''Cybernetics—in the Service of Communism'' was the title of a

symposium In ancient Greece, the symposium ( grc-gre, συμπόσιον ''symposion'' or ''symposio'', from συμπίνειν ''sympinein'', "to drink together") was a part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was acc ...

and accompanying publication sponsored by

Aksel Berg Aksel Ivanovich Berg (russian: Аксель Иванович Берг; – 9 July 1979) was a Soviet scientist in radio-frequency engineering and Soviet Navy Admiral, Hero of Socialist Labour. He was a key figure in the introduction of cybernetic ...

, a prominent promoter of

cybernetics in the Soviet Union Cybernetics in the Soviet Union had its own particular characteristics, as the study of cybernetics came into contact with the dominant scientific ideologies of the Soviet Union and the nation's economic and political reforms: from the unmitiga ...

. He provided an eponymous introduction noted for its length and programmatic nature. The symposium was held in 1961, prior to the

22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (russian: XXII съезд КПСС) was held from 17 to 31 October 1961. In fourteen days of sessions (22 October was a day off), 4,413 delegates, in addition to delegates from 83 foreign ...

, where cybernetics was declared one of the "major tools of the creation of a communist society".

The response from the USA

An American

organizational theorist Organizational theory refers to the set of interrelated concepts that involve the sociological study of the structures and operations of formal social organizations. Organizational theory also attempts to explain how interrelated units of organiz ...

Donald G. Malcolm Donald G. Malcolm (March 26, 1919 - June 18, 2007)"Donald G. Malcolm, Obituary," ''Los Angeles Times.'' on July 4, 2007 was an American organizational theorist, professor and dean at Cal State L.A.'s College of Business and EconomicsTimes Staff and ...

, remarked: “If any country were to achieve a completely integrated and controlled economy in which ‘cybernetic’ principles were applied to achieve various goals, the Soviet Union would be ahead of the United States in reaching such a state”.Malcolm, D. G. Operations Research 11, no. 6 (1963): 1007-012. http://www.jstor.org/stable/167842. He also suggested that cybernetics “may be one of the weapons Khrushchev had in mind when he threatened to ‘bury’ the West”. As a result of such concerns the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

established a special unit to study the Soviet cybernetics.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cybernetics-in the Service of Communism Cybernetics Science and technology in the Soviet Union 1961 in the Soviet Union