Cybernetics in Economics

In 1965 Kyn and Pelikan published in Czechoslovakia the book “Kybernetika v Ekonomii” (Cybernetics in Economics). This article, which was published in Prague in English gives the summary and discusses some more important ideas of that book. The book was quite successful and influenced significantly the way economists were at that time looking at the centrally planned economic system imported from the Soviet Union. The main ideas were: a) the crucial role of information in coordination of economic activities; b) the requirements of the appropriate decision making rules; c) the refutation of the prevailing negative views of randomness and spontaneity; d) the role of “natural selection” for processes of self-organization in economic systems. This provided an implicit critique of the over-centralized command economy and indicated the necessity to revive the market economy.Economic Cybernetics; Information; Decission-making; Planning; Selforganization;

Collective behaviours: from biochemical kinetics to electronic circuits

In this work we aim to highlight a close analogy between cooperative behaviors in chemical kinetics and cybernetics; this is realized by using a common language for their description, that is mean-field statistical mechanics. First, we perform a one-to-one mapping between paradigmatic behaviors in chemical kinetics (i.e., non-cooperative, cooperative, ultra-sensitive, anti-cooperative) and in mean-field statistical mechanics (i.e., paramagnetic, high and low temperature ferromagnetic, anti-ferromagnetic). Interestingly, the statistical mechanics approach allows a unified, broad theory for all scenarios and, in particular, Michaelis-Menten, Hill and Adair equations are consistently recovered. This framework is then tested against experimental biological data with an overall excellent agreement. One step forward, we consistently read the whole mapping from a cybernetic perspective, highlighting deep structural analogies between the above-mentioned kinetics and fundamental bricks in electronics (i.e. operational amplifiers, flashes, flip-flops), so to build a clear bridge linking biochemical kinetics and cybernetics.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures; to appear on Scientific Reports: Nature Publishing Grou

The Necessary Architecture of Self-Regulating Teams

In this paper we present the meaning of self-regulation in Self- Regulating Teams (SRTs) and show the importance of self- regulating teams in a learning organisation. Self-regulating (also known as self-managing) teams guide and perform their own tasks without a visible leader. In the present dynamic business environment, SRTs promise to deliver higher motivation and empowerment to the individuals that participate in them as well as elevated performance and efficiency to the organisations that implement them. However, as management support and change in business culture are prerequisites for the success of SRTs, their implementation is not an easy task. Often, unsuccessful SRTs have been (in our opinion, wrongly) criticized as a source of ambiguity for organisations and as yet another management technique that does not deliver its promises. We start exploring the validity of such a criticism by discussing the shift from a training paradigm to a self- development paradigm in order to draw the picture of a learning organisation as an entity that facilitates learning of all its members and continuously transforms itself as a whole. We continue by showing the contribution that SRTs could make to the process of an organisation that aims to become a learning organisation. In this paper we adopt a cybernetic approach to describe the role of SRTs and to identify the necessary conditions for SRTs to work at all. We present the necessary architecture of SRTs; the architecture that is needed to deliver their promised advantages. We show how Gordon Pasks Conversation Theory could be applied to self-regulating teams and present how learning conversation could provide the framework for successful organisational evolution through team development and team self- regulation. We show how the establishment of such an architecture can lead to a better understanding of self-regulating teams and thus to their successful evolution and development within an organisation. We conclude by stating the implications of our analysis

Simultaneous Robotic Manipulation and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Feasibility in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

An unanswered question concerning the neural basis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is how sensorimotor deficits in individuals with ASD are related to abnormalities of brain function. We previously described a robotic joystick and video game system that allows us to record functional magnetic resonance images (FMRI) while adult humans make goal- directed wrist motions. We anticipated several challenges in extending this approach to studying goal-directed behaviors in children with ASD and in typically developing (TYP) children. In particular we were concerned that children with autism may express increased levels of anxiety as compared to typically developing children due to the loud sounds and small enclosed space of the MRI scanner. We also were concerned that both groups of children might become restless during testing, leading to an unacceptable amount of head movement. Here we performed a pilot study evaluating the extent to which autistic and typically developing children exhibit anxiety during our experimental protocol as well as their ability to comply with task instructions. Our experimental controls were successful in minimizing group differences in drop-out due to anxiety. Kinematic performance and head motion also were similar across groups. Both groups of children engaged cortical regions (frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital) while making goal- directed movements. In addition, the ASD group exhibited task- related correlations in subcortical regions (cerebellum, thalamus), whereas correlations in the TYP group did not reach statistical significance in subcortical regions. Four distinct regions in frontal cortex showed a significant group difference such that TYP children exhibited positive correlations between the hemodynamic response and movement, whereas children with ASD exhibited negative correlations. These findings demonstrate feasibility of simultaneous application of robotic manipulation and functional imaging to study goal-directed motor behaviors in autistic and typically developing children. The findings also suggest the presence of marked changes in neural activation during a sensorimotor task requiring goal- directed movement

Complexity and Philosophy

The science of complexity is based on a new way of thinking that stands in sharp contrast to the philosophy underlying Newtonian science, which is based on reductionism, determinism, and objective knowledge. This paper reviews the historical development of this new world view, focusing on its philosophical foundations. Determinism was challenged by quantum mechanics and chaos theory. Systems theory replaced reductionism by a scientifically based holism. Cybernetics and postmodern social science showed that knowledge is intrinsically subjective. These developments are being integrated under the header of “complexity science”. Its central paradigm is the multi-agent system. Agents are intrinsically subjective and uncertain about their environment and future, but out of their local interactions, a global organization emerges. Although different philosophers, and in particular the postmodernists, have voiced similar ideas, the paradigm of complexity still needs to be fully assimilated by philosophy. This will throw a new light on old philosophical issues such as relativism, ethics and the role of the subject