Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Second-Order Science and New Cybernetics

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Cyber-Development, Cyber-Democracy, and Cyber-Defense

  • 1247 Accesses

Abstract

Currently, the global science system undergoes an epochal transformation which can be summarized as a transition from It-Science to Bit-Science. Bit-Science, as a new phase in the evolution of science, has brought about fundamental changes in scientific production processes, significant reconfigurations in the architecture of science, new organizations of research designs, and complex interaction patterns with the societal and natural environments of science. The great transformation from It-Science to Bit-Science can be summarized as a dual revolution in complexity and reflexivity. The emergence of second-order science becomes by far the most significant change for the rise in reflexivity dimensions of the overall science system. In view of these fundamental transformations of the science system, a new type of cybernetics can be developed under the name of “new cybernetics,” which supersedes the area of traditional or first-order cybernetics, introduced by Norbert Wiener and second-order cybernetics, constructed as a new reflexive version of cybernetics since the late 1960s with its emphasis on observing systems, goals, and observers. The second part of this article explores the new cognitive horizons of new cybernetics as well as its central goals, functions, and tasks. New cybernetics becomes a unique domain with a maximum degree of reflexivity for the science system in general.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 489.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 549.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ashby, W. R. (1954). Design for a brain. New York: Wiley.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ashby, W. R. (1956). An introduction to cybernetics. London: Chapman & Hall.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Atmanspacher, H., & Dalenoort, G. J. (Eds.). (1994). Inside versus outside. Endo- and exo-concepts of observation and knowledge in physics, philosophy and cognitive science. Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barbour, J. (2011). Bit from it. In A. Aguirre, B. Foster, & Z. Merali (Eds.), It from bit or bit from it. On physics and information (pp. 197–211). Heidelberg: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barry, J. A. (1991). Technobabble. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, U. (1986). Risikogesellschaft. Auf dem Weg in eine andere Moderne. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, U. (2000). World risk society. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, U. (2007). Weltrisikogesellschaft. Auf der Suche nach der verlorenen Sicherheit. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borenstein, M., Hedges, L. V., Higgins, J. P. T., & Rothstein, H. (2009). Introduction to meta-analysis. Chichester: Wiley.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Burns, D. (2007). Systemic action research: a strategy for whole system change. Bristol: Policy Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Carayannis, E. G., & Campbell, D. F. (2009). ‘Mode 3’ and ‘quadruple helix’: toward a 21st century fractal innovation ecosystem. International Journal of Technology Management, 46(3/4), 201–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carayannis, E. G., & Campbell, D. F. (2010). Triple helix, quadruple helix and quintuple helix and how do knowledge, innovation and the environment relate to each other? A proposed framework for a trans-disciplinary analysis of sustainable development and social ecology. International Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development, 1(1), 41–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Card, N. A. (2012). Applied meta-analysis for social science research. New York: Guilford Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chaitin, G. J. (2009). Evolution of mutating software. EATCS Bulletin, 97, 157–164.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dusa, A., Nelle, D., Stock, G., & Wagner, G. G. (Eds.). (2014). Facing the future: European research infrastructures for the humanities and social sciences. Berlin: Scivero.

