Francis Paul Heylighen (born 27 September 1960) is a Belgian

cyberneticist A cyberneticist or a cybernetician is a person who practices cybernetics. Heinz von Foerster once told Stuart Umpleby that Norbert Wiener preferred the term "cybernetician" rather than "cyberneticist", perhaps because Wiener was a mathematician ...

investigating the

emergence In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence occurs when an entity is observed to have properties its parts do not have on their own, properties or behaviors that emerge only when the parts interact in a wider whole. Emergence ...

and evolution of intelligent organization. He presently works as a research professor at the

Vrije Universiteit Brussel The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) () is a Dutch and English-speaking research university located in Brussels, Belgium.The Vrije Universiteit Brussel is one of the five universities officially recognised by the Flemish Community, Flemish gov ...

(the Dutch-speaking Free University of Brussels), where he directs the transdisciplinary research group on "Evolution, Complexity and Cognition" and the Global Brain Institute. He is best known for his work on the Principia Cybernetica Project, his model of the Internet as a

global brain The global brain is a neuroscience-inspired and futurological vision of the planetary information and communications technology network that interconnects all humans and their technological artifacts. As this network stores ever more information, t ...

, and his contributions to the theories of

memetics Memetics is a study of information and culture. While memetics originated as an analogy with Darwinian evolution, digital communication, media, and sociology scholars have also adopted the term "memetics" to describe an established empirical study ...

and

self-organization Self-organization, also called spontaneous order in the social sciences, is a process where some form of overall order arises from local interactions between parts of an initially disordered system. The process can be spontaneous when suffi ...

. He is also known, albeit to a lesser extent, for his work on gifted people and their problems.

Biography

Francis Heylighen was born on September 27, 1960 in

Vilvoorde, Belgium Vilvoorde (, french: Vilvorde ; historically known as ''Filford'' in English) is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the city of Vilvoorde proper with its two outlying quarters of Koningsl ...

. He received his high school education from the "Koninklijk Atheneum Pitzemburg" in

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

, in the section Latin-Mathematics. He received his MSc in mathematical

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

in 1982 from the

(VUB), where he also received his PhD Summa cum Laude in Sciences in 1987
Francis Heylighen's
Curriculum Vitae, 2005. for his thesis, published in 1990, as "Representation and Change. A Metarepresentational Framework for the Foundations of Physical and Cognitive Science." In 1983 he started working as a researcher for the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research (

NFWO The National Fund for Scientific Research (NFSR) (Dutch: ''Nationaal Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek'' (NFWO), French: ''Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique'' (FNRS)) was once a government institution in Belgium for supporting scient ...

). In 1994 he became a tenured researcher at the NFWO and in 2001 a research professor at the VUB. Since 1995 he has been affiliated with the VUB's

Center Leo Apostel The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) () is a Dutch and English-speaking research university located in Brussels, Belgium.The Vrije Universiteit Brussel is one of the five universities officially recognised by the Flemish government. listof all ...

for interdisciplinary studies. In 2004 he created the ECCO research group which he presently directs. Thanks to a grant from a private sponsor, in 2012 he additionally founded the Global Brain Institute at the

, becoming its first director. In 1989

Valentin Turchin Valentin Fyodorovich Turchin (russian: Валенти́н Фёдорович Турчи́н, 14 February 1931 in Podolsk – 7 April 2010 in Oakland, New Jersey) was a Soviet and American physicist, cybernetician, and computer scientist. He d ...

and

Cliff Joslyn Cliff Joslyn (born 1963) is an American mathematician, cognitive scientist, and cybernetician. He is currently the Chief Knowledge Scientist and Team Lead for Mathematics of Data Science at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Seattle, Was ...

founded the Principia Cybernetica Project, and Heylighen joined a year later. In 1993 he created the project's encyclopedic site, one of the first complex websites in the world. In 1996, Heylighen founded the "Global Brain Group", an international discussion forum that provides a working platform for most of the scientists who have worked on the concept of emergent Internet intelligence. Heylighen was also one of the founders and former editor of the Journal of Memetics which ceased publication in 2008. Heylighen is a Fellow of the

World Academy of Art and Science The World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS), founded in 1960, is an international non-governmental scientific organization and global network of more than 800 scientists, artists, and scholars in more than 90 countries. It serves as a forum for s ...

