The Cybernetic Prediction

This chapter explores the often overlooked area of cybernetic prediction, a form of prediction conceptualized by the ‘father’ of cybernetics, the US mathematician Norbert Wiener, during the 1940s–1960s. Although critical interest in the cultural and political histories of cybernetics is growing, the notion of scientific prediction, which is central to cybernetic control, is insufficiently examined. This chapter argues that this form of prediction is not a mere technical cog in the epistemology of the future, but a complex concept. It demonstrates that Wiener’s epistemology of cybernetic prediction emphasizes the role of uncertainty and does not replace materiality with information. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the useful lessons offered by Wiener’s concept of cybernetic prediction for future-oriented practices within the broader fields of contemporary science, governance, and politics.