Cybernetics and the Possibilities of a New Human Being

Abstract

In this text, Busa discusses some of the consequences that cybernetics could have on “human beings of tomorrow”. He lists a number of definitions of cybernetics, including “any form of automation”. Though he notes that definitions of automation can also be elusive, it is with the idea of cybernetics as automation writ large that he frames his argument. Busa supposes that cybernetics will have two far-reaching consequences for society: it will occasion a quantitative turn in approaches to problem-solving and herald the advent of an electronic library. He also suggests, more by allusion than direct reference, that cybernetics might be used to control society. In an article in the Catholic media that was written about his work, and which draws extensively on the text below, Busa discusses the potential societal impacts of cybernetics more freely (see O’Grady 1966).