Kalamazoo College Henry Luce Professor of Complex Systems Péter Érdi will release a new book, Feedback: How to Destroy or Save the World, on October 15. The publication will share a non-technical and intellectual journey that analyzes how feedback control can lead down a narrow path that separates reasonable growth from existential risk.
Érdi said a forward in the book by Michael Arbib, a computational neuroscientist and pioneer of brain theory, shows how such reactions to feedback work by considering a couple who share a double bed and an electric blanket that has separate heating elements.
“Imagine if, by some happenstance, the controls get mixed,” the forward says. “Here, when each person thinks they are controlling their half of the blanket they are instead controlling the other. When one person is feeling cold, they use the control on their side of the bed to turn up the heat. But, unfortunately, it is the heat on the other side. Their companion gets too hot and reaches for their control only to making the bed even colder for the first person, who responds by turning up the heat on the other’s side even more.”
Arbib said even though such a case reflects positive feedback, it has a negative effect because it increases a problem at hand. Such an example can be extended to more interpersonal relationships as some might respond to criticism with soothing words while others get angry to destroy or save a relationship.
According to reviews, the book has applications for a variety of people across generations including young people growing up in a world where everything seems to be falling apart; people in their 30s and 40s who are thinking about how to live a fulfilling life; readers in their 50s and 60s, who are thinking back on life; and Baby Boomers reflecting on their past successes and failures.
Érdi was hired at K in 2002 when the College received a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. Since, he has received the Florence J. Lucasse Fellowship for Excellence in Scholarship, the highest award bestowed by K’s faculty, which honors the recipient’s contributions in creative work, research and publication.
Érdi has written dozens of publications, including two other books since 2019, Ranking: The Hidden Rules of the Social Game We All Play and Repair: When and How to Improve Broken Objects, Ourselves and Our Society, which have received international acclaim. He also was honored by five alumni from the Class of 2009 this year when they initiated the Interdisciplinary Fund for Complex Systems Studies in his name.
Feedback: How to Destroy or Save the World is available for preorder through Amazon.
