C+ Gang - Week 10

The first article discusses many ideas surrounding the concept of cybernetics. To begin, the term cybernetics involves the creation of a framework that would merge biological information into computational devices. Shannon-Wiener’s approach to information is to remove the parts of context and meaning from information (disembodiment), supporting the claim of Hans Moravec that the human brain can be simplified to an informational pattern that can be represented in any medium. Therefore, opening the possibility of the mind being uploaded into a computer. However, embodiment and context are crucial to imitate the human neurons as they are complex systems evolving and adapting in diverse environments, making them adaptive systems. Supporting the idea of adaptability, feedback loops are an important contribution to the question of cybernetics according to Hayles. What makes the feedback loops are the social contexts within computational media. Social interactions create constant feedback between humans and computers that keep the information flow going, allowing cybernetics and media to co-construct each other.