, and a member of the Global Agenda Council on Complex Systems of the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

. His biography has been listed since 2002 in

Marquis Who's Who Marquis Who's Who ( or ) is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in America'', ''Who's Who of American Wome ...

in the world. In 2015, he received an "Outstanding Technology Contribution Award" from the Web Intelligence Consortium, for his research on the Global Brain.

Work

His research focuses on the

and

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

, intelligent organization. Applications include the

origin of life In biology, abiogenesis (from a- 'not' + Greek bios 'life' + genesis 'origin') or the origin of life is the natural process by which life has arisen from non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds. The prevailing scientific hypothes ...

, the development of multicellular organisms, knowledge, culture, and societies, and the impact of information and communication technologies on present and future social evolution. Heylighen's scientific work covers an extremely wide range of subjects, exemplifying his intellectual curiosity and fundamentally transdisciplinary way of thinking. In addition to the topics mentioned above, his publications cover topics such as the foundations of

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, ...

, the structure of

space-time In physics, spacetime is a mathematical model that combines the three-dimensional space, three dimensions of space and one dimension of time into a single four-dimensional manifold. Minkowski diagram, Spacetime diagrams can be used to visualize S ...

hypermedia Hypermedia, an extension of the term hypertext, is a nonlinear medium of information that includes graphics, audio, video, plain text and hyperlinks. This designation contrasts with the broader term ''multimedia'', which may include non-interac ...

interfaces, the psychology of

self-actualization Self-actualization, in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, is the highest level of psychological development, where personal potential is fully realized after basic bodily and ego needs have been fulfilled. Self-actualization was coined by the organism ...

and

happiness Happiness, in the context of Mental health, mental or emotional states, is positive or Pleasure, pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Other forms include life satisfaction, well-being, subjective well-being, flourishin ...

, the

market mechanism In economics, the market mechanism is a mechanism by which the use of money exchanged by buyers and sellers with an open and understood system of value and time trade-offs in a market tends to optimize distribution of goods and services in at ...

, formality and contextuality in language,

causality Causality (also referred to as causation, or cause and effect) is influence by which one event, process, state, or object (''a'' ''cause'') contributes to the production of another event, process, state, or object (an ''effect'') where the cau ...

, the measurement of

social progress Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension wi ...

, the mechanism of

stigmergy Stigmergy ( ) is a mechanism of indirect coordination, through the environment, between agents or actions. The principle is that the trace left in the environment by an individual action stimulates the performance of a succeeding action by the sam ...

and its application to the web.

Basic ideas

This broad variety of work is held together by two basic principles. The relational principle notes that phenomena do not exist on their own, but only in relation (connection or distinction) to other phenomena. They thus only make sense as part of an encompassing network or system. The evolutionary principle notes that variation through (re)combination of parts and

natural selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Charle ...

of the fitter combinations results in ever more complex and

adaptive system An adaptive system is a set of interacting or interdependent entities, real or abstract, forming an integrated whole that together are able to respond to environmental changes or changes in the interacting parts, in a way analogous to either conti ...

s. This principle is a direct application of

Universal Darwinism Universal Darwinism, also known as generalized Darwinism, universal selection theory, or Darwinian metaphysics, is a variety of approaches that extend the theory of Darwinism beyond its original domain of biological evolution on Earth. Universal ...

, the idea that Darwinian mechanisms can be extended to virtually all disciplines and problem domains. The two principles come together in Heylighen's concept of a distinction dynamics. In his analysis, classical scientific methodology is based on given, unchanging distinctions between elements or states. Therefore, it is intrinsically unable to model creative change. But the evolutionary principle makes distinctions dynamic, explaining the creation and destruction of relations, distinctions and connections, and thus helping us to understand how and why complex organization emerges. Moreover, any system must be adapted to its environment, which implies that it is able to react adequately to changes in that environment. This is the origin of mind or intelligence, as the system should be able to select the right actions for the given conditions. These "condition-action" relations are the basis of knowledge. As systems evolve, their adaptiveness tends to increase, and therefore also their knowledge or intelligence. Thus, the general trend of evolution is

, or a spontaneous increase in intelligent organization.

