Cognitive Scaffold

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MENTAL MODEL · M5955

Wiener's Cybernetics

Wiener's Cybernetics
SystemsHigh supportSystems Theory
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Updated 2026-08-09

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INTRODUCTION

English translation pending.

CORE DEFINITION

Cybernetics is the study of control and communication in animals and machines, treating them as governed by the same principles. The core claim is that feedback is the central mechanism: a system compares its output against a goal and adjusts its input accordingly, with negative feedback maintaining stability and positive feedback producing runaway behavior. The qualification is that cybernetics is a framework for describing self-regulating systems rather than a synonym for automation, and it applies wherever a loop closes around a goal.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

- Everything Is a Loop: Do not read the world as a linear chain of causes but as a set of feedback loops. - Close the Loop: Solving a problem often means completing a missing feedback path rather than applying more force. - Cut the Feedback: When a loop is runaway, the intervention is to sever the positive feedback rather than push harder.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Cybernetics studies control and communication in animals and machines, and its central concept is feedback. A system measures its own output, compares it with a target, and adjusts its input accordingly, so negative feedback holds the system stable while positive feedback drives it away from equilibrium.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit

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    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CyberneticsZH · Explicit
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