W. Ross Ashby (1951), "Statistical Machinery". In: Thales Vol 7. p.1 as cited in: Peter M. Asaro (2008) " From Mechanisms of Adaptation to Intelligence Amplifiers: The Philosophy of W. Ross Ashby http://cybersophe.org/writing/Asaro%20Ashby.pdf"
Famous W. Ross Ashby Quotes
Source: An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956), Part 3: Regulation and control, p. 260
Source: An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956), Part I: Mechanism, p. 85
Source: An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956), Part I: Mechanism, p. 106, as quoted in: " An Introduction to Cybernetics http://www.ecotopia.com/webpress/nurcap/cybernetics198803.htm," at ecotopia.com
Ashby (1958) "General Systems Theory as a new Discipline". General Systems, 3 (1958). p. 1-6; cited in: Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1968) General System Theory. p. 94-95
Ashby (1962), quoted in: V. Lawrence Parsegian (1972) This cybernetic world of men, machines, and earth systems'. p. 178: About the principle of self-organization
W. Ross Ashby Quotes about studying
Preface
An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956)
Source: An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956), Part 3: Regulation and control, p. 196
Source: An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956), Part I: Mechanism, p. 1: Lead paragraph
W. Ross Ashby Quotes
Source: An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956), Part I: Mechanism, p. 9: Chapter 2 Change, lead paragraph.
Context: The most fundamental concept in cybernetics is that of "difference", either that two things are recognisably different or that one thing has changed with time. Its range of application need not be described now, for the subsequent chapters will illustrate the range abundantly. All the changes that may occur with time are naturally included, for when plants grow and planets age and machines move some change from one state to another is implicit. So our first task will be to develop this concept of "change", not only making it more precise but making it richer, converting it to a form that experience has shown to be necessary if significant developments are to be made.
“Cybernetics treats not things but ways of behaving.”
Source: An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956), Part I: Mechanism, p. 1; As cited in: Stuart A. Umpleby, "Ross Ashby's general theory of adaptive systems." International Journal of General Systems 38.2 (2009): 231-238.
Context: Cybernetics treats not things but ways of behaving. It does not ask “what is this thing?” but “what does it do?”... It is thus essentially functional and behaviouristic. Cybernetics deals with all forms of behavior in so far as they are regular, or determinate, or reproducible. The materiality is irrelevant... The truths of cybernetics are not conditional on their being derived from some other branch of science. Cybernetics has its own foundations.
Source: An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956), Part 3: Regulation and control, p. 252
Ashby. "Design for an intelligence amplifier." Automata studies (1956): 215-234. p. 216
“Variety can destroy variety.”
Source: An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956), Part 3: Regulation and control, p. 207
Source: Design for a Brain: The Origin of Adaptive Behavior (1952), p. 238
Source: Design for a Brain: The Origin of Adaptive Behavior (1952), p.54
Source: An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956), Part 2: Variety, p. 130
Source: An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956), Part I: Mechanism, p. 25
W. Ross Ashby, "Review of Analytical Biology, by G. Sommerhoff." In: Journal of Mental Science Vol 98 (1952), p. 88; As cited in Peter M. Asaro (2008)
Source: An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956), Part I: Mechanism, p. 4-5
Source: An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956), Part 2: Variety, p. 127
“The concept of "variety" [is] inseparable from that of "information."”
Source: An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956), Part 2: Variety, p. 140
Source: An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956), Part 3: Regulation and control, p. 245: Regarding the law of requisite variety
Source: An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956), Part I: Mechanism, p. 54 as cited in: Margaret A. Bode (2006) Mind as Machine: A History of Cognitive Science, Volume 1. p.229
“When a constraint exists advantage can usually be taken of it.”
Source: An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956), Part 2: Variety, p. 130
Source: An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956), Part 2: Variety, p. 121