Clean by Nature. Lively Surfaces and the Holistic-Systemic Heritage of Contemporary Bionik.

This paper addresses questions regarding the prospering field of Bionik in Germany. Its starting point is the wide spread assumption that universal functional principles exist in nature and that these ‘solutions’ can be transferred into technological objects. Accordingly, advocates of Bionik herald the advent of a better world with more sustainable and efficient products of engineering. The so-called ‘functional surfaces’ occupy a special place within this contemporary version of biomimesis. Shark-skin-inspired swim suits, self-cleaning façade paints with lotus effect or drag reducing Dolphin-Skins for aircraft-wings are expected to improve the quality of life for everyone. It seems that skin and shell of living systems return as revenants to our technological world and live their afterlives as lively surfaces of everyday objects. This paper argues however, that understanding this attention to ‘natural engineering solutions’ in contemporary Bionik, one needs to focus on a different kind of afterlife. For baring the historic-epistemological roots allows fathoming direct connections to two widely influential historical concepts within the history of science in the 20th century: Biotechnik, a very popular bio-philosophical concept from the Weimar Republic of the 1920s and Bionics, an in many ways similar endeavor that emerged during the second wave of Cybernetics in the USA from around 1960. Both historical concepts share a certain proximity to a distinct holistic-systemic style of thinking that emerged during the 20th century and still resonates with the movement of Bionik in contemporary Germany. Based on the example of the lotus effect, I want to address three aspects of the afterlife of this holistic-systemic heritage in contemporary Bionik. First, the assumption that the best engineering solutions can be found in nature conceals the specific discursive and non-discursive complexity that forms the basis of all technological objects. Second, the holistic-systemic heritage of Bionik directly correlates with its epistemological bias towards visual evidence and its enthusiasm for ‘functional surfaces’. Third, the rhetoric of Bionik paradoxically oscillates between a counter-modern demotion of human creativity and autonomy and a fascination for modern scientific instruments and practices

Beyond Identity: the Dynamic Self at the Intersection of Performance Philosophy and the Philosophy of Science

In this article we advocate the methodological feedback loop in the study of the dynamical self at the crossroads of performance philosophy, (artistic) performance, and the philosophy of science. We point to the importance of the dynamics of methodology transfer between arts and sciences and the “interactive continuum” proposed by Newman & Benz in 1998. In the first part of this paper we give a comparative review of the research context relevant for our field of study, and we explain our research hubs in approaching the concept of “performance”. We suggest the possibility to define our filed of research in three equally legitimate ways: as philosophy-of-performance, philosophy-as-performance and performance-as-philosophy. In our recent work we are primarily interested in artistic performances that incorporate elements of artistic practice in the methodology of research output (Frayling 1993), as well as in the potentials of performative aspects of scientific praxis and methodology. However, the conceptual background relevant for this paper is in the field of process philosophy and its relation to science (Birkhard’s “interactivist model” 2009; Campbell’s “process-based model for an interactive ontology” 2009). We attribute particular importance to the notion of “autopoietic feedback” (Maturana and Varela 1974; Luhmann 1990). The second part addresses the issue of transcending identity in the representations of the self and the other; the relationship between Theory-Theory (TT) and Simulation Theory (ST), as well as some recent attempts at combining different theories of mind (e.g. Barlassina 2013). We also deal with the notion of “embodied praxis” (Gallagher and Meltzoff 1996); we mention some neuroscientific insights into the similar phenomena, and – commenting on the importance of the dialogue between neuroscientists and philosophers (Changeux and Ricour) – we give an example of an enactive approach to understanding acting (Zarrilli 2007). In the third part of this article, we critique the notion of “interpassivity” (Žižek 1997; Pfaller 2000). In the concluding part we mention the importance of exploring the concept of “expanded self” (Gallagher 2000; Jeannerod 2003; Kim and Johnson 2013). Being aware of the impossibility to reach final conclusions in the scientific approach to the dynamics of the self, instead of a formal conclusion, we offer a quote from Yeats’ poem “Balloons of Mind”

