Responsibilities of Competence - Understanding Understanding: Essays on Cybernetics and Cognition - page 196

In order to refute this theorem it is tempting to invoke Gödel's Proof of
the limits of the Entscheidungsproblem in systems that attempt to speak of
themselves. But Lars Löfgren and Gotthard Günther have shown that self-
explanation and self-reference are concepts that are untouched by Gödel's
arguments. In other words, a science of the brain in the above sense is, I
claim, indeed a legitimate science with a legitimate problem.
2. The Two-Brain Problem: Education
It is clear that the majority of our established educational efforts is directed
toward the trivialization of our children. I use the term “trivialization”
exactly as used in automata theory, where a trivial machine is characterized
by its fixed input-output relation, while in a non-trivial machine (Turing
machine) the output is determined by the input and its internal state. Since
our educational system is geared to generate predictable citizens, its aim is
to amputate the bothersome internal states which generate unpredictabil-
ity and novelty. This is most clearly demonstrated by our method of exam-
ination in which only questions are asked for which the answers are known
(or defined), and are to be memorized by the student. I shall call these ques-
tions “illegitimate questions”.
Would it not be fascinating to think of an educational system that de-
trivializes its students by teaching them to ask “legitimate questions”, that
is, questions for which the answers are unknown?
3. The Many-Brain Problem: Society
It is clear that our entire society suffers from a severe dysfunction. On
the level of the individual this is painfully felt by apathy, distrust, violence,
disconnectedness, powerlessness, alienation, and so on. I call this the
“participatory crisis”, for it excludes the individual from participating in
the social process. The society becomes the “system”, the “establish-
ment” or what have you, a depersonalized Kafkanesque ogre of its own
ill will.
It is not difficult to see that the essential cause for this dysfunction is the
absence of an adequate input for the individual to interact with society. The
so-called “communication channels”, the “mass media” are only one-way:
they talk, but nobody can talk back. The feedback loop is missing and,
hence, the system is out of control. What cybernetics could supply is, of
course, a universally accessible social input device.
4. The All-Brain Problem: Humanity
It is clear that the single most distressing characteristic of the global system
“mankind” is its demonstrated instability, and a fast approaching singular-