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From: smoliar@vaxa.isi.edu (Stephen Smoliar)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Neural Networks - Pointers to good
Message-ID: <3861@venera.isi.edu>
Date: Wed, 21-Oct-87 09:59:56 EST
Article-I.D.: venera.3861
Posted: Wed Oct 21 09:59:56 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 25-Oct-87 14:04:57 EST
References: <230@titn.TITN> <8300006@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu>
Sender: daemon@venera.isi.edu
Reply-To: smoliar@vaxa.isi.edu.UUCP (Stephen Smoliar)
Organization: Information Sciences Institute
Lines: 21
Keywords: cybernetics

In article <8300006@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu> goldfain@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu writes:
>
>     On the other hand, whatever became of the term "cybernetics" that Norbert
>Weiner coined long   ago?   I  thought  its definition was quite  suitable for
>denoting this research.

I do not profess to be an expert in either the history of cybernetics or the
usage of the term;  but, with that qualification, let me try to address this
question.  As I recall, Weiner's original concern was with the design of
analog devices which, by virtue of feedback circuits, were capable of control
of other devices and adaptive behavior (which may be regarded as self-control).
Through my encounters with the literature as an AI researcher, I have observed
that the term "cybernetics" appears with greater frequency in Europe
(particularly the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom) than it does in
the United States.  There is definitely a tendency to recognize that
Weiner's original principles could be generalized from analog to digital
hardware.  However, I have the distinct impression that cybernetics grew
from the belief that behavioral knowledge was something which would ultimately
be encoded in the feedback loops, rather than in an explicit device concerned
with memory or the storage of a knowledge base.  I would appreciate any
reactions to these comments simply to get the historical record straight.