Macy conferences
Encyclopedia
The Macy Conferences were a set of meetings of scholars from various disciplines held in New York by the initiative of Warren McCulloch and the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation
from 1946 to 1953. The principal purpose of these series of conferences was to set the foundations for a general science of the workings of the human mind.
It was one of the first organized studies of interdisciplinarity
, spawning breakthroughs in systems theory
, cybernetics
, and what later became known as cognitive science
.
, motivated by Lawrence K. Frank and Frank Fremont-Smith
of the Macy Foundation. The participants were leading scientists from a wide range of fields. Casual recollections of several participants stress the communicative difficulties in the beginning, giving way to the gradual establishment of a common language powerful enough to communicate the intricacies of the various fields of expertise present.
The scientists participating in all or most of the conferences are known as the "core group." They include:
In addition to the core group several invited guests participated in the conferences. Amongst many others:
Some of the researchers present at the conferences later went on to do extensive government funded research on the psychological effects of LSD, and its potential as a tool for interrogation
and psychological manipulation
in such projects as the CIA's MKULTRA program.
1946, March (NYC)
1946, October (NYC)
1947, March (NYC)
1947, October (NYC)
1948, Spring (NYC)
1949, March (NYC)
1950, March (NYC)
1951, March (NYC)
1952, March (NYC)
1953, April (Princeton)
Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation
The Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation is a philanthropic foundation founded in 1930 by Kate Macy Ladd in honor of her father Josiah W. Macy, Jr. The Foundation became internationally known for the support of the Macy conferences starting late 1940s : a series of interdisciplinary meetings of scientists...
from 1946 to 1953. The principal purpose of these series of conferences was to set the foundations for a general science of the workings of the human mind.
It was one of the first organized studies of interdisciplinarity
Interdisciplinarity
Interdisciplinarity involves the combining of two or more academic fields into one single discipline. An interdisciplinary field crosses traditional boundaries between academic disciplines or schools of thought, as new needs and professions have emerged....
, spawning breakthroughs in systems theory
Systems theory
Systems theory is the transdisciplinary study of systems in general, with the goal of elucidating principles that can be applied to all types of systems at all nesting levels in all fields of research...
, 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...
, and what later became known as cognitive science
Cognitive science
Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary scientific study of mind and its processes. It examines what cognition is, what it does and how it works. It includes research on how information is processed , represented, and transformed in behaviour, nervous system or machine...
.
Overview
The Macy Conferences were organised by the Josiah Macy, Jr. FoundationJosiah Macy, Jr. Foundation
The Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation is a philanthropic foundation founded in 1930 by Kate Macy Ladd in honor of her father Josiah W. Macy, Jr. The Foundation became internationally known for the support of the Macy conferences starting late 1940s : a series of interdisciplinary meetings of scientists...
, motivated by Lawrence K. Frank and Frank Fremont-Smith
Frank Fremont-Smith
Frank Fremont-Smith was an American administrator, executive with the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, president of British General Rees's World Federation of Mental Health, known together with Lawrence K...
of the Macy Foundation. The participants were leading scientists from a wide range of fields. Casual recollections of several participants stress the communicative difficulties in the beginning, giving way to the gradual establishment of a common language powerful enough to communicate the intricacies of the various fields of expertise present.
The scientists participating in all or most of the conferences are known as the "core group." They include:
- William Ross AshbyWilliam Ross AshbyW. Ross Ashby was an English psychiatrist and a pioneer in cybernetics, the study of complex systems. His first name was not used: he was known as Ross Ashby....
; psychiatrist and a pioneer in cybernetics - Gregory BatesonGregory BatesonGregory Bateson was an English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. He had a natural ability to recognize order and pattern in the universe...
; anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician and cyberneticist - Julian BigelowJulian Bigelow-Life:Bigelow was born in 1913 and obtained a master's degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studying electrical engineering and mathematics...
; pioneering computer engineer - Heinz von FoersterHeinz von FoersterHeinz von Foerster was an Austrian American scientist combining physics and philosophy. Together with Warren McCulloch, Norbert Wiener, John von Neumann, Lawrence J. Fogel, and others, Heinz von Foerster was an architect of cybernetics.-Biography:Von Foerster was born in 1911 in Vienna, Austria,...
; biophysicist, scientist combining physics and philosophy and architect of cybernetics - Lawrence K. Frank; social scientist
- Ralph W. GerardRalph W. GerardRalph Waldo Gerard was an American neurophysiologist and behavioral scientist known for his wide-ranging work on the nervous system, nerve metabolism, psychopharmacology, and biological basis of schizophrenia.-Biography:...
