Schedule
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Our current reading/discussion plan
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pages 65-72 of The New Media Reader: Men, Machines, and the World About.
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The first chapter of Wiener's Cybernetics, called Newtonian and Bergsonian Time seems foundational for whatever we go on to read.
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I'm finding Bateson very interesting; I think the article Cybernetic Explanation (in part V of Steps to an Ecology of Mind) is actually a more cogent account of the cybernetic approach to the sciences than anything I've read yet in Wiener.
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Another from Bateson: The Role of Somatic Change in Evolution (in part IV of Steps...). In this paper he lays out a hypothesis about the interaction of several types of variation in evolution. The direct argument is pretty fascinating, and at a meta level it's a perfect example of cybernetic deduction in action.
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Francis, I am happy you mentioned All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace, I literally just learned about it this evening in conversation with Mehan. Let's put that on the list: https://vimeo.com/groups/96331/videos/80799352 ... this episode appears to be a cautionary tale about mistaking maps for territory.