Abstract
Are you the same person you were ten years ago? At the level of yourself as a complete organism you would certainly say you were. At the cellular level however you are probably not since virtually every cell in your body has renewed itself over this period. So as a system your component parts have changed but as a whole you have maintained identity and remained viable. This process of ensuring the identity and viability of organisms is exercised through many layers of control.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Arrabales, R., A. Ledezma, et al. (2010). ConsScale: A pragmatic scale for measuring the level of consciousness in artificial agents. Journal of Consciousness Studies 17(3/4): 131–164.
Dennett, D. C. (1996). Kinds of Minds: towards an understanding of consciousness. Weidenfield and Nicholson, London.
Dick, P. K. (1978). Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Gollancz, New York.
Dretske, F. I. (1981). Knowledge and the Flow of Information. Blackwell, Oxford.
Maturana, H. R. and F. J. Varela (1987). The Tree of Knowledge: the biological roots of human understanding. Shambhala, Boston, Mass.
Rose, J. and J. G. Gamble, Eds. (1994). Human Walking. Baltimore, Williams and Wilkins.
Ryave, A. L. and J. N. Schenkein (1974). Notes on the art of walking. Ethnomethodology: selected readings. R. Turner. Harmondsworth, Middx, England, Penguin.
Stonier, T. (1994). Information and the Internal Structure of the Universe: an exploration into information physics. Springer Verlag, Berlin.
Stonier, T. (1997). Information and Meaning: an evolutionary perspective. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Tomasello, M. and M. Carpenter (2007). Shared intentionality. Developmental Science 10(1): 121–125.
Tomasello, M., M. Carpenter, et al. (2005). Understanding and sharing intentions: the origins of cultural cognition. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 28: 675–735.
Vygotsky, L. (1986). Thought and Language. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass. Wiener, N. (1948). Cybernetics. Wiley, New York.
Wiener, N. (1950). The Human Use of Human Beings: cybernetics and society. Discuss books, Boston, Mass.
Wilson, B. (1990). Systems: concepts, methodologies and applications. John Wiley, Chichester, UK.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2011 Paul Beynon-Davies
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Beynon-Davies, P. (2011). Control: Remaining viable. In: Significance. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230295025_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230295025_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-32470-5
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-29502-5
eBook Packages: Palgrave Business & Management CollectionBusiness and Management (R0)