Chapter 14 Cybernetics and Society Redux: The Necessity of Design Larry Richards Abstract Norbert Wiener warned us to avoid the potential application of cybernetics to the production of technologies of oppression – that is, we need to design structures and processes in which violence is not an alternative or, at least, is an alternative of last resort. This chapter presents cybernetics as a way of thinking about ways of thinking, making the way of thinking a choice. The cybernetic vocabulary of choice and autonomy provides a foundation for building a participative-dialogic approach to design (and society) that is distinct from the purposeful (goal-oriented) and hierarchical (reward-oriented) design approach of traditional engineering and management. In a participative-dialogic society, design becomes a necessity, not only to address the concerns expressed by Wiener, but also to satisfy the human need for participation in the decisions that affect our daily lives. 14.1 Introduction In 1950 (with a second edition in 1954), Norbert Wiener published his second book on cybernetics: The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics and Society [36]. Building on his book, Cybernetics, or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine, published in 1948 (with a second edition in 1961) [37] and now considered the originating source on modern cybernetics, Wiener warned about the potential applications of ideas in cybernetics – especially robotics and artificial intelligence embedded in automated processes – to the design and production of technologies of oppression. He expressed special concern about devices that could select their own targets based on programmed criteria and act on that selection with no human intervention, the development of which had commercial value and was of particular interest to the military, irrespective of the danger such devices posed for all of humanity. While Wiener refused to participate in the development Laurence D. Richards Indiana University East, Richmond, Indiana USA, e-mail: Laudrich@iue.edu 277