Second-order Science and Policy

In March 2016, an interdisciplinary group met for two days and two evenings to explore the implications for policy making of second-order science. The event was sponsored by SITRA, the Finnish Parliament's Innovation Fund. Their interest arose from their concern that the well-established ways, including evidence-based approaches, of policy and decision making used in government were increasingly falling short of the complexity, uncertainty, and urgency of needed decision making. There was no assumption that second-order science or second-order cybernetics would reveal any practical possibilities at this early stage of enquiry. On the other hand, some members of the group are practioners in both policy and in facilitating change in sectors of society. Thus, the intellectual concepts were strongly grounded in experience. This is an account of the deliberations of that group and some reflections on what came out of the various shared contributions and ensuing dialogues. The overall conclusion of the event is that there definitely are possibilities that are worthy of further research and exploration.</p

Merging the Natural with the Artificial: The Nature of a Machine and the Collapse of Cybernetics

This thesis is concerned with the rise and fall of cybernetics, understood as an inquiry regarding the nature of a machine. The collapse of this scientific movement, usually explained by external factors such as lack of funding, will be addressed from a philosophical standpoint. Delving deeper into the theoretical core of cybernetics, one could find that the contributions of William Ross Ashby and John von Neumann shed light onto the particular ways in which cybernetics understood the nature and behavior of a machine. Ross Ashby offered an account of the nature of a machine and then extended the scope of “the mechanical”. This extension would encompass areas that will later be shown to be problematic for mechanization, such as learning and adaptation. The way in which a machine-ontology was applied would trigger effects seemingly contrary to cybernetics’ own distinctive features. Von Neumann, on the other hand, tinkered with a mechanical model of the brain, realizing grave limitations that prompted him to look for an alternative for cybernetics to work on. The proposal that came out of this resulted in a serious blow against the theoretical core of cybernetics. Why did cybernetics collapse? The contributions coming from both thinkers, in their own ways, spelled out the main tenets of the cybernetic proposal. But these very contributions led to cybernetics’ own demise. The whole story can be framed under the rubric of a serious inquiry into the metaphysical underpinnings of a machine. The rise and fall of cybernetics could thus help us better understand what a machine is from a philosophical standpoint. Although a historical component is present, my emphasis relies on a philosophical consideration of the cybernetic phenomenon. This metaphysical dissection will attempt to clarify how a machine-based ontology remained at the core of cybernetics. An emerging link will hopefully lead towards establishing a tri-partite correlation between cybernetics’ own evolution, its theoretical core, and its collapse. It will hopefully show how cybernetic inquiries into the nature of a machine might have proved fatal to the very enterprise at large, due to unsolvable theoretical tensions

Cybernetics in Music

This thesis examines the use of cybernetics (the science of systems) in music, through the tracing of an obscured history. The author postulates that cybernetic music may be thought of as genera of music in its own right, whose practitioners share a common ontology and set of working practices that distinctly differ from traditional approaches to composing electronic music. Ultimately, this critical examination of cybernetics in music provides the framework for a series of original compositions and the foundation of the further study of cybernetic music

Education in the Systems Sciences An Annotated Guide to Education and Research Opportunities in the Sciences of Complexity

Comprehensive when it was published in 1990, this guide brought together information on the broad spectrum of education and research opportunities then available in the sciences of complexity. Its purpose was to make these kinds of investigations more accessible by providing information on programs, institutions, organizations, and literature where one can learn about their principles, methods, and applications. The guide was intended to help interested students and educators locate the various academic fields, departments, institutes, and programs that offer education in systems thinking and complex systems research. The guide also served professionals who are already involved in the systems sciences as a directory to general activity in what are otherwise widely separate fields. By browsing the guide one can get a snapshot of where education and research in systems science was happening at the time in both North America and Europe. The landscape has since massively changed so its value is mostly historical

