The Next Macy Conference: A New Synthesis

Andrew Pickering proposed reviving the spirit of the original Macy Conferences by reconceiving cybernetics as a unified paradigm for the 21st century. He argued for an ontological lens that understands the world as "endlessly emergent," where the cybernetic brain functions as a "performative rather than cognitive organ." This reframing shifts the emphasis from representation and control to participation and adaptation.

Pickering outlined practical applications of this renewed cybernetic vision in environmental management, interactive art, and other domains where complexity defies reductive approaches. He suggested that cybernetics offers "more graceful ways" of engaging with the unpredictable dynamics of natural and social systems, presenting an alternative to the deterministic frameworks that dominate contemporary science and engineering.