    Google Scholar 

  • ESFRI. (2006). European roadmap for research infrastructures. In Report 2006. Luxembourg: European Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • ESFRI. (2008). European roadmap for research infrastructures. In Roadmap 2008. Luxembourg: European Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • ESFRI. (2011). Strategy report on research infrastructures. In Roadmap 2010. Luxembourg: European Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • Etzkowitz, H. (2003). Innovation in innovation: the triple helix of university-industry-government relations. Social Science Information, 42, 293–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Etzkowitz, H., & Leydesdorff, L. (2003). The dynamics of innovation: From national systems and ‘Mode 2’ to a triple helix of university–industry–government relations. Research Policy, 29, 109–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Etzkowitz, H., & Leydesdorff, L. (1998). The endless transition: a triple helix of university-industry-government relations. Minerva, 36, 271–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fals Borda, O. (1978). Über das Problem, wie man die Realität erforscht, um sie zu verändern. In H. Moser & H. Ornauer (Eds.), Internationale Aspekte der Aktionsforschung (pp. 78–112). München: Kösel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foerster, H. V. (Ed.). (1974). Cybernetics of cybernetics or the control of control and the communication of communication. Urbana: The Biological Computer Laboratory.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foerster, H. V. (2003). Understanding understanding: essays on cybernetics and cognition. New York: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Foerster, H. V. (Ed.). (2014). The beginning of heaven and earth has no name. Seven days with second-order cybernetics. New York: Fordham University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Funtowicz, S. O., & Ravetz, J. R. (1993). The emergence of post-normal science. In R. V. Schomberg (Ed.), Science, politics, and morality: scientific uncertainty and decision making (pp. 85–123). Dordrecht: Kluwer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Funtowicz, S. O., & Ravetz, J. R. (2001). Post-normal science: Science and governance under conditions of complexity. In M. Decker (Ed.), Interdisciplinarity in technology assessment: Implementation and its chances and limits (pp. 15–24). Berlin: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Gerbode, F. A. (2013). Beyond psychology: An introduction to metapsychology. Ann Arbor: Applied Metapsychology International Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerovitch, S. (2002). From newspeak to cyberspeak. A history of soviet cybernetics. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibbons, M., Limoges, C., Nowotny, H., Schwartzman, S., Scott, P., & Trow, M. (1994). The new production of knowledge: The dynamics of science and research in contemporary societies. London: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glanville, R. (2009). The black b∞x, 39 steps (Vol. III). Wien: Edition Echoraum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glanville, R. (2012). The black b∞x, Cybernetic circles (Vol. I). Wien: Edition Echoraum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glanville, R. (2014). The black b∞x, Living in cybernetic circles (Vol. II). Wien: Edition Echoraum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glasersfeld, E. V. (1981). The concepts of adaptation and viability in a radical constructivist theory of knowledge. In I. E. Sigel, D. M. Brodzinsky, & R. M. Golinkoff (Eds.), Piagetian Theory and Research (pp. 87–95). Hillsdale: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glass, G. V. (1976). Primary, secondary and meta-analysis of research. Educational Researcher, 5, 3–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glass, G. V., McGraw, B., & Smith, M. L. (1981). Meta-analysis in social research. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood, D. J., & Levin, M. (2007). Introduction to action research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hayek, F. v. (1967). The theory of complex phenomena. In Studies in philosophy, politics and economics (pp. 22–42). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayek, F. v. (1972). Die theorie komplexer phänomene. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hedges, L. V., & Olkin, I. (1985). Statistical methods for meta-analysis. New York: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heims, S. J. (1985). John von Neumann and Norbert wiener. From mathematics to the Technologies of Life and Death. New York: McGraw Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heims, S. (1991). The cybernetics group. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Helbing, D. (1993). Stochastische methoden, nichtlineare dynamik und quantitative modelle sozialer prozesse. Aachen: Shaker.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hollingsworth, J. R., & Müller, K. H. (2008). Transforming socio-economics with a new epistemology. Socio-Economic Review, 6, 395–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hollingsworth, R. J., & Hollingsworth, E. J. (2011). Major discoveries, creativity, and the dynamics of science. Wien: edition echoraum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, M. (1999). How science takes stock: The story of meta-analysis. New York: Russell Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, J. E., & Schmidt, F. L. (1990). Methods of meta-analysis: Correcting error and bias in research findings (1st ed.). Newbury Park: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahn, H., & Wiener, A. (1967). The year 2000: A framework for speculation on the next thirty-three years. New York: MacMillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kajfež-Bogataj, L., Müller, K. H., Svetlik, I., & Toš, N. (Eds.). (2010). Modern RISC-societies. Towards a new paradigm for societal evolution. Wien: edition echoraum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kauffman, L. H. (1987). Self-reference and recursive forms. Journal of Social and Biological Structures, 10, 53–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kauffman, L. H. (2005). Eigen-forms: “Heinz von Foerster in memoriam” [Special issue]. Kybernetes, 34(1–2), 129–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kauffman, L. H. (2009). Reflexivity and eigenform: The shape of process. Constructivist Foundations, 4(3), 121–137.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kauffman, L. H. (2017). Cybernetics, reflexivity and second-order science. Constructivist Foundations, 3, 489–497.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleiner, B., Renschler, I., Wernli, B., Farago, P., & Joye, D. (Eds.). (2013). Understanding research infrastructures in the social sciences. Zürich: Seismo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kline, R. R. (2015). The cybernetics moment or why we call our age the information age. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leydesdorff, L. (2006). The knowledge-based economy: Modeled, measured, simulated. Boca Raton: Universal Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Light, J. S. (2003). From warfare to welfare. Defense intellectuals and urban problems in cold war America. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malnar, B., & Müller, K. H. (2015). Surveys and reflexivity. A second-order analysis of the European Social Survey (ESS). Wien: edition echoraum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mead, M. (1968). Cybernetics of cybernetics. In H. von Foerster et al. (Eds.), Purposive systems (pp. 1–11). New York: Spartan Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Michael, D. M. (1962). Cybernation: The silent conquest. Santa Barbara: Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions.

