Part Smart | Whole Stupid
The Relevance and Value of Cybernetics-Systemics in the 21st Century
William Reckmeyer
today: October 22 at 7pm
Expectations about the rosy future of humanity in the 21st century have changed profoundly over the past 35 years, since the end of the Cold War and the beginning of the World Wide Web ushered in a new era of hyper-globalization that has raised important philosophical and practical concerns about the nature of human progress writ large. Humanity’s increasing cybernetic capabilities and activities have produced exponential improvements in living conditions for people in a relatively short period of time, but they have also precipitated a runaway combination of challenges that are jeopardizing the systemic well-being of both our species and our planet as whole. I’ve found that cybernetics (a universal meta-paradigm about purposeful phenomena) and systemics (a universal meta-paradigm about all phenomena) jointly offer a rigorous and powerful way to address these matters. In this session, I will discuss some of the critical lessons I’ve learned about the relevance and value of the cybernetic-systemic field for helping humanity transcend its historic myopia (part smart | whole stupid) about all sorts of complex issues. Key topics will include the early focus of the field on purposeful behavior in general; how it has evolved over the past 60 years into an emphasis on technology-centric cybernation rather than on people-centric / planet-centric cyberneticity, and some initial results from a substantial research project I’ve been conducting – Homo Cyberneticus: Creating, Understanding, and Managing the Anthropocene – that examines the science, history, and impact of humanity’s rapidly-evolving cyberneticity over the past 500 years and its significant implications for our collective future.
Dr. William J. Reckmeyer is Professor of Cybernetics & Systemics in the new School of Cybernetics at the Australian National University, where he is providing strategic support for reimagining cybernetics in the 21st Century, establishing SoCy as an innovative center for helping people learn how to navigate and shape major societal transformations, and connecting SoCy with the broader community of cyberneticians and systems scientists. He is also Visiting Professor of Systems Studies at the University of Hull; Professor Emeritus of Leadership-Cybernetics-Systemics at San José State University; Kellogg Global Fellow at the W. K. Kellogg Foundation; and Residential Global Fellow at the Salzburg Global Seminar. Prior to joining ANU in 2022, Bill spent his 50-year career as a professor and practitioner based in Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. His work has focused on developing and applying integrative-collaborative approaches to enhance strategic change, leadership, public policymaking, and technology management in a variety of organizational, community, national, and international settings. His primary expertise and experience are in the areas of cybernetics-systems, leadership, global affairs, and national security. Norbert Wiener Gold Medal, Life Fellow, and Trustee of the American Society for Cybernetics; Life Fellow of the International Academy for Systems and Cybernetics Sciences.
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