus Alastair), 1970– II. Chapman, David (David Alan), 1958– Q360.P387 2011 003'.54—dc22 2010050148 ISBN 0-203-81450-9 Master e-book ISBN ISBN13: 978-0-415-88410-5 (hbk) ISBN13: 978-0-203-81450-5 (ebk) Contents List of Figures and Tables vii Acknowledgements ix 1 Introduction 1 MAGNUS RAMAGE AND DAVID CHAPMAN 2 Competing Models of Information in the History of Cybernetics 8 MAGNUS RAMAGE 3 ‘The Information Revolution’: Taking a Long View 21 CHRIS BISSELL 4 Information, Meaning and Context 36 DAVID CHAPMAN 5 Signs and Signals 51 JOHN MONK 6 Fundamentals of Information: Purposeful Activity, Meaning and Conceptualisation 65 SUE HOLWELL 7 Using Information (and Exformation) to Inform Action 77 PAUL LEFRERE 8 Information and Libraries: Impact of Web 2.0 91 JUANITA FOSTER-JONES vi Contents 9 Three Principles of Information Flow: Conversation as a Dialogue Game 106 PAUL PIWEK 10 Quantum Information 121 TONY NIXON 11 Information Policy Making: Developing the Rules of the Road for the Information Society (or the Anatomy of a Digital Economy Act) 134 RAY CORRIGAN 12 Conclusion 154 DAVID CHAPMAN AND MAGNUS RAMAGE Contributors 161 Index 163 Figures and Tables FIGURES 4.1 Model of communication. 37 4.2 Model of communication, redrawn to emphasise layers. 42 4.3 Further layers in a communication channel. 43 4.4 More advanced use of layers in communication. 45 4.5 (a) Saussure’s model of a sign, (b) as a trapezium, (c) the relationship between data and meaning. 47 4.6 (a) A semiotic triangle, (b) encoding/decoding as triadic sign, (c) ASCII code as a sign. 48 6.1 Data, capta, information and knowledge. 74 8.1 Captive tomes. 92 8.2 Some key developments in the history of the Internet. 94 8.3 Montage of images of Digilab. 100 9.1 Two updates, P followed by Not Q, change an information state by eliminating alternatives. 111 9.2 Example of a structured context that is inhabited by a witness and two labels attached to the witness. 114 10.1 Entangled qubits carried by Alice and Bob. 127 10.2 Complementarity, illustrated by the illusion of the vase or two faces. 131 viii Figures and Tables TABLES 10.1 Alice and Bob’s Measurements 128 Acknowledgements The editors and a number of the authors of this book are members of the Society and Information Research Group (SIRG) at the Open University (OU). The stimulation of that research environment, the contribution from fellow members of SIRG and the support of the Communication and Sys- tems Department of the OU are gratefully acknowledged. 1 Introduction Magnus Ramage and David Chapman THE CRUCIAL ROLE OF INFORMATION IN SOCIETY Information is everything, and everything is information. (Beckett, 1971, p.103) We live in a world suffused with information. From our bank records to our lists of friends, from our music collections to the genetic sequence of our bodies—many things which were perceived as physical objects are now widely understood through their information content. Consider music as a straightforward example. There was a time before recording when music couldn’t be separated from people—whether sing- ing or playing an instrument, it was a person or persons doing it. Musical scores provided instructions, but the music required people. Technology broke that tie, and music was available from an object, whether it was a musical box, pianola, a gramophone, tape or a compact disc (CD). The fact that the encoding on a CD was digital was a signifi cant departure from analogue records and tapes, but it wasn’t one that necessarily had an impact on the user. The music was tied to a physical object even if it was a digital CD instead of an analogue record. Today, however, music fl oats free. You can download a fi le and use it wherever you want, transferring between laptop and MP3 player, television (TV) and mobile phone. Or you don’t even bother downloading the fi le, you just listen online whenever you want on your computer at the desk or via your smartphone. Music on a phone draws attention to a consequence of digitisation that has been developing since the telephone network started to use digital tech- nology in the 1980s and which is often referred to as convergence. Origi- nally, it was about the convergence of telecommunications and computing (telephone exchanges became giant computers, and computer data was sent over telephone links), but now all sorts of things converge because they all use digital technology. Taking telephone calls is only a small part of what a mobile phone does now. As well as playing music, it takes photographs, gets you the train timetables and allows you to pay for your parking. There’s little point in enumerating everything you can do because there will be 2 Magnus Ramage and David Chapman lots more that can be done with it in only a matter of months, and any- way sooner or later it will probably some different gadget doing all these things—the concept of a ‘mobile phone’ may itself soon be out of date. The message, though, is that more and more of these things are information, and the physical technology that gets them to us is incidental, or at least is conceptually separate