; neurophysiologist and behavioral scientist known for his work on the nervous system, nerve metabolism, psychopharmacology, and biological basis of schizophrenia - Molly HarrowerMolly HarrowerMolly Harrower was a pioneering clinical psychologist who devised a Rorschach test for group therapy. She published a classic article concerning the psychology of Nazi war criminals as determined by the Rorschach...
; pioneering clinical psychologist - Lawrence Kubie; psychatrist
- Paul LazarsfeldPaul LazarsfeldPaul Felix Lazarsfeld was one of the major figures in 20th-century American sociology. The founder of Columbia University's Bureau of Applied Social Research, he exerted a tremendous influence over the techniques and the organization of social research...
; sociologist and founder of Columbia University's Bureau for Applied Social Research - Kurt LewinKurt LewinKurt Zadek Lewin was a German-American psychologist, known as one of the modern pioneers of social, organizational, and applied psychology....
; psychologist, often regarded as the founder of social psychology - Warren McCulloch (chair); psychatrist, neurophysiologist and cybernetician
- Margaret MeadMargaret MeadMargaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist, who was frequently a featured writer and speaker in the mass media throughout the 1960s and 1970s....
; cultural anthropologist - John von NeumannJohn von NeumannJohn von Neumann was a Hungarian-American mathematician and polymath who made major contributions to a vast number of fields, including set theory, functional analysis, quantum mechanics, ergodic theory, geometry, fluid dynamics, economics and game theory, computer science, numerical analysis,...
; one of the foremost mathematicians of the 20th century - Walter PittsWalter PittsWalter Harry Pitts, Jr. was a logician who worked in the field of cognitive psychology.He proposed landmark theoretical formulations of neural activity and emergent processes that influenced diverse fields such as cognitive sciences and psychology, philosophy, neurosciences, computer science,...
; logician and co-author of the paper that founded neural networksNeural NetworksNeural Networks is the official journal of the three oldest societies dedicated to research in neural networks: International Neural Network Society, European Neural Network Society and Japanese Neural Network Society, published by Elsevier... - Arturo RosenbluethArturo RosenbluethArturo Rosenblueth Stearns was a Mexican researcher, physician and physiologist, who is known as one of the pioneers of cybernetics.- Biography:...
; researcher, physician, physiologist and a pioneer of cybernetics - Leonard J. Savage; mathematician and statistician
- Norbert WienerNorbert WienerNorbert Wiener was an American mathematician.A famous child prodigy, Wiener later became an early researcher in stochastic and noise processes, contributing work relevant to electronic engineering, electronic communication, and control systems.Wiener is regarded as the originator of cybernetics, a...
; mathematician and founder of cybernetics
In addition to the core group several invited guests participated in the conferences. Amongst many others:
- Max DelbrückMax DelbrückMax Ludwig Henning Delbrück was a German-American biophysicist and Nobel laureate.-Biography:Delbrück was born in Berlin, German Empire...
; geneticist and biophysicist - Erik EriksonErik EriksonErik Erikson was a Danish-German-American developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst known for his theory on social development of human beings. He may be most famous for coining the phrase identity crisis. His son, Kai T...
; developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst known for his theory of social development - Claude Shannon; electronic engineer and mathematician, "the father of information theory"
- Talcott ParsonsTalcott ParsonsTalcott Parsons was an American sociologist who served on the faculty of Harvard University from 1927 to 1973....
; sociologist.
Some of the researchers present at the conferences later went on to do extensive government funded research on the psychological effects of LSD, and its potential as a tool for interrogation
Interrogation
Interrogation is interviewing as commonly employed by officers of the police, military, and Intelligence agencies with the goal of extracting a confession or obtaining information. Subjects of interrogation are often the suspects, victims, or witnesses of a crime...
and psychological manipulation
Psychological manipulation
Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. By advancing the interests of the manipulator, often at the other's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative,...
in such projects as the CIA's MKULTRA program.
Conference topics
This is a sampling of the topics discussed each year.1946, March (NYC)
- Self-regulating and teleological mechanisms
- Simulated neural networkNeural networkThe term neural network was traditionally used to refer to a network or circuit of biological neurons. The modern usage of the term often refers to artificial neural networks, which are composed of artificial neurons or nodes...
s emulating the calculus of propositional logic - AnthropologyAnthropologyAnthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
and how computerComputerA computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
s might learn how to learn - Object perception's feedbackFeedbackFeedback describes the situation when output from an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or occurrences of the same Feedback describes the situation when output from (or information about the result of) an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or...
mechanisms - Perceptual differences due to brain damageBrain damage"Brain damage" or "brain injury" is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors...
- Deriving ethicsEthicsEthics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
from science - Compulsive repetitive behavior
1946, October (NYC)
- Teleological mechanisms in society
- Concepts from Gestalt psychologyGestalt psychologyGestalt psychology or gestaltism is a theory of mind and brain of the Berlin School; the operational principle of gestalt psychology is that the brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-organizing tendencies...
