Arthur S. Iberall
- Soodak, H. and A.S. Iberall. Homeokinetics: A physical science for complex systems. Science, 201: 579, 1978.
- Iberall, A.S. and H. Soodak. Physical basis for complex systems--Some propositions relating levels of organization. Collective Phenomena ,3:9-24, 1978.
Arthur Iberall, HoET: Encyclopedia of Human Thermodynamics, Human Chemistry, and Human Physics, Genius: 140+ IQ certainly fits for Iberall
Yates on Iberall's Reynold's number
see Harry Soodak
[http://www.springerlink.com/content/?k=au%3a(Iberall) Springer Publications by Arthur S. Iberall
Iberall, Wilkenson and White, Foundations for Social & Biological Evolution
A. Iberall and D. Wilkinson. 1984. Human sociogeophysics — Phase I: Explaining the macroscopic patterns of man on earth. GeoJournal 8(2): 171-179
A. Iberall and D. Wilkinson. 1984. Human sociogeophysics — Phase II the difussion of human ethnicity by remixing. GeoJournal 9(4): 387-391.
A. Iberall and D. White. 1988. Evidence for a long term process scale for social change in modern man settled in place via agriculture and engaged in trade and war GeoJournal 17(3): 311-338.
Iberall, Wilkenson and White, Foundations for Social & Biological Evolution
Comments on Ibby by Gene Yates
Doug
Good question, of course. The answer may come out of the next round of discaussion among us. I'm working on it.
Ibby (with input from Llinas and McCulloch who, separately, influenced him strongly) had a few big ideas relevant to our topic:
1) That the reticular activating system was a mode switcher for the 20 (he said) behavioral modes humans had. (Mammals in general have about 10.) He named the modes in his usual graceless English, and I re-named them to make them comprehensible, and often lectured about them.
2) Cycles are (necessarily - for thermodynamic, balance- the -books requirements) the basic mode of temporal expression of the modes. That is, most of the modes are regularly recurrent, and a "personality" is defined largely by the set of transition probabilities among them. I extended this notion - but won't go into it now.
3) The present moment (i.e., "now") is a system update driven by sensory inputs.
What's up? Am I OK? etc etc. The present moment lasts about 7 seconds, and is
roughly the interval between spontaneous eye-blinks (if we are in repose and our
eyes aren't dry).
4) The brain is marginally stable/unstable. Joe Zbilut has expanded that notion formally in a difficult but profound book called: "From Instability to Intelligence: Complexity and Predictability in Nonlinear Mechanics (with Zak and Meyers, 1997 Springer). From the view of the marginal stabilty ( e.g., "The wink of a woman can start a war") Ibby developed what he thought was a "neurophysiological basis of war". In fact, when I was President of the Biomedical Engineering Society I appointed Ibby for the BMES highest award of the year and he gave a public lecture with that title, that I had published. I don't think he was at home with "perception/action issues, but, of course, he would pretend he was.
5) Finally, he made a list of "potentials" that condition all human actions. Many are physical (temperature, EMF radiations, gravity, pressures etc but, and here he was original - some are "value potentials". These shade off into your field. They are economics, and beliefs (i.e., religions). I could go on, but it's late and my taxes aren't quite estimated yet.
Ibby liked Turvey and respected his views. I can explain that later.
Ibby did not have a serious theory of consciousness as far as I know. And if he did, I would know.
Gene