from the information. Talk of what can be done with a mobile phone puts the emphasis on the individual, especially as a consumer. That is not the only area in which the focus on information is increasing though. Government documents are replaced by online information, passports are supplemented by biometric data, and movements are tracked by closed-circuit television (CCTV; for good or ill). Many have argued that the Internet will reshape democratic debate, and some evidence can be seen that this is already happening (as discussed by Castells, 2009). Frequently quoted examples include the bot- tom-up nature of the Obama presidential campaign in the United States in 2008 and the organising of the opposition in Iran via Twitter in 2009, although the popular story of transformation through technology in both of these cases has been questioned. Examples such as these lead many to describe our current period as the information age and the information society. Although there is a need to be careful how we interpret these sentiments and the conclusions that we draw from them, at the very least, we need to explore what is behind them. In particular, it is important to decipher what people are talking about when they refer to ‘information’, since it is far from obvious.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Social Learning Systems and Communities of Practice Chris Blackmore Editor
    Social Learning Systems and Communities of Practice Chris Blackmore Editor Social Learning Systems and Communities of Practice 123 Editor Chris Blackmore The Open University, Walton Hall MK7 6AA Milton Keynes United Kingdom First published in 2010 by Springer London In association with The Open University Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA United Kingdom Copyright c 2010 The Open University All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmit- ted or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher or a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd. Details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS (website www.cla.co.uk). Open University course materials may also be made available in electronic formats for use by students of the University. All rights, including copyright and related rights and database rights, in electronic course materials and their contents are owned by or licensed to The Open University, or otherwise used by The Open University as permitted by applicable law. In using electronic course materials and their contents you agree that your use will be solely for the pur- poses of following an Open University course of study or otherwise as licensed by The Open University or its assigns. Except as permitted above you undertake not to copy, store in any medium (including electronic storage or use in a website), distribute, transmit or retransmit, broadcast, modify or show in public such electronic materials in whole or in part without the prior written consent of The Open University or in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
    [Show full text]
  • When the Map Becomes the Territory: Korzybski and Cyberculture
    When the Map Becomes the Territory: Korzybski and Cyberculture Thierry Bardini Département de Communication Université de Montréal Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to: Thierry Bardini Département de Communication Université de Montréal C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-ville Montréal QC H3C 3J7 Canada Email: [email protected] 2 Abstract: I examine in this paper the direct and indirect influences that Alfred Korzybski had on contemporary cyberculture. I consider two different but sometimes intertwined lines of thought, genres and/or disciplines: (1) science-fiction, and (2) communication and/or media studies. In the first case, I consider Korzybski’s direct influence on William Burroughs and Alfred van Vogt and thus his indirect influence on Philip K. Dick (PKD) and the 1980s genre of cyberpunk literature. In the second case, I show how Korzybski’s direct influence on Gregory Bateson, among other cyberneticians of the first hour (McCullogh and Northrop), and Neil Postman, contributed in shaping one of the leading modes of thought in this domain, i.e. “media ecology.” Altogether, I argue that Korzybski’s legacy in contemporary culture greatly exceeds the “map is not the territory” slogan: instead, through such notions as “the unbearable aporias of being”, the power of the conjunction and the relation between language and power (“control”), he helped shape today’s modes of thought. 3 Introduction This paper is about maps and territories, but about special kinds of maps and territories; digital (and not virtual) maps and territories. So I start with a serious question: say at the sattelite resolution of Google maps, for instance, doesn’t the map look like the territory? And if the territory itself is digital (as in cyberspace), isn’t the map the territory? In order to give some elements of answer to these questions I examine here the direct and indirect influences Alfred Korzybski had on contemporary cyberculture.
