General Systems Theory(ies)?

[Draft Holding Post – links being added.] Cybernetics, like anything else, evolves, so I’m never talking about specific systems theory(ies). I’ve described my own journey every which way through systems engineering to systems thinking under the cybernetic umbrella. I have a nothing new under the sun attitude to any topic, whereby changing language may change … Continue reading “General Systems Theory(ies)?”

Karl Friston and Good Fences

I’ve previously only mentioned Friston as the source of Friston’s Free Energy Principle as the backdrop to Mark Solms proper bio-psychological account of consciousness. I listened to this discussion – hap tip to the Active Inference folks – and already made a few footnotes to the two previous posts. It’s the first time I’ve listened … Continue reading “Karl Friston and Good Fences”

Systems Functional Needs

As well as dallying about at conceptual / philosophical levels with cybernetics and systems thinking in recent decades, I’ve had several abortive attempts at getting some useful tools going. In fact in those decades I was also working with and for software developers / solution providers on “generic” tools mainly in the “capital facilities” business. … Continue reading “Systems Functional Needs”

Consciousness and Free Energy

Just a post to capture a couple of unconnected links: (1) Sue Blackmore and Deepak Chopra revisiting their decade old “Battle of the Worldviews” disagreement at Tucson 2022 “Science of Consciousness” conference. Only managed to listen to half of it – not enough actual dialogue and Stuart Hameroff’s chairing doesn’t really help … but some … Continue reading “Consciousness and Free Energy”

Information Ontology of Mind and Body

[Work in Progress – Draft will be edited without notification.] [Feedback appreciated on the “See / Refs” – where more are needed? Meantime all those indicated will be elaborated and worked into the text. And obviously on the intelligibility of the text so far. Drafting arose out of the “Three Essays” post, particularly “Algorithms for … Continue reading “Information Ontology of Mind and Body”

Three Essays on Brains & Minds

Just place-holders for pieces – or indeed whole comms campaigns (?) – that need to be created: Most generally because there are enormous persistent misunderstandings within science & technology and with public understanding of it, and specifically (topically given Musk!) with socially degenerate aspects of ubiquitous social media. In no particular order, they’re all connected … Continue reading “Three Essays on Brains & Minds”

Mental Switching Costs

The feeling of the brain being actively engaged with too many thoughts, to properly address any new issue, never mind any of the existing issues, is a common feeling – for me anyway. Once you have several mental balls in the air that are connected to some strategy to get something delivered productively, it’s impossible … Continue reading “Mental Switching Costs”

More on Fundamental Information & Computation

An information-and-computation-based metaphysics is fundamental to several recent sources (as well as my own metaphysics) – even if the specialist scientific researchers often don’t concern themselves with metaphysical aspects of ontology. Most recently John C Doyle and Mark Solms for example – information and its processes are simply taken as more fundamental than any other … Continue reading “More on Fundamental Information & Computation”