Cybernetics for the 21st Century, Part II: Cybernetics to Come

The first phase of the project “Cybernetics for the 21st Century” was dedicated to historical and regional studies on the development of cybernetics in the USA, Soviet Union, Poland, Chile, Japan, China, etc. in the 20th century. Phase 1 engaged with historians, philosophers and media scholars who provided us with a retrospective on the emergence of cybernetics and its implication in politics, science and art. The 21st century is undeniably a century of cybernetics, where we are witnessing the “becoming organism” of machines, the technological planetarization and acceleration towards full automation. We are experiencing a post-metaphysical world filled with new possibilities of liberation and freedom enabled by automation, at the same time haunted by a nihilism marked by robot revolts, imminent wars and climate catastrophes.

The second phase of the project is dedicated to “cybernetics to come,” that is to say, a future inspired by cybernetics, while at the same time, moving beyond the closed systems imposed by its models, as well as the apocalyptic imaginations such as the technological singularity, to reflect on the future of freedom, democracy, right, co-existence, aesthetics, etc. A thorough critique of cybernetics and a speculative philosophy of technology are necessary in order to explore the possible worlds to come. This lecture series includes world-renowned historians, philosophers, cyberneticians, architects and science fiction writers:

• Bruce Sterling (Science Fiction Author/ American)
• Prof. Bruce Clarke (Texas Tech University/USA)
• Prof. Luciana Parisi (Duke University/USA)
• Prof. David Bates (University of California, Berkeley/USA)
• Prof. Toru Nishigaki (University of Tokyo/Japan)
• Prof. Benjamin Bratton (University of California, San Diego/USA)
• Chen Qiu Fan (Science Fiction Writer/China)
• Prof. Kostas Terzidis (Tongji University/China)
• Prof. Tony Fry (Design Theorist/ Australia)
• Prof. Anna Greenspan (New York University Shanghai)
• Prof. Orit Halpern (Dresden University of Technology/Germany)
• Prof. William Reckmeyer (ANU School of Cybernetics/Australia)
• Kenric McDowell (Google Artists and Machine Intelligence Program/USA)

The lectures will be available on YouTube.The publication of first phase Cybernetics for the 21st Century, Vol. 1: Epistemological Reconstruction was released globally in February this year and is available for free download in PDF at Hanart Press, its paperback is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Organizers

Erasmus School of Philosophy

Research Network for Philosophy and Technology

Hanart Forum

Co-organizers

East Asian Academy for New Liberal Arts, University of Tokyo
Department of the History of Science, Tsinghua University
School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong
Serakai Salons & Projects