    [Show full text]
  • Systemic Innovation and How Can It Be Done Effectively?
    1 Joined–Up INNOVATION WHAT IS SYSTEMIC INNOVATION AND HOW CAN IT BE DONE EFFECTIVELY? SYSTEMS INNOVATION DISCUSSION PAPER Geoff Mulgan Charlie Leadbeater January 2013 About Nesta Nesta is the UK’s innovation foundation. We help people and organisations bring great ideas to life. We do this by providing investments and grants and mobilising research, networks and skills. We are an independent charity and our work is enabled by an endowment from the National Lottery. Nesta Operating Company is a registered charity in England and Wales with company number 7706036 and charity number 1144091. Registered as a charity in Scotland number SC042833. Registered office: 1 Plough Place, London, EC4A 1DE www.nesta.org.uk © Nesta 2013. CONTENTS WHAT IS SYSTEMIC INNOVATION AND HOW CAN IT BE INFluENCED? 4 Joined–UP INNOVATION: wHAT IS SYSTEMIC INNOVATION AND HOW CAN IT BE DONE EFFECTIVELY? 5 INTRODUCTION 6 1 BACKGROUND AND DEFINITIONS 6 2 UNDERSTANDING SYSTEMS 10 3 UNDERSTANDING HOW TO CHANGE SYSTEMS 15 4 WHAT CAN YOU DO? 20 ENDNOTES 24 THE SYSTEMS INNOVATOR: WHY succEssFUL INNOVATION GOES BEYOND PRODUCTS 25 AckNOWLEDGEMENTS 26 1 THE ART OF ARRIVING LATE 27 2 THE NEED FOR SYSTEMS INNOVATION 29 3 SCHOOLS, CONTAINERS AND TWEETS 31 4 INFRASTRUCTURES, ALLIANCES AND MOVEMENTS 35 5 THE VARIETY OF SYSTEMS 40 6 LEADING SYSTEMS CHANGE 45 7 THE NEW RULES OF INNOVATION 49 ENDNOTES 54 ANNEX: FURTHER READING 55 4 SYSTEMS INNOVATION WHAT IS SYSTEMIC INNOVATION AND HOW CAN IT BE INFluENCED? Introduction Over the past few years there has been growing interest in systemic innovation. We are defining this as an interconnected set of innovations, where each influences the other, with innovation both in the parts of the system and in the ways in which they interconnect.
    [Show full text]
  • Designing Freedom 1 Stafford Beer 1 the Real Threat to “All We Hold Most Dear”
    Desigining Freedom Stafford Beer Contents 1 The Real Threat to “All We Hold Most Dear” 2 2 The Disregarded Tools of Modern Man 11 3 A Liberty Machine in Prototype 20 4 Science in the Service of Man 28 5 The Future That Can Be Demanded Now 36 6 The Free Man in the Cybernetic World 44 7 Biography 50 The text of six radio broadcasts given in the autumn of 1973 as the thirteenth series of Massey Lectures which were established in 1961 bythe Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to enable distin- guished authorities in fields of general interest and importance to present the results of original study or research. Designing Freedom 1 Stafford Beer 1 The Real Threat to “All We Hold Most Dear” The little house where I have come to live alone for a few weeks sits on the edge of a steep hill in a quiet village on the western coast of Chile. Huge majestic waves roll into the bay and crash magnificently over the rocks, sparkling white against the green sea under a winter sun. It is for me a time of peace, a time to clear the head, a time to treasure. For after all, such times are rare events for today’s civilized man. We spend our days boxed in our houses, swarming in and out of office blocks like tribes of ants, crammed into trains, canned in aeroplanes, locked solid in traffic jams on the freeway. Our unbiblical concern for what we shall eat, what we shall drink, and what we shall put on is amplified and made obsessional by the pressure to consume—way, way beyond the natural need.
