Cybernetic
§ refers to a tradition of complex system where the interacting elements
influence another.
§ In this tradition communication is seen as a system of processing
information, feedback and control.
§ Noise is the “enemy of information” because it interrupts the
“information carrying capacity of the channel between the transmitter and
receiver”. (Griffin, 2008).
Cybernetic examines the overall
workings of communication in relation to system. A system being "a system
of parts, or variables that influence one another, shape and control the character
of the overall system" (Littlejohn & Foss 40). We will use an example
of a classroom system. The relationship between the students and teachers,
students and each other, subject matter, environment of the classroom, cultural
diversity of students, and homework all come together to form a cycle of
networks and connections.
Five
variations in the Cybernetic Tradition
Basic
System Theory - –Maintains that systems
are structures that one can study and see how the parts of the system interact.
Cybernetic -
It emphasizes that communication
is not linear but rather it is a cyclic process with feedback loops.
Information
Theory - Focuses on the
transmission of signals through network and seeks to improve that process.
General
System Theory - It seeks to show us
that different fields can be linked if they share the same system
principles.
Second
order Cybernetic - In this
variation it is understood that the person observing the system is always
cybernetically engaged with the system they are observing.
Three main components of cybernetics:
The goal or the
message to be conveyed.
The difference
between the goal and what is being conveyed.
Feedback indicates to the source what
is happening at the receiver’s end.
 |
| Feedback |
What is the Goal?
§The end goal of Shannon's model is
to increase the amount of information that is successfully transmitted from the
information source to the destination.
§The Cybernetic tradition asks us to
understand that communication is not only information processing, but also that
individuals enter into communication settings with different abilities in that
information processing.
"It is important for us as a communicators to transcend our individual perspective, to look at the communication process from a broader, systematic viewpoint, and not to hold individuals responsible for systematic outcomes that no individual can control". (Craig, 2007)
"It is important for us as a communicators to transcend our individual perspective, to look at the communication process from a broader, systematic viewpoint, and not to hold individuals responsible for systematic outcomes that no individual can control". (Craig, 2007)
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By: Quincy Jane Fudalan
AB- Mass Communication
Ateneo de Davao University