- Tactile and chemical communications among ant soldieres
1947, March (NYC)
- Child psychology
1947, October (NYC)
- The field perspective on psychology
- Analog vs. digital approaches to psychological models
1948, Spring (NYC)
- Formation of "I" in language
- Formal modeling applied to chicken pecking order formation
1949, March (NYC)
- Are the number of neuronNeuronA neuron is an electrically excitable cell that processes and transmits information by electrical and chemical signaling. Chemical signaling occurs via synapses, specialized connections with other cells. Neurons connect to each other to form networks. Neurons are the core components of the nervous...
s and their connections sufficient to account for human capacities? - MemoryMemoryIn psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
- An appeal for collaboration between physics and psychology
1950, March (NYC)
- Analog vs. digital interpretations of the mind
- Language and Shannon's information theoryInformation theoryInformation theory is a branch of applied mathematics and electrical engineering involving the quantification of information. Information theory was developed by Claude E. Shannon to find fundamental limits on signal processing operations such as compressing data and on reliably storing and...
- Language, symbols and neurosisNeurosisNeurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving distress but neither delusions nor hallucinations, whereby behavior is not outside socially acceptable norms. It is also known as psychoneurosis or neurotic disorder, and thus those suffering from it are said to be neurotic...
- IntelligibilityIntelligibilityIn phonetics, Intelligibility is a measure of how comprehendible speech is, or the degree to which speech can be understood. Intelligibility is affected by spoken clarity, explicitness, lucidity, comprehensibility, perspicuity, and precision.-Noise levels:...
in speech communications - A formal analysis of semantic redundancy in printed English
1951, March (NYC)
- Information as semantic
- Can automatons engage in deductive logic?
- Decision theoryDecision theoryDecision theory in economics, psychology, philosophy, mathematics, and statistics is concerned with identifying the values, uncertainties and other issues relevant in a given decision, its rationality, and the resulting optimal decision...
- Small group dynamics and group communications
- The applicability of game theory to psychic motivations
- The type of language needed to analyze language
- Mere behavior vs. true communication
- Is psychiatry scientific?
- Can a mental event that creates a memory ever be unconscious?
1952, March (NYC)
- The relation of neurophysiological details to broad issues in philosophy and epistemology
- The relation of cyberneticsCyberneticsCybernetics 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...
at the microlevel to biochemical and cellular processes - The complexityComplexityIn general usage, complexity tends to be used to characterize something with many parts in intricate arrangement. The study of these complex linkages is the main goal of complex systems theory. In science there are at this time a number of approaches to characterizing complexity, many of which are...
of organisms as a function of information - Humor, communication, and paradox
- Do chess playing automatons need randomness to defeat humans?
- HomeostasisHomeostasisHomeostasis is the property of a system that regulates its internal environment and tends to maintain a stable, constant condition of properties like temperature or pH...
and learning
1953, April (Princeton)
- How neural mechanisms can recognize shapes and musical chords
- What consensus, if any, the Macy Conferences have arrived at
See also
- CyberneticsCyberneticsCybernetics 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...
- Complex systemsComplex systemsComplex systems present problems in mathematical modelling.The equations from which complex system models are developed generally derive from statistical physics, information theory and non-linear dynamics, and represent organized but unpredictable behaviors of systems of nature that are considered...
- Integrative learningIntegrative learningIntegrative Learning is a learning theory describing a movement toward integrated lessons helping students make connections across curricula. This higher education concept is distinct from the elementary and high school "integrated curriculum" movement....
- Second-order cyberneticsSecond-order cyberneticsSecond-order cybernetics, also known as the cybernetics of cybernetics, investigates the construction of models of cybernetic systems. It investigates cybernetics with awareness that the investigators are part of the system, and of the importance of self-referentiality, self-organizing, the...
Further reading
- 1949. Cybernetics: Transactions of the Sixth Conference. New York : Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation.
- 1950. Cybernetics: Transactions of the Seventh Conference. Edited by Heinz von Foerster, Margaret Mead and Hans Lukas Teuber. New York : Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation.
- 1952. Cybernetics: Transactions of the Eighth Conference. Edited by Heinz von Foerster, Margaret Mead and Hans Lukas Teuber. New York : Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation.
- 1953. Cybernetics: Transactions of the Ninth Conference. Edited by Heinz von Foerster, Margaret Mead and Hans Lukas Teuber. New York : Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation.
- 1955. Cybernetics: Transactions of the Tenth Conference. Edited by Heinz von Foerster, Margaret Mead and Hans Lukas Teuber. New York : Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation.
- 2003. Cybernetics - Kybernetik. The Macy-Conferences 1946-1953. Edited by Claus Pias. Zürich/Berlin : diaphanes.