软件工程师论云_软件工程师的控制论指南

软件工程师论云

重点(Top highlight)

Before ‘cyber’ was a prefix for everything internet and computers, it was how mathematicians were going to conquer the world.

在“网络”成为所有互联网和计算机的前缀之前，这就是数学家征服世界的方式。

I first encountered the word cybernetics while reading Benjamin Peters’s account of the Soviet Union’s attempts to invent the internet, How Not to Network a Nation (still a little disappointed that MIT didn’t spell it Nyetwork, come on!) At the time my reaction to it was “Ew gross” — anything with the prefix cyber- feels cheesy and passé — followed by confusion. The dates seemed impossible. Cybernetics actually predated both the internet and the rise of the computing industry by decades? Could that be right? Could the word cyber have had another meaning not related to virtual experiences that had been entirely lost?

在阅读本杰明·彼得斯(Benjamin Peters)关于苏联尝试发明互联网的尝试的书时，我首先遇到了控制论这个词，《如何不让一个国家联网》 (仍然让麻省理工学院将其拼写为Nyetwork，让我有些失望，来吧！ )出现“ Ew gross”(任何带有前缀网络的东西)的感觉都俗气而过时，然后是混乱。 日期似乎不可能。 控制论实际上早于互联网和计算行业的兴起几十年了吗？ 可以吗？ “网络”一词是否还有与完全消失的虚拟体验无关的其他含义？

Prior to WWII the word cybernetics was used occasionally by mathematicians to mean the dynamics of government in society. The idea that society had a set of mathematical rules that governed it the same way physical objects had laws of physics was not much appreciated. But WWII profoundly changed that. On both sides technology was used to orchestrate deployments at scales never seen before. The Nazis used IBM’s tabulating machines to commit genocide on a shocking and unbelievable level. The British used it the crack codes believed to be unbreakable. The US used it to mass produce armaments on short notice post-Pearl Harbor (and also, it’s worth noting, to track down and round up Japanese Americans.) This technology build up demonstrated that nations and their economies could be focused and directed to extreme ends.

第二次世界大战之前，数学家偶尔会使用控制论一词来指代政府在社会中的动态。 人们对社会具有一套以物理对象具有物理定律的方式来控制它的数学规则的想法并不十分欣赏。 但是第二次世界大战彻底改变了这一点。 双方都使用技术来编排前所未有的规模的部署。 纳粹分子使用IBM的制表机在令人震惊且令人难以置信的水平上实施种族灭绝。 英国人用它来破解坚不可摧的密码。 美国用它在珍珠港事件发生后的短时间内大规模生产军备(而且，值得注意的是，它追踪并围捕了日裔美国人。)这种技术的积累表明，国家及其经济体可以集中精力并引导到极端结束。

The mathematicians who had seen that mobilization firsthand became more and more interested in whether the principals that allowed it to happen were purely human constructions or forces found in the natural world. Politicians who had seen bets on the mobilization payoff began to wonder if society could actually be designed. By 1948, MIT mathematician Norbert Wiener summarized his thoughts on this topic in his landmark book Cybernetics: or the Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine

亲眼目睹了动员的数学家越来越对允许动员发生的原理产生兴趣的是纯粹的人类建构还是自然世界中发现的力量。 曾看好动员收益的政客开始怀疑社会是否可以真正设计出来。 到1948年，麻省理工学院的数学家诺伯特·维纳(Norbert Wiener)在他的划时代的书《控制论》中总结了他对这一主题的想法：或者说“动物与机器中的控制与通信”

什么是控制论？ (What is Cybernetics?)

The word cybernetics comes from the greek κυβερνήτης (kybernḗtēs) which means a pilot, governor, someone who steers. Cybernetics, therefore, is the study of control and automation systems. Wiener believed that feedback loops, not intelligence, were the foundation of cognition and that any manner of system behavior from neuroscience to physics to the economy could be understood and possibly programmed in terms of feedback loops. Cybernetics was neither about computers, nor necessarily even government. Horrified by the consequences of the atomic bomb, Wiener wanted to focus the academic discussion on communication between systems and he wanted a broader definition of communication itself. In his follow up to Cybernetics, The Human Use of Human Beings he writes:

