Social Cybernetics: Week One

Here’s a recording of our first seminar or ‘conversation’ with Professor Raul Espejo, who introduces some of the history and key concepts of social cybernetic theory. The audio becomes a little louder as we get going.

Much of the reading material that Raul refers to can be downloaded from here. The book about the Macy conferences that we discuss is by Heims, S. J. (1991). The cybernetics group. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. The course outline and further references can be found elsewhere on our website.

Anyone is welcome to attend. We meet every two weeks and the next seminar is on February 4th.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them below in the comments box.

Notes from SSI course week one

Social Science Imagination week one

Thursday 8th October 2015

After brief introductions, we recognised that it was a course where theory would meet with personal experience, and we agreed some principles for the course:

• no pressure to share our thoughts, feelings, beliefs or experiences
• confidentiality among those present
• notes to be published on website will be read aloud and agreed at the end of the meeting; also to re-view the content of our meeting

Lucy shared a biography of C Wright Mills that she had prepared: this context was appreciated.

Mahmood talked about the novel he is writing about his experiences.

Discussion on pedagogy, and explaining as a teaching technique; and post-modernism and how hard it is to understand ourselves without theorising.

Suggested reading:

Foucault (on Iranian revolution)
1984 (generating fear)

For next time:

Write ~300 words with the title (borrowed from C Wright Mills’ essay):
On Who I might Be & How I Got That Way