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Trails

Learning trails

The dictionary can be read entry by entry, but Marian Mazur's concepts are best understood in the order in which one grows out of another. Each trail leads through a dozen or so entries arranged so that each one makes use of the earlier ones, and every step comes with a definition translated from Mazur's Polish text and a reference to its source, together with a short note of our own on why the concept is needed. You can follow a trail from beginning to end or open the full dictionary entry at any step.

  1. From control to the autonomous system

    from ‘control’ to ‘homeostat’ · 14 steps

    cybernetics

    The trail begins with the simplest situation, in which one system influences another. Step by step it arrives at an object that directs itself and defends this ability, that is, at the autonomous system with its six organs. Mazur later bases his theory of the psyche and of character on this concept.

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    1. controlThe starting point of the whole theory: before asking who directs what, we have to name the very phenomenon of one system influencing another.
    2. controlling systemFrom the general phenomenon we single out the active side, from which the changes originate.
    3. controlled systemThe other side of the same relation is the system in which the changes take place; only the two roles together give the full picture.
    4. control pathInfluence is not transmitted without an intermediary, so a path is needed, and the definition allows movement along it in both directions, which will soon prove crucial.
    5. control loopWhen the path runs there and back, a closed loop is formed; this is where feedback enters the theory.
    6. receptorThe 1966 book already names the organs at the ends of the path; the one at the beginning receives the stimulus.
    7. effectorAt the opposite end stands the organ in which the reaction ends, so together the two mark the input and the output.
    8. autonomous systemThis marks a conceptual leap: an object that is not merely controlled at times but directs itself and defends this ability; the following steps introduce its organs.
    9. receptorsThe first organ provides an input for information from the environment: the same receptor as before, but now as part of a whole.
    10. effectorsSymmetrically, an output is needed, that is, the organs through which the system acts on its environment.
    11. correlatorBetween input and output something has to process and store the information; the whole theory of the psyche will later grow out of this organ.
    12. alimentatorsSelf-direction costs energy, so the system also needs organs through which it obtains that energy.
    13. accumulatorThe energy obtained is not used up at once: the organ that processes and stores it makes it possible to build up a reserve.
    14. homeostatThe last organ holds the whole together, because it sees to it that the system does not lose its influence on the environment; the trail on homeostasis starts from it.

  2. Feedback and homeostasis

    from ‘autonomous system’ to ‘relaxing’ · 13 steps

    cyberneticstheory of character

    Autonomy requires the system itself to correct the effects of its own actions. The trail shows how Mazur describes this self-regulation: from the organ that guards equilibrium, through the evaluation of reactions, to the exchange of influences between the homeostat and the correlator and between the homeostat and the accumulator. All of these are feedback loops within a single system.

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    1. autonomous systemHomeostasis makes sense only where there is something to maintain, and here it is the system's ability to direct itself.
    2. homeostatThis is the organ specialised in defending that ability; all the following steps describe what it works together with and how.
    3. functional equilibriumTo know what to defend, we have to name the safest state, the one lying furthest from the limits beyond which controllability is lost.
    4. favourable reactionWith a point of reference, actions can be evaluated: some bring the system closer to equilibrium, others take it further away.
    5. reflectionThe evaluation has to return to where information is processed, and this return path from the homeostat to the correlator is called reflection.
    6. strengthening reflectionWhen a reaction has turned out well, the feedback is positive and reinforces whatever brought about the improvement.
    7. weakening reflectionWhen a reaction has turned out badly, the feedback has an inhibitory effect; together, these two concepts describe regulation through the consequences of reactions.
    8. emotionThe loop also runs in the opposite direction, from the correlator to the homeostat, and it is precisely this flow that Mazur calls emotion.
    9. accumulatorThe homeostat watches over energy as well as information, so its next partner is the store of energy.
    10. loadIn one direction, this exchange runs from the energy reserves to the homeostat.
    11. tensionThe second direction is the reverse and closes another loop: this time it is the homeostat that affects the reserves.
    12. loadingBoth quantities can rise and fall, and an increase in load has a name of its own, which makes it possible to follow the changes in this loop.
    13. relaxingLikewise on the side of the homeostat: a fall in tension completes the set of terms describing changes in both directions of the loop.

  3. Information: from message to transinforming

    from ‘message’ to ‘transinforming’ · 12 steps

    qualitative information theory

    Mazur's qualitative information theory, set out in his 1970 book, builds the concept of information from the ground up, without appealing to meaning or quantity. The trail leads from a single physical state in a control path to a transmission in which the images contain exactly the same information as the originals. Each step adds one concept to the previous ones.

