Establishmentanddevelopment
Inthe1930sand1940s,scientistsbegantopaygreatattentiontotheresearchinformationmeasurementandfeedbackmechanism,andgainedarelativelydeepunderstanding.BritishstatisticianRAFisherputforwardtheproblemofinformationquantitybasedonclassicalstatisticaltheory;AmericantelecommunicationsengineerShannonstudiedinformationquantityfromcommunicationengineeringandputforwardtheformulaofinformationentropy;Wienerstudiedtheprocessingofnoisysignalsfromthecontrolpointofview,andestablishedWienerfilterTheory,andgivetheessenceoftheinformationconceptandputforwardtheformulaformeasuringtheamountofinformation.TheAmericancommunicationsengineerH.Nyquistgavethestabilityconditionofthenegativefeedbackamplifier,thatis,theNyquiststabilitycriterion,in1932;Wienerextendedtheconceptoffeedbacktoallcontrolsystemsin1945,andabstractedthefeedbackasacontrolsystem.Theprocessofextractingpartoftheinformationfromtheoutputoftheobjectasthenextinputandaffectingthere-output.ThereflextheoryputforwardbySovietphysiologistI.P.Pavlovprovesthattherearealsoinformationandfeedbackproblemsinlivingorganisms.Basedonresearchinautomaticairdefenseartillery,Wienerfoundthatthecoreissuesofcontrolandcommunicationinanimalsandmachinesareinformation,informationtransmissionandinformationprocessing.
From1934to1947,WienerandMexicanneurophysiologistA.Rosenbluetconductedcooperativeresearchformorethan10years.Theresearchteamincludesmathematicians,logicians,physicists,telecommunicationsengineers,controlengineers,computerdesigners,neuroanatomists,neurophysiologists,psychologists,medicalscientists,anthropologists,sociologists,etc.Throughanumberofexperimentsinphysiology,pathologyandpsychology,andabsorbingdesignexperiencefromfirecontrolsystems,telecommunicationnetworksandelectronicdigitalcomputers,aswellasresultsinpredictionandfilteringtheories,theybegantotouchthecoreofcybernetics.problem.InMay1942,theScientificSymposiumonBrainInhibitionConvenedbytheMasseyFoundationproposedthatthewell-studiedconceptsandmethodsofinformationandfeedbackincommunicationengineeringandcontrolengineeringmaycontributetoneurophysiologicalresearch.Fromtheendof1943tothebeginningof1944,acyberneticthoughtsciencesymposiumheldinPrincetonfurtherbelievedthatthereisacommonideologicalfoundationamongresearchersindifferentfields,andthatonescientificfieldcanusematureconceptsandconceptsinanotherscientificfield.method.After1946,theMessiFoundationinitiatedaseriesofscientificseminarsonfeedbackissues.Thethoughtsandattributesofcyberneticsbegantotakeshape.
In1948,Wiener'sfoundationalwork"Cybernetics"waspublished,whichbecameasignofthebirthofcybernetics.Wienertookthesubtitleofthisbookas"TheScienceofControlandCommunicationinAnimalsandMachines",whichprovidedascientificdefinitionofcyberneticsunderthecurrentstateofresearchatthetime.Inthisbook,Wienercapturesthecommoncharacteristicsofallcommunicationandcontrolsystemsincludingtheprocessofinformationtransmissionandinformationprocessing;confirmsthefoundationofinformationandfeedbackincybernetics,andpointsoutthatacommunicationsystemcanalwaysbebasedonPeopleneedtotransmitinformationofvariousideasandcontents.Anautomaticcontrolsystemmustadjustitsownmovementaccordingtothechangesinthesurroundingenvironment;itpointsoutthestatisticalpropertiesofcyberneticsresearch,andpointsoutthattheinformationreceivedbythecommunicationandcontrolsystemcontainscertaininformation.Thiskindofrandompropertymeetsacertainstatisticaldistribution,andthestructureofthecommunicationandcontrolsystemitselfmustalsoadapttothisstatisticalproperty,whichcanproducestatisticallysatisfactoryactionsforaclassofstatisticallyexpectedinputs.
