Abstract
The cybernetic theory of regulation is applied to a characterization of evolution, with emphasis on an interpretation of the directional aspects of evolutionary processes. In the suggested context, evolution appears as a general type of stability, and a perception of the world as a hierarchy of structures differentiated by discontinuities and characterized by an increasing order of complexity and organization, obtains a specific functional meaning. Such a hierarchy can be regarded as a stratified organization of controllers interacting such that across its levels, regulation is amplified.