    [Show full text]
  • Balancing Individualism and Collectivism: User Centric Policy Design to Enhance Evolutionary Development and to Address Complex Needs
    BALANCING INDIVIDUALISM AND COLLECTIVISM: USER CENTRIC POLICY DESIGN TO ENHANCE EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT AND TO ADDRESS COMPLEX NEEDS Janet McIntyre-Mills1 [email protected] ABSTRACT Do we have a choice between isolation in zero sum competitive nation states or multilateralism? I argue that based on an understanding of our common, intermeshed fate (Held et al 1999) that rational responses need to be systemic. This paper is exploratory. It considers the implications of ongoing research on the relevance of participation for testing out ideas for science, ethics, and democracy. Testing enables the better match of development responses to context, thus enabling ‘evolutionary development’, rather than ‘development for growth’. This is the difference between: • Development for growth which is unsustainable, because it ‘forgets’ the ‘externalities of poverty’ and pollution and • Policy adaptation (Giddens, 2009) that is based on responding to the environment by adapting and evolving designs that are socially, economically and environmentally sustainable. INTRODUCTION Greed has ‘boomeranged’ as pollution and poverty and selfishness has ‘boomeranged’ as war and conflict (Beck 1992, 1998, 1999 cited in McIntyre Mills, 2007 a, b, 2006 c, 2009 a, b). The argument developed in this paper starts where Habermas ends in the ‘Postnational Constellation’ (2001). Habermas argues that we can no longer limit democracy within the boundaries of a nation state. Giddens (2009) warns that localized efforts, whilst important for prefiguring change are insufficient to hold the market to account, unless they are applied regionally and internationally. The challenge remains how do we work across conceptual boundaries (cultural, political and professional) and spatial boundaries (organisational, community, regional, international)? 1 I acknowledge the outstanding contributions of Dr Denise De Vries, Flinders University, a Chief Investigator in the current CRCAH grant and the joint proposals on which we are working.
    [Show full text]
  • System Failure Why Governments Must Learn to Think Differently
    System failure Why governments must learn to think differently Second edition Jake Chapman Open access.Some rights reserved. As the publisher of this work,Demos has an open access policy which enables anyone to access our content electronically without charge. We want to encourage the circulation of our work as widely as possible without affecting the ownership of the copyright,which remains with the copyright holder. Users are welcome to download,save,perform or distribute this work electronically or in any other format, including in foreign language translation without written permission subject to the conditions set out in the Demos open access licence which you can read at the back of this publication. Please read and consider the full licence.The following are some of the conditions imposed by the licence: ● Demos and the author(s) are credited; ● The Demos website address (www.demos.co.uk) is published together with a copy of this policy statement in a prominent position; ● The text is not altered and is used in full (the use of extracts under existing fair usage rights is not affected by this condition); ● The work is not resold; ● A copy of the work or link to its use online is sent to the address below for our archive. Copyright Department Demos Elizabeth House 39 York Road London SE1 7NQ United Kingdom [email protected] You are welcome to ask for permission to use this work for purposes other than those covered by the Demos open access licence. Demos gratefully acknowledges the work of Lawrence Lessig and Creative Commons which inspired our approach to copyright.The Demos circulation licence is adapted from the ‘attribution/no derivatives/non- commercial’version of the Creative Commons licence.
    [Show full text]
  • Open Systems Closed Systems
    Prepared for the 50th Anniversary of the International Society for the Systems Sciences History of the Ideas of Cybernetics and Systems Science v. 2.0 Sonoma State University, July 9-14, 2006 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s The News The News The News Living systems Closed Systems "THE THEORY OF Bertalanffy, Boulding Ludwig von Bertalanffy Publishes SYSTEMS PHILOSOPHY The News and Rappoport form The News Where are the OPEN SYSTEMS IN Karl Deutsch "General Systems The News Peter Senge irreversible processes Society for General Bertelanffy PHYSICS AND Publishes Theory– Foundations, James Grier Emancipatory systems Systems Theory Publishes "Robots, The News James Evolutionary systems Publishes "The frontiers of BIOLOGY" Ludwig Holds First Meeting Development, The News Miller Publishes positive entropy (loss of "Nerves of Men and Minds" Ervin Laszlo The News von Bertelanffy Applications" Russell Ackoff Fifth Discipline" George P. energy) GENERAL SYSTEMS 1956 Government" Publishes "The "Living Systems" Grier Publishes Richardson systems theory? 1952 1967 1968 Systems View of Miller Ervin "Redesigning The 1990 1963 Publishes "Feedback Open Systems Emergent properties of systems the World" Future" 1978 The News Steady state Systems properties stated Laszlo Lotfi Thought" Peter Checkland & Sue Aims of of a general theory of systems Holwell Publishes "(1) There is a general tendency toward integration in the various sciences, 1972 negative entropy Self-Organizing Systems in mathematical terms natural and social. (2) Such integration seems to be centered in a general as 1974 Zadeh "Information, Systems Equifinality theory of systems. (3) Such theory may be an important means for aiming Hierarchy 1991 at exact theory in the nonphysical fields of science.