Principia Cybernetica

Together with

and the late

, Heylighen is a founding editor of the

Principia Cybernetica Principia Cybernetica is an international cooperation of scientists in the field of cybernetics and systems science, especially known for their website, Principia Cybernetica. They have dedicated their organization to what they call "a computer-sup ...

Project, which is devoted to the collaborative development of an evolutionary-systemic

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

. He created its website, the Principia Cybernetica Web, in 1993, as one of the first complex webs in the world. It is still viewed as one of the most important sites on cybernetics,

systems theory Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or human-made. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its structu ...

and related approaches.

The Global Brain

In 1996, Heylighen founded the "Global Brain Group", an international discussion forum that groups most of the scientists who have worked on the concept of emergent Internet intelligence. Together with his PhD student

Johan Bollen Johan Lambert Trudo Maria Bollen (born 1971) is a scientist investigating complex systems and networks, the relation between social media and a variety of socio-economic phenomena such as the financial markets, public health, and social well-bein ...

, Heylighen was the first to propose algorithms that could turn the

world-wide web The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet. Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web s ...

into a

self-organizing Self-organization, also called spontaneous order in the social sciences, is a process where some form of overall order arises from local interactions between parts of an initially disordered system. The process can be spontaneous when suff ...

, learning network that exhibits

collective intelligence Collective intelligence (CI) is shared or group intelligence (GI) that emerges from the collaboration, collective efforts, and competition of many individuals and appears in consensus decision making. The term appears in sociobiology, politic ...

, i.e. a

Global brain The global brain is a neuroscience-inspired and futurological vision of the planetary information and communications technology network that interconnects all humans and their technological artifacts. As this network stores ever more information, t ...

. In the 2007 article "The Global Superorganism: an evolutionary-cybernetic model of the emerging network society" Heylighen gave a detailed exposition of the superorganism/global brain view of society, and an examination of the underlying evolutionary mechanisms, with applications to the ongoing and future developments in a globalizing world. Presently, he is developing a detailed mathematical and simulation model of the global brain, together with his collaborators in the Global Brain Institute.

Publications

Heylighen has published over 100 papers and a book.Francis Heylighen
Google Scholar Profile A selection: * 2016
Stigmergy as a universal coordination mechanism I: Definition and components
Cognitive Systems Research, 38, 4–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsys.2015.12.002 * 2015
Return to Eden? Promises and Perils on the Road to a Global Superintelligence
In B. Goertzel & T. Goertzel (Eds.), The End of the Beginning: Life, Society and Economy on the Brink of the Singularity. Humanity+ Press. * 2013
Self-organization in Communicating Groups: the emergence of coordination, shared references and collective intelligence
In A. Massip-Bonet & A. Bastardas-Boada (Eds.), Complexity perspectives on language, communication, and society, (pp. 117–150). Springer. * 2008
Cultural evolution and memetics
Encyclopedia of Complexity and System Science, B. Meyers, ed.: Springer * 2007
The Global Superorganism: an evolutionary-cybernetic model of the emerging network society
In: ''Social Evolution & History''. Vol 6 No. 1, p. 58-119 * . * 2007
Characteristics and Problems of the Gifted: neural propagation depth and flow motivation as a model of intelligence and creativity
* 2001
The science of self-organization and adaptivity
The Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems 5 (3), 253-280 * 2001
Cybernetics and second order cybernetics
with C Joslyn. Encyclopedia of physical science & technology 4, 155-170 * 1999
Collective Intelligence and its Implementation on the Web: algorithms to develop a collective mental map
Computational & Mathematical Organization Theory 5 (3), 253-280 * 1999
The growth of structural and functional complexity during evolution
The evolution of complexity, 17-44 * 1992
A cognitive-systemic reconstruction of Maslow's theory of self-actualization
Behavioral Science 37 (1), 39-58

References

External links

Homepage * http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/ Principia Cybernetica webpage {{DEFAULTSORT:Heylighen, Francis 1960 births Living people Belgian systems scientists Complex systems scientists Cyberneticists Superorganisms People from Vilvoorde