控制论一词来自希腊语κυβερνήτης ( kybernḗtēs )，意思是飞行员，州长，有人驾驶。 因此，控制论是对控制和自动化系统的研究。 维纳认为，反馈回路而非智能是认知的基础，从神经科学到物理学到经济的任何系统行为方式都可以理解，并可以根据反馈回路进行编程。 控制论既与计算机无关，也与政府无关。 维纳被原子弹的后果吓坏了，他想将学术讨论的重点放在系统之间的通信上，他希望对通信本身进行更广泛的定义。 在他的跟进控制论，人类的人用他写道：

Contrast with them the behavior of man, or indeed of any moderately intelligent animal such as a kitten. I call to the kitten and it looks up. I have sent it a message which, it has received by its sensory organs, and which it registers in action. The kitten is hungry and lets out a pitiful wail. This time it is the sender of a message. The kitten bats at a swinging spool. The spool swings to its left, and the kitten catches it with its left paw. This time messages of a very complicated nature are both sent and received within the kitten’s own nervous system through certain nerve end-bodies in its joints, muscles, and tendons; and by means of nervous messages sent by these organs, the animal is aware of the actual position and tensions of its tissues. It is only through these organs that anything like a manual skill is possible.

与他们的行为相对照，人类的行为，或与之相比的任何中等智能动物(如小猫)的行为都与之相反。 我打电话给小猫，它抬起头来。 我已经给它发送了一条消息，该消息已被其感觉器官接收，并且已在行动中记录下来。 小猫饿了，发出可怜的哀号。 这次是消息的发送者。 小猫在摆动的线轴上击球。 线轴向左摆动，小猫用左爪抓住它。 这次，非常复杂的信息通过小猫的关节，肌肉和肌腱中的某些神经末梢在小猫自己的神经系统内发送和接收。 并且通过这些器官发出的神经信息，动物可以知道其组织的实际位置和张力。 只有通过这些器官，诸如手工技能之类的东西才有可能。

From the cybernetic perspective there are multiple sets of communicating pairs in this hypothetical:

从控制论的角度来看，在这种假设中有多对通讯对：

• Human and kitten
  人与小猫
• Nerves and muscles
  神经和肌肉
• Kitten and spool
  小猫和线轴

The last pair is probably the most important part of the cybernetic philosophy about technology. Even though the spool is an inanimate object and does not think, it communicates with the kitten by receiving input (a swat) and responding by changing its movement. In cybernetics this is also communication. Everything in the universe is a series of feedback loops: some negative, some positive, some reinforcing, some balancing. Cybernetics was the academic study of whether such loops could be measured, quantified and ultimately programmed.

最后一对可能是关于技术的控制论哲学中最重要的部分。 即使线轴是无生命的物体，并且不认为，它也会通过接收输入(拍打)并通过更改其动作来响应与小猫进行通信。 在控制论中，这也是通信。 宇宙中的一切都是一系列反馈循环：一些消极，一些积极，一些加强，一些平衡。 控制论是关于是否可以测量，量化和最终编程这种回路的学术研究。

It was how mathematicians were going to engineer the world rather than simply observe and document it.

这就是数学家将如何设计世界而不是简单观察和记录世界的方式。

控制论对计算机科学的影响 (Cybernetics’s Impact on Computer Science)

Cybernetics as an academic discipline burned out fast, but not before fundamentally changing some of the most important figures in the fledgling computer science field.

控制论作为一门学科很快就消亡了，但是在根本上改变了刚刚起步的计算机科学领域中一些最重要的人物之前，控制论就没有了。

John von NeumannMany of Von Neumann’s ideas around computer architecture were based on the assumption that machinery that emulated the communication pathways of the human brain, might be capable of greater intelligence than the current machines.

约翰·冯·诺伊曼冯·诺伊曼(Von Neumann)关于计算机体系结构的许多想法都是基于这样的假设，即模拟人脑通信路径的机器可能比当前的机器具有更高的智能。

Warren McCulloch and Walter PittDeveloped the first computational models of neural networks as part of their research in cybernetics.

沃伦·麦卡洛克(Warren McCulloch)和沃尔特·皮特(Walter Pitt) 作为控制论研究的一部分，开发了第一个神经网络计算模型。

Claude ShannonProved circuits could solve Boolean algebra problems. Work became the basis of digital chips today.

Claude Shannon证明电路可以解决布尔代数问题。 如今，工作已成为数字芯片的基础。

Alan TuringTuring’s trip to America during the height of activity in cybernetics marked a complete reversal in his opinions about the potential of artificial intelligence. Determined to flesh out his understanding of neurons in the brain, Turing threw himself into a completely different field, ultimately publishing The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis creating revolutionary models for cell growth as well as Turing machines.

