Again, in a ship, if a man were at liberty to do what he chose, but were devoid of mind and excellence in navigation (αρετης κυβερνητικης), do you perceive what must happen to him and his fellow sailors? (Plato, Alcibiades, 135A).

Cybernetics is the study of communication and control, typically involving regulatory feedback, in living organisms, in machines and organisations and their combinations, for example, in sociotechnical systems, computer controlled machines such as automata and robots. The term cybernetics stems from the Greek Κυβερνήτης (kybernetes, steersman, governor, pilot, or rudder — the same root as government). It is an earlier but still-used generic term for many of the subject matters that are increasingly subject to specialization under the headings of adaptive systems, artificial intelligence, complex systems, complexity theory, control systems, decision support systems, dynamical systems, information theory, learning organizations, mathematical systems theory, operations research, simulation, and systems engineering.

A more philosophical definition, suggested in 1956 by Louis Couffignal, one of the pioneers of cybernetics, characterizes cybernetics as "the art of ensuring the efficiency of action".

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Cybernetics - Twitter Search

DIY book scanner: Wired featured a wonderful piece of homemade cybernetics (and one that could subtly .. http://bit.ly/78zTuF #science
grantimatter (grantimatter) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:48:54 -0000
DIY book scanner: Wired featured a wonderful piece of homemade cybernetics (and one that could subtly .. http://bit.ly/78zTuF #science
@Samurai_Spirit_ -carefully connects both clamps to the bolts on wires, sending a jolt through to bring the cybernetics back online. Then
AnthonyEStark (Anthony Stark) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:59:10 -0000
@Samurai_Spirit_ -carefully connects both clamps to the bolts on wires, sending a jolt through to bring the cybernetics back online. Then
@Samurai_Spirit_ feet of copper wire. Carefully repairing the cybernetics-
AnthonyEStark (Anthony Stark) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:30:19 -0000
@Samurai_Spirit_ feet of copper wire. Carefully repairing the cybernetics-
@Samurai_Spirit_ -looks at his arm- Cybernetics? How unfortunate. Who made this? @Dom_Hollow
AnthonyEStark (Anthony Stark) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:01:20 -0000
@Samurai_Spirit_ -looks at his arm- Cybernetics? How unfortunate. Who made this? @Dom_Hollow
@LusciousPear They're rockin' the intersection of cybernetics, rock-n-roll, and storytelling. How could you be a geek and not be a fan?
technomancy (Phil Hagelberg) Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:17:57 -0000
@LusciousPear They're rockin' the intersection of cybernetics, rock-n-roll, and storytelling. How could you be a geek and not be a fan?
So the @protomen's "The Good Doctor" is basically a perfect theme song for the entire field of cybernetics/robotics.
technomancy (Phil Hagelberg) Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:07:22 -0000
So the @protomen's "The Good Doctor" is basically a perfect theme song for the entire field of cybernetics/robotics.

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