    [Show full text]
  • Bibliography Stafford Beer
    Cwarel Isaf Institute Bibliography Stafford Beer Stand Juli 2000 www.managementkybernetik.com Erschienen: www.managementkybernetik.com Seite 1 von 19 © Copyright 2002 Cwarel Isaf Institute – All rights reserved Bibliography – Prof. Dr. Stafford Beer Cwarel Isaf Institute Contents Books ............................................................................................................................................... 3 Book Chapters ........................................................................................................................... 4 Pamphlets ..................................................................................................................................... 6 Prefaces .......................................................................................................................................... 6 Contributions ............................................................................................................................. 7 Papers............................................................................................................................................... 8 Articles .......................................................................................................................................... 13 Others ........................................................................................................................................... 15 Reviews .......................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Problem Structuring in Public Policy Analysis
    PROBLEM STRUCTURING IN PUBLIC POLICY ANALYSIS William N. Dunn Graduate School of Public and International Affairs University of Pittsburgh INTRODUCTION The primary focus of this article is problem structuring in public policy analysis. Problem structuring refers to the use of systematic procedures for structuring as well as solving problems that are ill-defined, ill-structured, or wicked. In this article, these procedures are presented as part of a suite of problem solving methods used in public policy analysis. Drawn from multiple disciplines, methods of policy analysis are designed to assist policymakers in making better decisions. This article focuses on methods of policy analysis designed to structure policy problems--hence, methods of problem structuring. Other important methods of policy analysis are treated secondarily, as illustrations of the important connections between problem structuring, on one hand, and policy forecasting, policy prescription, policy monitoring, and policy evaluation. As will become apparent in the course of this article, problem structuring in the central guidance system of policy analysis.1 The article addresses six aspects of problem structuring: o The Process of Problem Structuring o Problem Structuring in Policy Analysis o Types of Policy Problems o The Congruence Principle o Methods for Second-Order Problems o Evidence-Based Problem Structuring 1 The field of policy design is also committed to assist policymakers make better decisions. Although policy design will be addressed only indirectly, this article incorporates and addresses works on policy design including Dryzek (1983); Linder and Peters (1985); Miller (1985); Bobrow and Dryzek (1987); Howlett (2011); and Peters and Rava (2017). 1 THE PROCESS OF PROBLEM STRUCTURING A central aspect of problem structuring is what John Dewey called a problem situation, by which he meant an indeterminate set of conditions that may give rise to the formulation of a problem.
