ASC Wavefront: Conversations

The actions and interactions of ASC and its members constitute the 'wavefront' of cybernetics as we move into the 21st Century.

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR CYBERNETICS

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ABOUT CONVERSATIONS

The word "conversation" has been re-defined within the cybernetic context, not least because of the work of Dr. Gordon Pask, in the formulation of Conversation Theory... a cybernetic theory of human learning.

Conversations reflect those communicative interactions that we have with each other in which meaning and new understanding arise. This simple statement illuminates much that we usually take for granted and nudges us to ask interesting and difficult questions:

When is a conversation?
How are language and emotion braided in the conversation?
What is the conversational nature of the interactions that we have on-line with each other?

This component of the ASC Wavefront is dedicated to conversations involving cybernetics. It provides you with information on where such conversations can be found, as well as records of a selected set of earlier conversations.

VENUES FOR CONVERSATIONS

There are multiple online venues for conversations about cybernetics and closely related subjects.

A listing of these venues can be found on the Forums Page within the Links section of this website.

ARCHIVED CONVERSATIONS

Evil and Ethics

Between March 27 and April 1, 1999, the ASC held a syntegration on the question: "What does Cybernetics have to contribute to the 21st century?" One of the questions pursued had to do with the potential for the deconstruction of racism based on the initial starting statement: "Cybernetics provides a language theater for non-violent, non-oppressive engagement with world racism."

Over a period of four months after the conference, this question was pursued on the Internet in the form of a discussion on Evil and Ethics.

Dr. Ely Dorsey, one of the main participants, has compiled a record of this conversation and made it available online at:

http://webhost.bridgew.edu/edorsey/Topics.htm

NOTE:

The conversation on Evil and Ethics led to the collaborative creation of a story or narrative on this theme.

That story (as distinct from the conversation) is accessible via the Contributions Page here in the ASC Wavefront section of the website.

Analog versus Digital

In early 2000, the CYBCOM ListServ was the venue for an extended conversation on the distinctions between 'analog' and 'digital', as those terms have come to be (over-)used.

A record of this conversation has been compiled, and it is now available online here within ASC Wavefront.

View the 'Analog versus Digital' conversation