艾伦·图灵(Alan Turing)图灵( Turing)在控制论活动高峰期的美国之行标志着他对人工智能潜力的看法完全颠倒了。 图灵决心充实对大脑神经元的理解，因此将自己投入到一个完全不同的领域，最终发表了《形态发生化学基础》，为细胞生长以及图灵机创造了革命性的模型。

J.C.R. LickliderExposed to cybernetics as an MIT student through Wiener’s weekly dinner parties, Licklider would join the SAGE project as an expert in human/computer interfaces. Those interested in computer history probably recognize Licklider’s name from another context: he was eventually hired by the DoD to found their Information Processing Techniques Office which would develop ARPAnet... otherwise known as the internet.

JCR Licklider Jick Licklider作为一名MIT学生通过Wiener的每周晚宴聚会接触了控制论，他将以人/计算机界面专家的身份加入SAGE项目。 那些对计算机历史感兴趣的人可能会从另一个角度认识Licklider的名字：他最终被国防部聘用，成立了他们的信息处理技术办公室，该办公室将开发ARPAnet ...也称为互联网。

“网络”如何成为互联网的 (How ‘Cyber’ Became About the Internet)

Wiener’s and Von Neumann’s frenemy status was the stuff of legend. One time collaborators, they would intermittently promote and sabotage each other’s work and reputation. Wiener would show up to Von Neumann’s talks and loudly snore through them. Von Neumann would sit in the front row of Wiener’s talks and make a show of flipping through that day’s edition of The New York Times instead of listening.

维也纳人和冯·诺依曼的疯狂地位是传说中的东西。 曾经的合作者，他们会断断续续地促进和破坏彼此的工作和声誉。 维也纳会出现在冯·诺伊曼(Von Neumann)的演讲中，并大声打sn。 冯·诺伊曼(Von Neumann)将坐在维纳演讲的前排，并展示出翻阅当天版的《纽约时报》而不是听。

At the root of it was a significant political divide. While WWII had brought so many great mathematicians into the same network of research institutions and professional connections, the question of what should be learned from that period ensured the collaboration didn’t last. Von Neumann was very anti-Soviet and supported the development of more advanced nuclear weapons as a deterrent to war. Wiener was horrified by this, deeply pessimistic about the impact of technology on society, and sympathetic to the socialist cause. He encouraged Soviet cyberneticists who attempted to implement his ideas on a grand social engineering scale. This drove cybernetics into the hands of propaganda fueled futurism right about the same time the personality conflicts between its founding scholars were slowing its momentum in academia. The fact that Wiener was married to an unapologetic Nazi didn’t help.

其根源在于重大的政治分歧。 第二次世界大战把这么多伟大的数学家带入了相同的研究机构和专业联系网络，但从那个时期开始应学到什么，就确保了这种合作不会持久。 冯·诺依曼(Von Neumann)非常反苏联，并支持发展更先进的核武器，以威慑战争。 维也纳对此感到震惊，对技术对社会的影响深感悲观，并同情社会主义事业。 他鼓励苏联控制论专家，他们试图在宏大的社会工程学规模上实施他的想法。 这将控制论推到了宣传的手中，助长了未来主义，而与此同时，创始学者之间的人格冲突正在减缓学术界的发展势头。 维纳嫁给了一个毫不歉意的纳粹这一事实并没有帮助。

The popularity of Wiener’s books and the interdisciplinary nature of cybernetics meant artists and social scientists began using its language throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s. Susanne Ussing read The Human Use of Human Beings and created a series of sensory art experiences dubbed cyberspaces. Doctor Who called their new half man half machine monsters cybermen in 1966. The Wall Street Journal discussed “cybertrons.” The Chilean government built a high tech computerized command center for their planned economy they called CyberSyn. Without an academic community to ground it, cybernetics drifted into buzzword territory and was referenced by anyone who wanted to invoke some vague notion of a future utopia. The fact that so many visions of that future involved computers or robotics and that so many of the early personalities around cybernetics had made major contributions to the development of computers helped effectively erase cybernetics’s politically unattractive past.