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    1. messageThe smallest building block of the theory is not content or a sign but a difference between physical states.
    2. transverse set of messagesWe need to be able to consider the messages present at one point on the path together, hence the cross-section of the path at a single point.
    3. originalThe cross-section at the output of the source gets a name of its own, because that is where the transmission of information begins.
    4. imageThe cross-section at the input of the receiver is the place that information reaches; all further comparisons set images against originals.
    5. transformationTo speak of a connection between two messages, we need a process that turns one into the other.
    6. association of messagesSuch a process is always considered for a pair of messages, and the pair becomes the basic unit of analysis.
    7. coding associationA pair taken along the path, from successive places on it, describes the passage of a signal through the path.
    8. codeThe transformation within such a pair is a code, which tells how a message changes on the way.
    9. informational associationA pair taken across the path, from the same place, makes it possible to compare messages standing side by side.
    10. informationNow comes the main definition: information is not a thing but a transformation linking the messages of one cross-section.
    11. informingWith code and information in hand, a transmission can be described as the passage of information from originals to images.
    12. transinformingA special case is faithful transmission: the images carry the same information as the originals, although the messages themselves may be entirely different.

  4. Pseudoinformation and disinformation

    from ‘informing’ to ‘disinformation’ · 13 steps

    qualitative information theory

    Not every transmission is faithful. Qualitative information theory distinguishes the cases in which images do not correspond to originals, and the definitions describe only the structure of coding chains, not anyone's intentions. The trail passes through two families of such cases: pseudoinforming and disinforming.

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    1. informingThe point of reference is the transmission of information from originals to images in general, without assuming that it is faithful.
    2. transinformingThe standard of correctness is faithful transmission, and every further concept on the trail describes some departure from this standard.
    3. pseudoinformingThe first family of disturbances arises when coding chains are not separate, because some messages belong to several chains at once.
    4. coding chainTo understand this departure, we have to go back to the concept on which it rests: a sequence of transformations along the path.
    5. simulative pseudoinformingWhen the original is shared and the images differ, the receiver receives distinctions that were not present at the source.
    6. dissimulative pseudoinformingIn the opposite case, different originals give a shared image, and a difference present at the source disappears on the way.
    7. confusive pseudoinformingBoth phenomena can occur at the same time, and Mazur further divides the resulting confusion into a single and a double variety.
    8. pseudoinformationThe result of such a transmission has a separate name, because what reaches the images is still information, only it does not correspond to the originals.
    9. disinformingThe second family has a different cause: some of the coding chains are incomplete, because an original or an image is missing from them.
    10. simulative disinformingA missing original means that something appears in the images that does not come from the source.
    11. dissimulative disinformingA missing image means that something present at the source never reaches the receiver at all.
    12. confusive disinformingThe combination of both gaps means that one thing is added and something else is erased.
    13. disinformationFinally the result itself: Mazur includes here both false information in the images and its absence, so the trail closes with the symmetry of surplus and loss.

  5. Correlator, registration, decisions

    from ‘correlator’ to ‘belated reflection’ · 14 steps

    cyberneticstheory of character

    The correlator is the organ in which an autonomous system processes and stores information. The trail explores its internal structure, that is, its elements, its energy and its flow paths, and then shows how a decision arises from the same quantities, including a rash decision or one that reflection catches up with too late.

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    1. correlatorWe enter the interior of the psyche: the organ in which data from the receptors and commands for the effectors meet.
    2. registratorThe first kind of element of the correlator records information, and Mazur deliberately does not call this memory, because for him the everyday word is too ambiguous.
    3. estimatorThe second kind carries out estimation, that is, on the basis of the recorded information it decides which effector is to act.
    4. correlational elementsA common name for both kinds makes it possible from now on to treat the correlator as a set of elements of a single type.
    5. correlational energyThe elements do not work in isolation, because energy flows between them, and this flow is the correlator's actual work.
    6. correlational powerThe flow has an intensity, and expressing the energy transferred per unit of time makes it possible to compare how intense mental processes are.
    7. correlational conductanceThe intensity depends on the paths along which the power flows, and these can conduct better or worse.
    8. linkageWhen one of the paths begins to conduct better, the elements become linked to each other; this is how the theory describes the formation of connections between items of mental content.
    9. linkage registrate / linkage correlateThe same linkage has two sides: a lasting one, recorded in the path, and a current one, which flows along it.
    10. effector potentialFrom the internal paths we move on to the output, where the correlator passes to the effectors a potential that can trigger action, though it need not.
    11. decision potentialAction starts only once a threshold is exceeded, so this concept introduces discontinuity into the theory: a reaction or none.
    12. decisionA decision is therefore an event rather than a long deliberation: it is the moment at which the threshold is exceeded.
    13. rash decisionThe threshold may be exceeded in effectors whose reaction is by no means the best, and the theory names this error explicitly.
    14. belated reflectionThe last step links decisions with the homeostat, whose evaluation may arrive only after the decision and by then it cannot stop the reaction.

  6. Character parameters: dynamism, breadth, level

    from ‘control properties’ to ‘character square’ · 13 steps

    theory of character

    In the cybernetic theory of character, character is not a list of descriptive traits but a set of properties that can be measured and plotted on a diagram. The trail shows where these parameters come from and how three of them, namely dynamism, breadth and level, combine into a single picture of character.

