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Mailing Lists and Newsgroups on Cybernetics and Systems
The following is an (incomplete) list of electronic discussion forums on cybernetics and systems science. Please  annotate this page, or send us an email if you want to add a forum, or if you find some information to be out of date.
For mailing lists, the first address mentioned is the address to which you should send mail if you want it distributed to all subscribers (for "closed" lists, such as PRNCYB-L this is only possible if you are a subscriber yourself). The subscription address is the one where you should send mail to subscribe, unsubscribe or perform other administrative commands. The maintainer address is the one of the person who is responsible for administering the list, and where you might send questions if the automatic subscription procedures somehow don't work.
There are basically three types of mailing lists:
- The first type is run manually. These are identified by a
subscription address that looks like listname-request[at]somewhere.somedomain.
To subscribe, send a message to that address
with some text a human being can understand, e.g. "Please subscribe me to .... list."
- To subscribe to a majordomo list you'll need
to send the line
subscribe LISTNAME
in the body of the message to the subscription address. LISTNAME is the first part (before the "[ at ]") of the list address, e.g. PRNCYB-L.
- To subscribe to a LISTSERV list you need to send the message
SUBSCRIBE LISTNAME Your_First_Name Your_Last_Name
in the body to the subscription (LISTSERV) address. Some hosts run a similar piece of
software called listproc obeying similar commands.
For more details on lists in general: see Directory of Scholarly E-Conferences
Principia Cybernetica Discussion list
- List Address:
- pcp-discuss[ at ]lanl.gov
- Subscription Address:
- owner-pcp-discuss[ at ]listman.lanl.gov
- Maintainer:
- joslyn[ at ]lanl.gov (Cliff Joslyn)
- Associated server:
- Principia Cybernetica Web
Official mailing list (closed) of the Principia Cybernetica Project. See the description of PCP-discuss for information on how to subscribe.
Cybernetics Discussion Group
- List Address:
- CYBCOM[ at ]HERMES.CIRC.GWU.EDU
- Subscription Address:
- listserv[ at ]gwuvm.gwu.edu
- Maintainer:
- Philip Wirtz
- Associated server:
- Listservs at the CSOL
CYBCOM is presently the list which most generally addresses the domain of cybernetics and systems theory, taking over from the terminated CYBSYS-L (see below). CYBCOM stands for the "CYBernetic COMmunications Group" over the Internet.
It is based at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., USA.
CYBCOM, was established in Fall
1993. The Center for Social and Organizational Learning at the GWU invited a
group of people to form a "steering committee" for the CYBCOM List, to
facilitate future discussions. This is an effort to make sure that,
whenever one of the committee members is not available for some reason,
conversations on the list can still be facilitated and kept going.
Currently, Dr. Stuart Umpleby (Director of the Center for Social and
Organizational Learning, GWU), Dr. Paul Pangaro (President, PANGARO INC.,
Boston), Dr. Sanaullah Kirmani (Visiting Professor of Management Science,
GWU), and Jixuan-Hu are on the committee.
Control Systems Group List (CSGnet)
- List Address:
- CSGnet@uiuc.edu.
- Newsgroup Address:
- bit.sci.purposive-behavior
- Subscription Address:
- listserv@postoffice.cso.uiuc.edu
- Maintainer:
- g-cziko@uiuc.edu (Gary A. Cziko)
- Associated server:
- WWW-server, FTP- archive
CSGnet links together those members and affiliates of the Control
Systems Group who have access to electronic mail.
The Control Systems Group is a collection of people from many fields,
including (so far) biology, economics, education, engineering, ethology,
law, management consulting, medicine, psychology (clinical developmental,
experimental physiological, and social), social work, and sociology. Our
common interest is exploring control theory as a way to understand
behavior. Our shared conviction is that control theory offers not just an
improvement of or an extension to mainstream concepts of behavior, but a
replacement for them. Our aim is to continue to develop an understanding of
the organization of living systems, using control-system models, to explain
how behavior is generated and why it occurs.
The basic concept accepted by members of the Control Systems Group is that
all organized behavior continuously controls the portion of perceptual
experience which can be influenced by the actions of organisms. This is not
an article of faith. It follows from a detailed quantitative analysis of
behavior, showing that action affects the very perceptions on which action
is based. The action might be as simple the tightening of a muscle, and the
perception as elementary as the signal generated by a sensory nerve
attached to a tendon Or the action might be as complex as formulating
sentences, inflections, and expressions used in a conversation, and the
perception as rich as judging the effects of one's communication on the
attitudes of the listener, even as the words are being spoken.
As important function of the Control Systems Group is to provide a support
system for people who have become dissatisfied with the quality of
explanations in their own fields, and who have come to see control theory
as a source of inspiration and a tool for productive and creative work.
Newsgroup: sci.systems
- Newsgroup Address:
- sci.systems
STATUS: Unmoderated.
