Good Regulator
Encyclopedia
The Good Regulator is a theorem due to Roger C. Conant and W. Ross Ashby that is central to cybernetics
Cybernetics
Cybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first-order form...

. It is stated "Every Good Regulator of a system must be a model of that system".

Any regulator
Regulator (automatic control)
In automatic control, a regulator is a device which has the function of maintaining a designated characteristic. It performs the activity of managing or maintaining a range of values in a machine. The measurable property of a device is managed closely by specified conditions or an advance set...

 that is maximally successful and simple must be isomorphic
Isomorphism
In abstract algebra, an isomorphism is a mapping between objects that shows a relationship between two properties or operations.  If there exists an isomorphism between two structures, the two structures are said to be isomorphic.  In a certain sense, isomorphic structures are...

  with the system being regulated. This makes a model necessary. With regard to the brain, insofar as it is successful and efficient as a regulator for survival, it must proceed, in learning, by the formation of a model (or models) of its environment.

The theorem is general enough to apply to all regulating and self-regulating or homeostatic system
System
System is a set of interacting or interdependent components forming an integrated whole....

s.

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