Skip to content

The fundamental questions in regulation and control can be answered only when we are able to consider the broader set of what it might do, when “might” is given some exact specification.

— W. Ross Ashby An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956)

Another quote →

More quotes by W. Ross Ashby

Further, as every law of nature implies the existence of an invariant, it follows that every law of nature is a constraint.

An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956)

Cybernetics treats not things but ways of behaving.

An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956)

The concept of "variety" [is] inseparable from that of "information."

An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956)

When a constraint exists advantage can usually be taken of it.

An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956)

Such a system is “self-organizing” in the sense that it changes from “parts separated” to “parts joined.”

All W. Ross Ashby quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: W. Ross Ashby (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.