THE WHOLENESS OF A CYBERNETICIAN

It is our impression that Gordon Pask's writings cover fundamentals fo r large parts of the widely expanding fields of Cybernetics and System s Theory. Thereby, and by his lecturing activities, he has become a un ique figure in maintaining a kind of unity of the field of Cybernetics , well in accord with Wiener's view (''control and communication in th e animal and the machine''; cf[26]). And that, with fresh ideas, somet imes very personal, sometimes very general, and always very interestin g. In this subjective review of a fragment of Pask's writings, notably within cybernetics, we will, in part, try to account for some of his earlier insights into how we judge the behaviour of an artefact (machi ne) in relation to that of a living organism (animal). And, partly, fo r his later-conceived conversation theory. Some problems revealed in t he latter theory, like how we-in-a-conversation can represent a real b ehaviour, may well connect back to Pask's earlier studies into the pro blem whether we can produce artefacts (including thought models) of ou r behaviours as living beings.