A minimal class of cybernetic models needed in making the transition from a description of control systems to a description of social systems is discussed. Several applications are considered in connection with studies of learning and creativity in individuals and small groups. Possible extrapolations of these to social systems are suggested.…

Research findings indicate that major breakthroughs in education will have to occur through direct cortical intervention, using either chemical or electronic means. It will eventually be possible to build sophisticated intelligence amplifiers that will be internal extensions of our brains, significantly more powerful than present day computers,…

This document attempts to identify and promote human factors research that would likely produce results applicable to the evolutionary design of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) national space station to be launched in the 1990s. It reports on a symposium designed to yield information applicable to future space systems. The…

Reported are studies of man-machine communications systems and instructional procedures for facilitating the education of the handicapped. (The studies are a continuation of the program covered in C/R/I's preceding Interim Report.) To enhance the capability of the severely handicapped to communicate and thereby to develop intellectually, aspects…

Since natural language may be assumed to have an underlying conceptual structure, it is desirable to have the machine structure its own experience, both linguistic and nonlinguistic, in a manner concomitant with the human method for doing so. This paper presents some attempts at organizing the machine's information conceptually. The different…

An inter-disciplinary course entitled "Cybernation and Man," developed by the School of Engineering at San Jose State College, tries to evaluate the many problems posed to man by the expansion of his technology. It is contended in the course that the most effective approach to control of complex social phenomena within a technological…

In the first of four sections of this publication, James H. Stone reviews recent writings on the humanities, citing 299 books, essays, and articles. In the second section, Maxwell H. Goldberg provides definitions of several of the central terms related to technological change and human values (e.g.,…

Computer assisted instruction (CAI) can achieve its potential as a tool for individualizing instruction only if the flexible logic and memory capabilities of computers are utilized. An instructional program must be written in such a way that it can handle at least three variables: (a) who is being taught; (b) what is critical; and (c) how the…

This paper begins by establishing the need for new world views and social invention. Its thesis is that: 1) reform must begin at both the individual and system levels; 2) we must clearly see how we are caught in systems within systems; and, 3) by responding somewhat acquiesently to these systems, we help keep them stabilized. The author first…

In the first of four sections of this publication, James H. Stone reviews recent writings on the humanities, citing 299 books, essays, and articles. In the second section, Maxwell H. Goldberg provides definitions of several of the central terms related to technological change and human values (e.g.,…

In the first of four sections of this publication, James H. Stone reviews recent writings on the humanities, citing 299 books, essays, and articles. In the second section, Maxwell H. Goldberg provides definitions of several of the central terms related to technological change and human values (e.g.,…

This university level course in economic geography emphasizes the need for control of the spatial allocation of our resources, and strives for heightened student awareness of the world as a complex. It may thus be considered an introduction to geocybernetics, the study of man/machine relationships in the control of spatial organization. A systems…

Newly developed communications systems for exceptional children include Cybercom; CYBERTYPE; Cyberplace, a keyless keyboard; Cyberphone, a telephonic communication system for deaf and speech impaired persons; Cyberlamp, a visual display; Cyberview, a fiber optic bundle remote visual display; Cybersem, an interface for the blind, fingerless, and…

An issue of "Soviet Cybernetics: Recent News Items" consists of English translations of the leading recent Soviet contributions to the study of cybernetics. Articles deal with cybernetics in the 21st Century; the Soviet State Committee on Science and Technology; economic reforms in Rudnev's ministry; an interview with Rudnev; Dnepr-2; Dnepr-2…

Computer mediated communication (CMC) tends to erase power structures because such communication somehow undermines or escapes discursive limits. Online discussions seem to promote rhetorical experimentation on the part of the participants. Finding a way to explain disparities between electronic discussion and oral discussion has proven difficult.…