维纳书的流行和控制论的跨学科性质意味着艺术家和社会科学家在整个1960年代和1970年代开始使用它的语言。 Susanne Ussing阅读了《人类对人类的使用》，并创建了一系列被称为网络空间的感官艺术体验。 谁打电话给医生 1966年他们新的半人半机器怪物网络人。 《华尔街日报》讨论了“电子回旋加速器”。 智利政府为计划经济建立了一个高科技的计算机指挥中心，称其为Cyber​​Syn。 没有学术界的支持，控制论就陷入了流行语的领域，任何想援引一些关于未来乌托邦的模糊概念的人都引用了控制论。 如此众多的未来愿景涉及计算机或机器人技术，以及围绕控制论的许多早期人物为计算机的发展做出了重要贡献，这一事实有效地消除了控制论在政治上没有吸引力的过去。

All I knew about the word “cyberspace” when I coined it, was that it seemed like an effective buzzword. It seemed evocative and essentially meaningless. It was suggestive of something, but had no real semantic meaning, even for me, as I saw it emerge on the page— William Gibson

当我创造出“网络空间”这个词时，我所知道的只是它似乎是一个有效的流行词。 这似乎令人回味，而且基本上没有意义。 它暗示了某些东西，但对我来说也没有真正的语义含义，因为我看到它出现在页面上—威廉·吉布森

By the time the internet begun to break into consumer society, the futurism of the 1960s cyber was retro and nostalgic. It seemed to match the personalities of early hackers: a little bit esoteric, a little bit counter-cultural with idealistic communal-if-not-socialist leanings. The fact that it was also associated with computers made it the perfect slang for the digital world developing in the late 1980s and 1990s.

当互联网开始进入消费者社会时，1960年代网络的未来主义已经怀旧和怀旧。 这似乎与早期黑客的性格相符：有点深奥，有点反文化，带有理想主义的社区(如果不是社会主义的话)。 它也与计算机相关联的事实使它成为1980年代末和1990年代发展中的数字世界的完美语。

控制论的掠夺 (The Pillaging of Cybernetics)

Even without the personality conflicts, cybernetics struggled to develop a body of work firmly and completely attributed to pursuing cybernetics. Instead it was the bridge in which experts in one field would explore other fields. When a significant advancement was published, it became the seminal work of a sub-discipline of one of the host fields, not key work advancing cybernetics itself.

即使没有人格冲突，控制论仍在努力地将工作归因于追求控制论而牢固而完全地发展。 相反，它是一个领域的专家探索其他领域的桥梁。 当一项重大进展发表时，它成为了宿主领域之一的子学科的开创性工作，而不是推进控制论本身的关键工作。

Over time, cybernetics’s contributions were stripped away and reclassified as something else. Early work on feedback loops in cognition became AI. Models of the format of feedback loops became information theory. Work on feedback loops around production became part of economics. Work on mathematical representations of complex systems became system dynamics. Work on feedback loops in behavior moved over to sociology and psychology. Cybernetic theory practically founded anthropology and cognitive science. Recent work in human computer interaction can be seen as retracing much of Wiener’s original philosophical debates about the ramifications of cybernetics.

随着时间的流逝，控制论的贡献被剥夺并重新归类为其他东西。 关于认知反馈回路的早期工作成为AI。 反馈回路格式的模型成为信息论。 关于生产的反馈回路的工作已成为经济学的一部分。 复杂系统的数学表示法研究成为系统动力学。 行为反馈循环方面的工作已转移到社会学和心理学领域。 控制论理论实际上建立了人类学和认知科学。 人机交互方面的最新工作可以看作是追溯了维纳关于控制论后果的许多最初的哲学辩论。

As a philosophy about technology and framework with which to think about complex systems, cybernetics may be worth pulling out of the intellectual dust bin. Automated systems are taking root everywhere. The digitalizations of bureaucracies is calling on policy makers to shift from writing laws to designing control systems. Whereas cyberneticists in the 1930s and 1940s could only really write about feedback loops in hypothetical ways and speculate about their impacts, the average day of a modern software engineer is overwhelmed by them.

作为关于复杂系统的技术和框架的哲学，控制论可能值得从知识垃圾箱中抽出来。 自动化系统无处不在。 官僚机构的数字化正在呼吁决策者从制定法律转向设计控制系统。 尽管1930年代和1940年代的控制论专家只能以假设的方式真正写出反馈循环，并推测其影响，但现代软件工程师的平均工作量却使他们不知所措。

翻译自: https://medium.com/@bellmar/a-software-engineers-guide-to-cybernetics-d57c7def1453

软件工程师论云