    [Show full text]
  • General Systems * * * Red Cybernetics Black Physical Sciences Originated in 1996 by Dr
    Some Streams of Systemic Thought KEY: (Draft update — May 2001) white general systems * * * red cybernetics black physical sciences Originated in 1996 by Dr. Eric Schwarz, Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Extended in 1998, including items from the The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant (1933). blue mathematics Elaborated in 2000-2001 from many sources for the International Institute for General Systems Studies. magenta computers & informatics Currently a research project of the IIGSS. green biology & medicine - - - yellow symbolic systems This rendition is the property of the International Institute for General Systems Studies. orange social systems All Rights Reserved. olive ecology Errors and omissions in this chart are solely attributable to the IIGSS. gray philosophy cyan systems analysis purple engineering International Encyclopedia of Systems & Cybernetics Charles François 1997 Teleonics Multi-Methodology Gyuri Jaros John Mingers General Systems Theory Yi Lin Genomics General Tropodynamics Social Entropy Theory Co-creative Process Craig Venter, Cultural Hector Sabelli Hegemony Systems Semiotics Soucheng OuYang, Yi Lin Kenneth D. Bailey Francis Collins USA Luis Rocha, Systemic Perspectivism Critical Physics Cosmological Howard Pattee Superstrings Topology of Evolutionary Ronald W. Moses Physics Brian Greene, et al Grand Unified Treories Meaning Knotted Systems Philosophy Steven Weinberg Stephen Hawking R. Ian Flett Louis Kauffman Systemic Development Punctuated Evolution Richard L. Coren Pansystems Informational Fuzzy Systemics Cyber-semiotics Blown Up Systems Richard Bawden Stephen J. Gould Synergy Grey Systems Microdynamics Evolutionary Wu Xuemou Positivism Self-organized Anti-chaos & Vladimir Dimitrov Søren Brier Shoucheng OuYang Homeorheotic Peter A. Corning Sifeng Liu, Yi Lin Vladimir Lerner Artificial Life World Wide Web Systems Richard Dawkins Economics Adaptation Complex Evolutionary Total Systems Whole Systems Chris Langton Tim Berners-Lee Interpretive William Irwin W.
    [Show full text]
  • Complexity Files/Leonard Cybernetics Bestiary.Pdf
    Cybernetics Bestiary Allenna Leonard March 2008 Many concepts from systems and cybernetics are familiar to us through old sayings, fables, nursery rhymes and everyday use as well as newer metaphors and examples. Here are a few of them to look at in a new light. The Cow that Jumped Over the Moon Ridiculous, of course, unless you happen to be looking up a sloping field at moonrise at a cow on the crest of the hill. Ok, the cow probably stepped rather than jumped, but you get the picture. Or put another way, the picture you, as the observer, get depends a lot on who you are and where you are and how you think about the world. What you see isn’t what someone else – with an equally valid context – sees. You have to duplicate the conditions if you want to duplicate the observation…and it will never be exactly the same because you are you. The Dog that Did Not Bark Sometimes what isn’t there is what is most significant. Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective, Sherlock Holmes, was a very observant man. He noted that, since the dog hadn’t barked; someone the dog knew, not a strange intruder, had committed the crime. It is easier to see something that is present that shouldn’t be than something that should be there and isn’t. More Than One Way to Skin a Cat There can be many paths to the same outcome – a condition Ludwig von Bertalanffy referred to as equifinality. It can apply to entrepreneurship, learning to play or environmental catastrophe.
    [Show full text]
  • A Role for Formalisms in Integrative Studies
    ISSUES IN INTEGRATIVE STUDIES No. 17, pp 21-54 (1999) A Role for Formalisms in Integrative Studies John N. Warfield and Rosamond Warfield George Mason University Abstract: The increasing importance of integrative studies in higher education makes it more vital to rethink integrative studies from the perspective of reaching maximum benefit. In re- thinking integrative studies, it is appropriate to subsume a number of active concepts under more embracing rubrics. Also it is noteworthy that subsumption does not destroy or eliminate the active concept, does sustain the capacity to use the active concept appropriately, and does provide elbow room both for perceiving that concept within the larger rubric, and for reconceptualization of the active concept within the more embracing rubric.It is certainly appro- priate as well to rethink the possibility that, in developing integrative studies in higher educa- tion, we can and should draw more heavily upon guidance from selected scholarly predecessors than we appear now to be doing, whether they were academics or not. Then, this guidance can also be integrated with any relevant knowledge under exploration at present. Finally, appropri- ately, we should consider the possibility of applying classical formalisms from formal logic, using computer assistance (which makes those formalisms readily available, and does not re- quire understanding of their symbolic systems or operations as a precondition of their applica- tion) as a way of enhancing the breadth and quality of integrative studies: especially of those that involve complexity. For to say truth, whatever is very good sense must have been common sense in all times; and what we call Learning, is but the knowledge of the sense of our predecessors....I fairly confess that I have serv’d my self all I could by reading; that I made use of the judgment of authors dead and living; that I omitted no means in my power to be inform’d of my errors, both by my friends and enemies.
    [Show full text]