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller, A., & Müller, K. H. (Eds.). (2007). An unfinished revolution? Heinz von Foerster and the Biological Computer Laboratory – BCL, 1958–1976. Wien: edition echoraum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller, K. H. (2012). The new science of cybernetics. The evolution of living research designs. Wien: edition echoraum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller, K. H. (2013a). Lebenslagen, Ungleichheit und Lebensqualität aus radikal konstruktivistischer Perspektive. In F. Kolland & K. H. Müller (Eds.), Alter und Gesellschaft im Umbruch. Festschrift für Anton Amann (pp. 219–261). Wien: edition echoraum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller, K. H. (2013b). Second-Order Analysen als neues Aufgabenfeld von sozialwissenschaftlichen Datenarchiven. e-WISDOM, 6, 85–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller, K. H. (2013c). Non-linear innovations. In E. G. Carayannis (Ed.), Encyclopedia of creativity, invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship (pp. 1381–1391). Berlin: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Müller, K. H. (2014). Towards a general methodology for second-order science. Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, 12(5), 33–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller, K. H. (2016). Second-order science. The revolution of scientific structures. Wien: edition echoraum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller, K. H., & Riegler, A. (2014). Second-order science: A vast and largely unexplored science frontier. Constructivist Foundations, 10(1), 7–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller, K. H., & Toš, N. (2012). Towards a new kind of social science. Social research in the context of science II and RISC-societies. Wien: edition echoraum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nentwich, M., & König, R. (2012). Cyberscience 2.0. Research in the age of digital social networks. Frankfurt: Campus Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newman, M. (2005). Power laws, pareto distributions and Zipf’s law. Contemporary Physics, 46, 323–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newman, M., Barabasi, A. L., & Watts, D. (Eds.). (2006). The structure and dynamics of networks. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen, M. (2011). Reinventing discovery. The new era of networked science. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noffke, S., & Somekh, B. (2009). The SAGE handbook of educational action research. London: Sage.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Nordman, A., Radder, H., & Schiemann, G. (2011). Science transformed? Debating claims of an epochal break. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nowotny, H., Scott, P., & Gibbons, M. (2001). Re-thinking science. Knowledge and the public in an age of uncertainty. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pask, G. (1996). Heinz von Foerster’s self-organisation, the progenitor of conversation and interaction theories. Systems Research, 13(3), 349–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reason, P., & Bradbury, H. (2001). The SAGE handbook of action research. Participative inquiry and practice. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riegler, A., & Müller, K. H. (Eds.). (2014). Second-order science. Constructivist Foundations, 10(1), 7–15. (Special issue).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rössler, O. E. (1992). Endophysics. Die Welt des inneren Beobachters. Berlin: Merwe Verlag. (mit einem Vorwort von Peter Weibel).

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, B. (2011). Explorations in second-order cybernetics. Reflections on cybernetics, psychology and education. Wien: edition echoraum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shneiderman, B. (2008). Science 2.0. Science, 319, 1349–1350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sornette, D. (2006). Critical phenomena in natural sciences: Chaos, fractals, selforganization and disorder: Concepts and tools. Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer-Brown, G. (1969). Laws of form. London: Allen & Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Umpleby, S. A. (1991). Strategies for winning acceptance of second order cybernetics. Keynote address at the International Symposium on Systems Research, Informatics, and Cybernetics, Baden-Baden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Umpleby, S. A. (2007). Reflexivity in social systems: The theories of George Soros. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 24, 515–522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Umpleby, S. A. (2010a). From complexity to reflexivity: Underlying logics used in science. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, 1, 15–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Umpleby, S. A. (2010b). From complexity to reflexivity: The next step in the systems sciences. In R. Trappl (Ed.), Cybernetics and systems 2010 (pp. 281–286). Vienna: Austrian Society for Cybernetic Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Umpleby, S. A. (2015). A global strategy for human development as an example of an alternative goal set in science. Lecture at the International Society for Systems Science (ISSS), Berlin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Umpleby, S. A. (2016), Second-order cybernetics as a fundamental revolution in science. Constructivist Foundations, 3, 455–465.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van de Vijver, G. (Ed.). (1992). New perspectives on cybernetics: Self-organization, autonomy and connectionism. Dordercht: Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waldorp, M. M. (2008). Science 2.0: Great new tool, or great risk? Scientific American, 298, 68–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, M., & Weiß, B. (2014). Meta-analyse. In N. Baur & J. Blasius (Eds.), Handbuch methoden der empirischen sozialforschung (pp. 1117–1128). Wiesbaden: Springer VS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Welton, N. J., Sutton, A. J., Cooper, N. J., Abrams, K. R., & Ades, A. E. (2012). Evidence synthesis for decision making in healthcare. Chichester: Wiley.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler, J. A. (1990). Information, physics, quantum: The search for links. In W. Zurek (Ed.), Complexity, entropy, and the physics of information (pp. 309–336). Redwood City: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead, A. (2002). Meta-analysis of controlled trials. Chichester: Wiley.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wiener, N. (1948). Cybernetics, or control and communication in the animal and the machine. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Steinbeis Transfer Center New Cybernetics, Vienna, Austria

    Karl H. Müller

Authors
  1. Karl H. Müller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karl H. Müller .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information Systems and Technology Management, School of Business, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

    Elias G. Carayannis

  2. Department for Continuing Education Research and Educational Management, Centre for Educational Management and Higher Education Development, Danube University Krems, Krems, Austria

    David F. J. Campbell

  3. School of Law, University of Central Lancashire (UCLan Cyprus), Larnaka, Cyprus

    Marios Panagiotis Efthymiopoulos

Section Editor information

  1. USA, USA

    David F. J Campbell

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Müller, K.H. (2018). Second-Order Science and New Cybernetics. In: Carayannis, E., Campbell, D., Efthymiopoulos, M. (eds) Handbook of Cyber-Development, Cyber-Democracy, and Cyber-Defense. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09069-6_15

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation