A bootstrap is cooking

I have just discovered a 1999 paper by C.Francois (a systemist from Argentina) titled Systemics and Cybernetics in Historical perspective. It begins by stating that Systems Thinking (ST) is an on-going process for over 100 years. It elaborates a list of authors and contributions to an evolving conceptual framework. He also mentions some concept of meta-system, I need to check the definition and how it relates to the definition used by Turchin and adopted here.
One aspect of the adaptation is the pivotal concept of Meta-system transition here becomes Network transition (aka Automation Quantum)

But the most important "correlation" to the on-going works of Meta-Artificial blogged here, is the idea that it is not just me (*) that applies System thinking but big developments like McCarthy's LISP, Codd's Relational computing and so on also incorporate Systems thinking. It is the macroscopic feature of ST that characterizes its mode, for example in LISP is the abstraction of low level details like memory issues and machine details. It is also the mathematical framework brought into programming quite a large scale conceptual armory deployed. Also ideas such as "program as data" that need an architectural shift of the basic reference system in use (classic programming - imperative programming).


It is a pity that Francois does not cite Turchin, perhaps 10 years after his publication I may suggest to him an update but clearly his review does help me realize the interdisciplinary character that in my case takes a particular meaning, no doubt it can operate across the per-layer disciplines of the Network (I guess I am in err in thinking WWW - the application layer- is a different discipline than say TCP/IP layer of engineering and queuing theory mathematics. The formation of orgs such as W3C and OASIS also underline the argument.

Also, the paper provides a "handle" to an introduction to the theme Internet Systematics that is more close to its own origins than the approach "next to ai phase" developed along the way sometime later.

I am particularly happy to see Kevin Kelly's definition of the technium (I need to get familiar with his works, although I came across to him in the days of Wired mag at least 10 years ago, and communicate to seek and give comment) where Kelly targets the concept of Global Brain.

Also interesting thought is that I just received a ping on TWINE from Laylor about GB.


(*) originally in the field of Functional Programming and then to the field of Computer Networking (note that -ing indicates a dynamic view)