“At the heart of early cybernetics is the notion of error, which, as I like to point out, cybernetics was the first subject to accept rather than try to exclude. Handling error is the function of feedback. Error is a fact of cybernetics, something to manage, to live with and, ultimately, to try to benefit from. But how do we benefit from error? One way is in developing second order understandings that allow us not only to correct for a particular error, but to learn from it, so we may either become more accurate or discover new possibilities.”
Reference: Ranulph Glanville (2009), A (cybernetic) musing: Cybernetics and human knowing, The Black Boox VolIII 39 Steps, edition echoraum, Vienna, p. 224.
