Since its inception, cybernetics, was more or less identified as a science
of self-regulating and equilibrating systems. Thermostats, physiological
regulation of body temperature, automatic steering devices, economic and
political processes were studied under a general mathematical model of
deviation-counteracting feedback networks.
By focusing on the deviation-counteracting aspect of the mutual causal
relationships however, the cyberneticians paid less attention to the systems
in which the mutual causal effects are deviation-amplifying. Such systems
are ubiquitous: accumulation of capital in industry, evolution of living
organisms, the rise of cultures of various types, interpersonal processes
which produce menial illness, international conflicts, and the processes
that are loosely termed as "vicious circles" and "compound interests";
in short, all processes of mutual causal relationships that amplify an
insignificant or accidental initial kick, build up deviation and diverge
from the initial condition.
In contrast to the progress in the study of equilibrating systems, the
deviation-amplifying systems have not been given as much investment of
time and energy by the mathematical scientists on the one hand, and
understanding and practical application on the part of geneticists,
ecologists, politicians and psychotherapists on the other han