Sci.systems provides a forum for the discussion of the theory and
application of systems science. In the broadest sense, systems science is
the study of the nature of systems. Such systems can be physical, chemical,
biological, sociological, economic, etc. Systems science and system theory
can be applied to systems of all types. Systems science as defined here
includes mathematical systems analysis, systems engineering, general
systems theory, etc. This definition is intentionally vague in order to
encourage discussion on all aspects of the study of sytems.
Discussion might include, but is not limited to:
- An overall discussion of the various aspects of the study of systems.
- Discussion of the particular methods for analyzing systems.
- Application of different methods to particular systems.
Newsgroup: alt.cyb-sys
- Newsgroup Address:
- alt.cyb-sys
Whole Systems
- List Address:
- wholesys-l@majordomo.netcom.com
- Subscription Address:
- majordomo@majordomo.netcom.com
- Maintainer:
- ffunch@newciv.org (Flemming Funch)
- Associated server:
- Whole Systems
This is the Whole Systems list for the discussion of:
- the principles of whole systems,
- abundance economies,
- the creation of a new civilization,
- new global paradigms
- whole system metaphysics
- networking and synergy
The list is for the exploration of whole system principles, particularly in
regards to economic, ecological, sociological and metaphysical
transformation of our civilization. The intention is to create and discuss
a positive vision for the future of planet Earth as a whole system.
This is an unmoderated public list. No flaming will be allowed, but frank
discussions are welcome. It is pre-supposed that the participants support
the general idea of creating a better future and are able to tolerate
diverse viewpoints.
Wholesys-l is a very busy list with many members and a lot of traffic. If
you prefer to get only a few selected postings and no discussions, you
should rather subscribe to the wholeinfo-l list. On the average one or two
messages a day, which are each complete in themselves, will be forwarded
from wholesys-l to wholeinfo-l. You can not post to the list directly.
Systems and (human) Values
- List Address:
- sysval-l@netcom.com
- Subscription Address:
- listserv@netcom.com
- Maintainer:
- martin@netcom.com (Martin L.W. Hall)
- Associated server:
- Systems, Values & Organizations
This is a list that tries to investigate and encourage the investigation
of Systems (science), (human) values and organizations.
In a nutshell, it tries to look at the human side of using systems science.
Of the systems oriented lists
I had not seen many that addressed the human and organizational issues of
using systems science. I named it sysval because I think that the merging
of systems and (human) values is of particular importance but I would welcome
any issues that are related to systems science, humans and organizations.
- Maintainer:
- palmer@exo.com (Kent Palmer)
- Associated server:
- Dialognet
Various discussion lists on Philosophy, Literature, Systems Theory & Autopoiesis
ISSS-L
- List Address:
- isss-l@dhvx20.csudh.edu
- Subscription Address:
- isss-l-Request@dhvx20.csudh.edu
- Maintainer:
- ?
- Associated server:
- International Society for the Systems Sciences
List for people affiliated with the International Society for the Systems Sciences. Closed, unmoderated.
CYBSYS-L
- List Address:
- CYBSYS-L@BINGVMB.CC.BINGHAMTON.EDU
- Subscription Address:
- LISTSERV@BINGVMB.CC.BINGHAMTON.EDU
- Maintainer:
- joslyn@lanl.gov (Cliff Joslyn)
This list has stopped operating because of too many other activities by the list maintainer, but you are invited to restart it if you wish to
take over the administration. Contact Cliff Joslyn.
An electronic mailing list dedicated to Systems Science and Cybernetics
on the SUNY-Binghamton computer system. The
list is commited to discussing a general understanding of the evolution
of complex, multi-level systems like organisms, minds, and societies as
informational entities containing possibly circular processes. Specific
subjects include Complex Systems Theory, Self-Organizing Systems Theory,
Dynamic Systems Theory, Artificial Intelligence, Network Theory,
Semiotics, fractal geometry, Fuzzy Set Theory, Recursive Theory, computer
simulation, Information Theory, and more.
The purposes of the list include: 1) facilitating discussion among those
working in or just interested in the general fields of Systems and
Cybernetics; 2) providing a means of communicating to the general
research community about the work that Systems Scientists and
Cyberneticians do; 3) housing a repository of electronic files for
general distribution concerning Systems and Cybernetics; and 4) providing
a central, public directory of working Systems Scientists and
Cyberneticians.
The list is coordinated by members of the Systems Science department of
the Watson School at SUNY-Binghamton, and is affiliated with the
International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) and the American
Society for Cybernetics (ASC). Different levels and kinds of knowledge and experience
are represented.
Copyright© 2001 Principia Cybernetica -
Referencing this page
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Author
F. Heylighen, C. Joslyn,
Date
Oct 18, 2001 (modified)
Feb 6, 1995 (created)
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