human-machine-dichotomy

Wiener's lifelong focus on distinguishing humans from machines despite recognizing shared organizational patterns and functions.

1 chapter across 1 book

The Human Use of Human Beings (1950)Norbert Wiener

Chapter 2), the mechanism assumed necessary in Wiener's day. It is more nearly related to Wiener's notion of positive feedback, which he tended to see as only disruptive and destructive, rather than as leading to complex stable structures. The results obtained by the Prigogine group show the creation of orderly patterns - natural countertrends to the tendency towards disorganization - to be stronger and more ordinary and commonplace than a sole reliance on mechanisms of the Maxwell-demon type would suggest. Sensitivity to initial conditions is also a prominent feature of 'chaos theory', currently an active field of research.

This chapter discusses Norbert Wiener's views on cybernetics, emphasizing his skepticism about positive feedback as solely disruptive, contrasting with later findings by the Prigogine group that show natural mechanisms generating order. It highlights Wiener's intellectual independence, his ethical concerns about the misuse of technology, and the evolution of his book 'The Human Use of Human Beings' through its editions, reflecting shifts from political critique to philosophical framing. The chapter also situates cybernetics within broader interdisciplinary research and warns against dehumanizing interpretations of humans as machines.