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    1. control propertiesThe theory begins by narrowing its scope: of all the properties of a system, only those that take part in directing it count.
    2. characterFrom these properties the lasting ones are selected, and it is they, not passing moods, that make up character.
    3. rigid propertiesThe word ‘rigid’ has a precise meaning here and is worth checking, because what belongs to character and what does not depends on it.
    4. character parametersSince these properties are lasting, they can be treated as constant parameters and measured, and character becomes a matter of calculation.
    5. character dynamismThe first parameter comes from the energetics of the system and compares the rate of expansion with the rate of ageing.
    6. toleranceA person's dynamism is not a single number but a range, and the width of this range is measured by tolerance.
    7. impassable dynamismBeyond the limits of the range there is also an ultimate barrier, which the system will not cross even at the cost of ceasing to exist.
    8. susceptibilityThe distance between the range and this barrier is susceptibility: a measure of how far beyond the usual limits a person can still accept stimuli.
    9. character breadthTolerance and susceptibility added together give the second parameter, breadth.
    10. stimulus acceptanceThis same region has practical significance: it determines which stimuli a person can respond to with a decision at all.
    11. character diagramNow the parameters can be shown together in a single diagram: dynamism, breadth and a third one not yet discussed.
    12. character levelThe third parameter is level, calculated on an entirely different basis: the structure of the correlator rather than its energetics.
    13. character squareA particular shape of the diagram closes the trail and shows that character can be represented geometrically.

  7. Character classes: from exodynamism to endodynamism

    from ‘quality of material’ to ‘character delay’ · 14 steps

    cyberneticstheory of character

    The best-known result of the theory of character, the division of people into classes, grows out of a comparison of two processes: the ageing of the material and its expansion. The trail leads from these processes to the quantity called dynamism, and then through the successive classes, from positive to negative dynamism. Finally, it shows that a person's class changes over the course of life.

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    1. quality of materialThe starting point is physical: the material of the system has a quality, determined by the energy concentrated in it.
    2. ageingThis quality declines over time, and with it the power available to the system decreases.
    3. ageing coefficientThe rate of this decline gets a numerical measure, without which nothing could be compared.
    4. expansion coefficientThe counterweight is the growth in the quantity of material, measured by a coefficient of its own and set against the previous one.
    5. dynamism coefficientThe quotient of the two rates is a single number, greater than one when expansion outpaces ageing and less than one when the reverse is true.
    6. character dynamismOnce its logarithm is taken, this quotient becomes dynamism, which may be positive, zero or negative, and the class depends on its sign.
    7. classes of character dynamismThe continuous scale of dynamism is divided into ranges, and each range is one character class.
    8. exodynamismThe first class: expansion clearly prevails over ageing and dynamism is strongly positive; according to Mazur, children have this kind of character.
    9. exostatismIn the neighbouring class, dynamism is still positive, but only moderately so.
    10. statismThe middle of the scale: expansion and ageing balance each other, and dynamism is zero.
    11. endostatismPast the middle, dynamism changes sign, and the first class on this side has moderately negative dynamism.
    12. endodynamismAt the other end, ageing clearly prevails over expansion; every person's dynamism shifts towards this side over time, although not everyone reaches it.
    13. character accelerationA class is not fixed once and for all, because dynamism changes with age, and in some people the negative phase begins early and takes up a larger part of life.
    14. character delayIn others the proportions are reversed and the positive phase fills most of life, so a person's class must always be spoken of in relation to their age.

  8. From character to social behaviour

    from ‘character’ to ‘love’ · 14 steps

    theory of character

    Character reveals itself only in contact with other people. The trail shows how Mazur describes these contacts using only his own concepts: assessing another person's character and the illusions involved, the matching of partners, and finally bonds with people in the same and opposite character classes.

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    1. characterThe starting point is the character of a single person, a set of lasting properties that will shortly come into contact with those of others.
    2. apparent characterIn contact with others we do not see character directly, only what the available information shows, and this may be false.
    3. characterological illusionMistaking appearance for reality gets a name of its own, and the theory distinguishes its varieties according to who brought it about.
    4. characterological conformisationOne of the varieties is brought about by the surroundings, under whose influence a person seems to be someone other than they are.
    5. characterological configurationFrom assessment we move on to relations: people linked with one another are considered together, as an arrangement of characters.
    6. character matchingIn such an arrangement what matters is whether the partners' characters suit each other, and the first measure is how closely their tolerances match.
    7. toleranceTo assess this, we need to know what tolerance is, namely the width of a given person's range of dynamism.
    8. character dynamismThis range is a range of dynamism, so the trail goes back for a moment to the basic parameter of character.
    9. classes of character dynamismDynamism divides people into classes, and setting the classes of the two partners side by side makes it possible to name the kinds of bond.
    10. solidarityThe first bond is goodwill towards the type of people who belong to one's own class.
    11. sympathyTo understand this bond, we need a more general concept: a tendency towards others gaining more than oneself.
    12. affectionThe extreme form of this inclination is pure giving, and when directed towards one particular person, it leads to the concepts covered in the final two steps.
    13. friendshipThe last two bonds differ only in the partner's class, and here it is the same class as one's own.
    14. loveWhen the partner belongs to the opposite class, the same construction yields love, so the trail ends with a concept derived entirely from the parameters of character.