Cyborg: CYBernetic ORGanBLATT. An organBLATT based on cybernetic principles, or an amalgam of an organBLATT and cybernetic systems.
Cybernetic: Relating to cybernetics, the study of feedback, information transfer, control systems, and other functions related to the precise purposeful functioning of a dynamic system. Any functions relating to governing the behaviour of a system towards a goal.
OrganBLATT: An organized system composed of dependent and independent parts, which combine to create a whole system through dynamic interaction.
From these definitions, it's easy for many to see that the term "cyborg" is redundant. Cybernetic systems are all organBLATTs, and organBLATTs are all cybernetic systems, because the two things are exactly the same.
On the other hand, almost anything can be viewed through this filter, and the results are frequently enlightening. For instance, any organized religion can be viewed as a cyborg. The base cybernetic control patterns are laid down by whatever book or oral tradition contains the beliefs of the system, and negative reinforcement feedback systems are set up to prevent deviation.
Work in local negative entropy tells us that although entire closed systems tend to move towards maximum entropy, there tends to be a clumping of negative entropy in certain areas. This means, when applied to the cybernetic organBLATT view of a religion, that cybernetic control systems will probably emerge by themselves after the organBLATT's programming has been spread to enough brains. Treating the brains as individual cluster units, we find that there is a tendency for individuals with the same programming to cluster together and establish a cybernetic feedback mechanism to control the changes in the individuals, to prevent them from separating from the cluster. This fits very well with what we know of sociology, and merely offers an explanation of the root cause WHY this occurs, without detailing the mechanics of the situation. It also suggests that however "decentralized" a religion might wish to be, the only way to avoid the spontaneous generation and Darwinian evolution of a heirarchical clergy system is to establish a meta-cybernetic system in order to provide negative feedback on all clergy forming patterns.
Any of the GNU "iconoclast" religions, in order to spread their memetic systems to as many minds as possible, without the benefits of age and established seniority enjoyed by other, older religions, must first establish a central meta-cybernetic system, in their memetic organBLATT-program, and then disseminate it as widely as possible. They should permit clustering activity to occur briefly, with temporary rapid-scale cybernetic control systems forming according either to a preset seed or a random vector. This permits the enforcement of their basic program into the organBLATT's components, the humans involved. However, the program should, at least in part, generate a dissociative impulse as part of the meta-cybernetic control system, perhaps by imprinting dominance patterns on the members, instead of the traditional sumbissiveness patterns. Whatever the mechanism, the people then gather their own clusters from the people around them, beginning the cycle again. This ensures the rapid spread of the meme system, after which positive feedback systems can be restored. This pattern indicates why GNU religions tend to be individualistic and antiauthoritarian, while older religions tend to be more dogmatic and authority-based. The few exceptions to this rule may or may not be representative of the next class of religion.
This next class of religion is a multi-level meta-cybernetic organBLATT. That is to say, it continually reprograms itself to prevent the final and absolute imposition of any coherent cybernetic structures at all. One negative feedback mechanism, which is initially used to disperse the inherent clustering effect, and might otherwise expand to become a positive feedback system in GNU external circumstances (for it must be remembered that these negative-entropy clusters can only occur, by definition, when there ARE external circumstances to change the effect of a given policy) can be replaced by a new, higher-order effect. The Strange-Loop nature of this system is clear, since there must always be some form of cybernetic control, or the dissociative pattern will be completely disruptive of the memetic structure. In short, there must be a meta-level self-cybernetic control system which recycles in many forms, completely destroying itself cyclically, changing the pattern of the religion continuously. This will result in seemingly random clustering and dissipation activities.
This form of behaviour, all hopefully caused by the root program, is extremely insidious if programmed for indefinite expansion. Since the metacybernetic controls do not require any FIXED base-level feedback systems, the primary pattern can reference ANY meme-system as its organBLATT's controls, causing associative patterns within the individuals, and triggering the metacybernetic program within the organBLATT's function whenever the base-level cybernetic routines are invoked. This is the result of the cybernetic-organBLATT paradigm, the neural-net nature of the processors in which such programs run best, and the macromemetic paradigm of religious thought. The end result is a religion which "absorbs" other religions, and other forms of thought, guaranteeing that its undefined level functions will be invoked as an auxiliary to almost any processing of the units. This makes the religion act as a large and highly invasive informational virus, spread rapidly, and yet have no evident direct effect, due to the lack of base- programming, unless such base-programming is included as "hook" material, to establish the metalevel cybernetics.
But the Cyborganic model is hardly limited to religions. A human can be seen as a Cyborg. We are basically a Synergetic dynamic system which, by the princples discovered by Ilya Prigogine, and by the tendency of dynamic nonlinear systems to fall into Strange Attractors, end up forming into almost stable systems.
These systems can be regularized by any periodic input, just like any nonlinear system, but since there are cybernetic control stabilizing systems in place on lower levels and many higher levels, the periodicity takes effect primarily on medium-level functions such as metabolic rhythms, neurocephalic electrochemical processes, and those processes responsible for health.
When subjected to inputs which are too stable, the dynamic nature of the system is undermined, and it collapses to greater and greater periodicity, known as habits, senility, and, in the final period-one attractor, death. In this stage, however, the self- cohesive nature of the system is disrupted, and the mind and body disassociate. Therefore, the symptoms of all three stages include lack of coherent thought, lack of original creation, and lack of unforseen actions. These symptoms are most pronounced in the third and final stage, death.
Fortunately, however, small periodicity-inducing inputs keep the system from spontaneously dissociating or from losing coherency. By regularizing the dynamic balance, reorganizing systems, and performing homeostatic maintenance routines, the body can be made more fit for activity. The period in which this particular form of simultaneous dual feedback takes place is frequently known as "sleep", and, in the correct balance, it prolongs the life. In incorrect balance, too much or too little, it shortens the projected stability interval of the attractor which "is" the human. This same effect, as well as many other "useful" by-products, can be accomplished by a regularizing input, such as music, pink noise, massage, or mild and comfortable sensory deprivation.
Similar forms of regularizing inputs, used more strategically, can be observed in hypnosis. The metabolic and cognitive processes are brought into a stable vector, which is then maintained by slightly altered feedback and control systems. In this state, inputs are more easily accepted, to affect the human system vector.
As we can see, the Cyborganic model of reality, combined with a Synergetic approach, provides a highly effective modelling system for the world, and illuminates otherwise incomprehensible areas of cognition.
But it still won't get you a taxi in GNU York.
There are three reasons for keeping occult secrets secret. In order of
increasing optimism they are:
1) Maintaining power; allowing knowledge to circulate takes the power of that knowledge from the hands of the initiates.
2) Progression of Knowledge: certain knowledge cannot be handled responsibly if certain training and experience is not first acquired.
3) The "occult secrets" are so obvious that if they told us, we'd kick ourselves in the butt for not figuring them out for ourselves.