Formorethan10yearsafterthepublicationof"Cybernetics",scientistshavedevelopedcyberneticsintwodirections.Psychologists,neurophysiologists,andmedicalpractitionersusecyberneticmethodstostudytheregulationandcontroloflifesystems,andestablishneurocybernetics,biologicalcybernetics,andmedicalcybernetics.WienerconductedacollaborationwithRosenbluetin1946.Aseriesofneurophysiologicalexperimentsdirectlyrelatedtothesubjectoffeedbacklaysthefoundationforbiologicalcybernetics.Controltheoristsusecyberneticmethodstostudytheregulationandcontrolofengineeringsystems.ChinesescientistQianXuesenfoundedengineeringcybernetics.In1954,hepublishedthe"EngineeringCybernetics"monographintheUnitedStates,proposingthattheobjectofengineeringcyberneticsisdirectlyapplicabletocybernetics.Theengineeringdesignpart.Inthe1960s,theSovietUnionandEasternEuropeancountriesappliedcyberneticideasandmethodstomilitarycommandandestablishedmilitarycybernetics.Aroundthe1970s,inthefaceofthecomplexsocialandeconomicproblemsformedbythedevelopmentofscienceandtechnology,theglobalinformationsystemgraduallyformedwiththehelpoftherapiddevelopmentofmicroelectronicstechnologyandthewidespreadapplicationofcomputersprovidedmotivationandconditionsforthefurtherdevelopmentofcybernetics.TheThirdInternationalConferenceonCyberneticsandSystemsheldinBucharest,Romaniain1975confirmedtheemergingdisciplineofeconomiccybernetics.Atthesametime,managementcyberneticsemergedinWesternEurope,Japan,andtheUnitedStates.TheFourthInternationalConferenceonCyberneticsandSystemsheldinAmsterdam,theNetherlandsin1978confirmedtheindependentsub-disciplineofsocialcybernetics.In1979,ChinesecyberneticscientistSongJianandothersestablishedpopulationcybernetics,usingcyberneticthoughtsandmethodstosolvethemediumandlong-termpredictionandoptimalcontrolofpopulationdevelopmenttrends,andachievedsuccessinthesocialpracticeofpopulationcontrolinChina.
Thecoreissue
Thecoreissueofcyberneticsistostudyinformationextraction,informationdissemination,informationprocessing,informationstorageandinformationutilizationinageneralsense.Thereisabasicdifferencebetweencyberneticsandthesubsequentinformationtheory.Cyberneticsusesanabstractwaytorevealthecharacteristicsandlawsofinformationtransmissionandinformationprocessingofallcontrolsystems,includinglifesystems,engineeringsystems,economicsystems,andsocialsystems,andtostudythepossibilityandlawsofusingdifferentcontrolmethodstoachievedifferentcontrolpurposes.Ways,withoutinvolvingthetransmissionandprocessingofspecificsignals.Informationtheoryisbiasedtowardsthestudyofinformationmeasurementtheoryandmethods,andonthisbasis,itstudiesrelatedmethodsandtechnicalissuesrelatedtotheeffectivetransmissionandeffectiveprocessingofinformationinactualsystems,suchasencoding,decoding,filtering,channelcapacityandtransmissionrate,etc..
Thecoreissueofcyberneticsinvolvesfivebasicaspects:①Therelationshipbetweencommunicationandcontrol.Allsystemsmustbeeffectivelycontrolledinordertoachievetheintendedpurpose.Effectivecontrolmusthaveinformationfeedback.Human-controlledmachinesorcomputer-controlledmachinesareatwo-wayinformationflowprocess,includinginformationextraction,informationtransmission,andinformationprocessing.②Therelationshipbetweenadaptabilityandinformationandfeedback.Adaptabilityisacharacteristicofasystemthatcanmaintainitsoriginalperformanceorfunctionunderenvironmentalchanges.Humanadaptabilityistheprocessoflivingeffectivelybyacquiringandusinginformationandadjustingthecontingencyintheexternalenvironment.③Therelationshipbetweenlearningandinformationandfeedback.Feedbackhasthefunctionofadjustingfuturebehaviorwithpastbehavior.Thefeedbackcanbesimplefeedbackorcomplexfeedback.Incomplexfeedback,pastexperienceisnotonlyusedtoadjustspecificactions,butalsotoimplementoverallstrategiesforsystembehaviorstomakethemhavealearningfunction.④Therelationshipbetweenevolutionandinformationandfeedback.Inthecourseofevolution,lifeformshaveaspontaneoustrendofmulti-directionaldevelopmentontheonehand,andontheotherhandhaveatendencytomaintaintheancestralmodel.Thesetwoeffectsarebasedonthecombinationofinformationandfeedback.Throughnaturalselection,organismsthatarenotadaptedtothesurroundingenvironmentwillbeeliminated,leavingaresidualmodeoflifeformsthatcanadapttothesurroundingenvironment.⑤Therelationshipbetweenself-organizationandinformationandfeedback.Humansunderstandtherelationshipbetweeninformationandsystemstructurebasedonthephenomenonofnervecellmetabolismandtherandomnatureofsynapsesformedbetweennervecells.Itcanbeconsideredthatthephysiologicalconditionofmemoryandeventhephysiologicalconditionoflearningisacertaincontinuityoforganization,thatis,throughcontrol,informationfromtheoutsideworldcanbetransformedintoarelativelylong-lastingchangeinstructureorfunction.