Anketno istraživanje u novim kognitivnim okruženjima drugoga doba znanosti

This article deals with a rapid change which is currently sweeping through the science landscapes and discusses the far-reaching implications of this structural break for the social sciences and for survey research in particular. More specifically, this article will make three central claims. First, the science system as a whole is presently undergoing a significant phase transition which can be summarized as a shift from Science I to Science II. Second, due to these large-scale changes, new cognitive environments are gradually emerging as the background knowledge of survey research which will exert a profound impact on its future practices. Third, these new cognitive environments will lead to new actor models and to new bridges between survey research and the cognitive neurosciences on the one hand and biomedical research on the other hand.Članak se bavi brzim promjenama koje se trenutačno šire područjem znanosti te raspravlja o dalekosežnim posljedicama ovoga strukturnog prijeloma za društvene znanosti i, posebno, za anketno istraživanje. Točnije, ovaj članak izlaže tri osnovne tvrdnje. Prvo, cijeli se sustav znanosti danas nalazi u važnoj prijelaznoj fazi koju možemo sažeto nazvati pomakom od prvoga doba znanosti u drugo doba. Drugo, zbog tih velikih promjena, postupno nastaju nova kognitivna okruženja, koja će u svojstvu temeljnih znanja o anketnom istraživanju duboko utjecati na buduću praksu. Treće, ova nova kognitivna okruženja stvorit će nove modele-sudionike i nove mostove između anketnog istraživanja i kognitivnih neuroznanosti s jedne strane i biomedicinskih istraživanja s druge

The Biological as a Double Limit for Artificial Intelligence: Review and Futuristic Debate

This paper aims to identify to what extent artificial intelligence (AI) is biologically limited and to launch a debate on the issue of overcoming these limitations. To achieve our goal, we utilized a qualitative research methodology framework, providing an in-depth analysis of AI limitations formulated by prominent scholars within this field of specialization. We found that the biological boundary imposes a double limitation on AI, both from a gnoseological perspective and from a technological perspective. This twofold limitation of AI underpins the idea that as long as the biological cannot be understood, formalized, and imitated, we will not be able to develop technologies that mimic it. By adopting an original approach, our research paper focused on mapping out the twofold limitation of the biological with reference to the success of AI. Special attention was paid to the motivational analysis of this limitation in terms of human existence, the opportunity and utility to create artificial intelligences as superior to the human-like condition. We have opened the door for future debates on the need to decode cellular communication by understanding and developing a natural language of the living cell (N2LC). Based on the present research, we proposed that within the current technological context, biological computers (biocomputing) could represent a so-called invisible hand outstretched by biological systems towards AI

Plural Embodiment(s) of Mind. Genealogy and Guidelines for a Radically Embodied Approach to Mind and Consciousness

This article focuses on a scientific approach to the study of cognition that Warren McCulloch introduced in the era of cybernetics as “experimental epistemology.” In line with recent attempts to highlight its contribution to cognitive science and AI, our article intends to draw attention to its unexplored influence on contemporary embodied approaches to the investigation of mind and consciousness. To this end, we will survey a series of models of cognitive systems genealogically related to the McCulloch-Pitts networks-based modeling approach, i.e., von Foerster’s model of the biological computer, the Maturana-Varela model of the autopoietic system, and Varela’s model of emergent selves. Based on examination of the relevant aspects of these models, we will argue that they offered the McCulloch-Pitts “cybernetic of networks” a coherent methodological and theoretical line of development, complementary to the well-known computationalist one. As we will show, this alternative evolutionary line empowered the biological orientation of McCulloch’s experimental epistemology, laying foundations for contemporary “radically embodied” approaches to mind and consciousness – in particular the Thompson-Varela approach. We will identify the heritage of this tradition of inquiry for future research in cognitive science and AI by proposing guidelines that synthetize how its methodological and theoretical insights suggest taking into account the role(s) played by the biological body in cognitive processes – consciousness included