Arturo Rosenblueth, Norbert Wiener and Julian Bigelow Publish Behavior, Purpose and Teleology

The roots of cybernetics lie uncomfortably in the terrain of autonomous weapons and the military industrial complex. After all, the ideas grew smack in the middle of WWII.

In January 1943 Arturo Rosenblueth of Harvard Medical School, Norbert Wiener of MIT and Julian Bigelow published “Behavior, Purpose and Teleology” in Philosophy of Science.

Working on anti-aircraft fire control, Wiener and Bigelow conclude that voluntary action depends on feedback.

The essay applied one scheme to animals and machines, citing a target-seeking torpedo: “All purposeful behavior may be considered to require negative feed-back.” Rosenblueth supplied the medical parallel, a patient with cerebellar disease whose hand oscillates more and more as it carries a glass of water to his mouth. He had presented the ideas at a 1942 Macy Foundation meeting in New York attended by Warren McCulloch.

One of technology's original sins which this moment highlights is the inexorable tie between technology and weapons. It's all the more unsettling how long we've been trying to make weapons more responsive and lifelike.