Basicmethod
Cyberneticsisthestudyofsystemsfromtwoaspects:informationandcontrol.Thecyberneticmethodinvolvesfouraspects:
①Determineinputandoutputvariables.Inordertoachieveacertaingoal,thecontrolsystemneedstoextractnecessaryinformation(calledinput)fromtheoutsideinacertainway,andthenprocessitaccordingtocertainrules,andgeneratenewinformation(calledoutput)toreacttotheoutsideworld.Inputandoutputvariablescannotonlyrepresentbehavior,butalsoinformation.
②Blackboxmethod.Accordingtotheinputandoutputvariablesofthesystem,findoutthefunctionalrelationshipbetweenthem(thatis,theinput-outputmodel).Theblackboxmethodcanbeusedtostudycomplexlargesystemsandgiantsystems.
③Modelingmethod.Byintroducingstatevariablesthatareonlyrelatedtothesystemandusingtwosetsofequationstodescribethesystem,thesystemmodelisestablished.Onesetiscalledtransferequations,alsocalledstateequations,todescribetheevolutionofthesystem;onesetiscalledactionequations,alsocalledoutputequations,todescribetheinteractionbetweenthesystemandtheoutsideworld.Theabstractedsystemmodelcanbeusedforgeneralresearchandtodeterminethecategoryandcharacteristicsofthesystem.Theformofthemathematicalmodelofthecontrolsystemisnotunique,andthestatetransitiontableorstatetransitiondiagramisoftenusedinautomatatheory.Thecharacteristicsofthesystemareproducedthroughthestructureofthesystem,andsimilarsystemsusuallyhavethesamestructure.Themodelingmethodandreasoningattributesofcyberneticsmakecyberneticsapplicabletocontrolsystemsinallfields,andhelptostudythegeneralcharacteristicsofcontrolsystems.Itisalsonecessarytouseconceptssuchashomomorphismandisomorphismaswellasdecompositionandcoordinationwhenstudyinglargesystemsandgiantsystems.
④Statisticalmethods.Cyberneticmethodsbelongtothecategoryofstatisticalmethods,anditisnecessarytointroduceconceptssuchasunbiasedness,minimumvariance,autocorrelationfunctionofinputandoutputfunctions,andcorrelationanalysis.Usinggeneralizedharmonicanalysisandergodictheorem,therequiredinformationcanbeobtainedfromeachindividualsamplefunction.WienerusesthismethodtoestablishatimeseriespredictionandfilteringtheorycalledWienerfiltering.Nonlinearstochastictheoryisnotonlythemathematicalfoundationofcybernetics,butalsoanimportanttoolfordealingwithalllarge-scaleandcomplexsystems.
Interdisciplinarynature
Cyberneticsestablishestheconnectionbetweenengineeringtechnologyandlifesciencesandsocialsciencesthroughinformationandfeedback.Thisinterdisciplinarynaturenotonlyenablesthemorematureconceptsandmethodsinonescientificfieldtobedirectlyusedinanotherscientificfield,avoidingunnecessaryrepetitionofresearch,butalsoprovidesamethodofusinganalogy,especiallyfunctionalanalogy.Possibilitytoproducenewdesignideasandnewcontrolmethods.Thereisananalogyrelationshipbetweenbiologicalcyberneticsandengineeringcybernetics,economiccyberneticsandsocialcybernetics.Adaptive,self-learning,self-organizingandothersystemscanprovidewaystosolvesomepracticalproblemsthroughtheanalogyofbiologicalsystems.
Pioneers
DanielDanielopoluandPaulPostelnicuarethepioneersofcyberneticthought.VanOdoblezaisundoubtedlyamoreimportantpioneer.