“As shorthand, when the phenomena are suitably simple, words such as equilibrium and stability are of great value and convenience. Nevertheless, it should be always borne in mind that they are mere shorthand, and that the phenomena will not always have the simplicity that these words presuppose.”

— W. Ross Ashby

Source: An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956), Part I: Mechanism, p. 85

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W. Ross Ashby 26

British psychiatrist 1903–1972

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