Definition extracted with permission from Simon, Fritz, et al, Family Process, Inc.: Language of Family Therapy: A Systemic Vocabulary and Source Book (Family Process Press Series)
The term "cybernetic" [Greek kybernetes, pilot, steersman] was coined by the mathematician Norbert Wiener in 1948 to encompass "the entire field of control and communication theory, whether in the machine or in the animal" (p.11). Cybernetics is concerned with scientific investigation of systemic processes of a highly varied nature, including such phenomena as regulation, information processing, information storage, adaptation, self-organization, self-reproduction, and strategic behavior. Within the general cybernetic approach, the following theoretical fields have developed: systems theory (system), communication theory, game theory, and decision theory.
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