Annotations on the article “Recent Discussions in Soviet Academic Circles on the Philosophical Problems of Cybernetics Have Been Very Lively” [1]
Reconciliatory Faction
Prudent Faction
(December 1963)


This is a subjective idealist, metaphysical theory that denies objective laws independent of human will. The objective law of uneven development determines that peace can be maintained under certain conditions, because neither of the opposing sides wishes to go to war. However, when new conditions arise and one of the two sides, independently of human will, comes to believe that war is unavoidable, it can no longer be controlled, and war breaks out.
Chuan


The article published in the sixty-third issue of the special supplement of “Internal Reference,” compiled and printed by the Xinhua News Agency on December 11, 1963, describes the situation of Soviet discussions on the philosophical problems of cybernetics since the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The article recounts the broad debate within Soviet academia regarding cybernetics, tracing its evolution from initial rejection to eventual acceptance. It also outlines the differing views expressed at the joint theoretical conference on the philosophical issues of cybernetics, held in June 1962 by the philosophical discussion groups of various institutes of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, concerning such topics as the definition of cybernetics, whether machines can think, the simulation and artificial creation of living organisms, cybernetic logic, and the relationship between cybernetics and society.


In June 1963, at a plenary session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mstislav Keldysh, President of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, declared:
“Cybernetics has influenced the development of worldviews; it represents an entire era in scientific knowledge, as well as in economic and cultural progress, and has had a profound impact on the nature of labor and the entire structure of human life.”
[2]
In this first passage, the words “Reconciliatory Faction” were written by Mao Zedong as a marginal note next to the sentence: “It is unconvincing to claim that machines can think; however, rather than setting machines in opposition to humans, we should instead devote more attention to the question of coexistence between humans and machines.” The words “Prudent Faction” were similarly annotated beside the statement: “The issue of machine imitation of thought still requires experimental research; unlike humans, machines lack the capacity for creative activity. In the future, cybernetics should focus on exploring questions of creativity.” This second passage contains Mao Zedong’s annotations on the views expressed by Burzhev, who argued that cybernetics should be used to address the problem of social adjustment, that cybernetics ought to play a role in safeguarding peace, and that peace is both controllable and should be controlled.