Is shown by his essential variables, such as his blood-volume,
Remaining within normal limits, much as if the duel had not
Occurred. Information flows freely to the non-essential variables,
But the variety in the distinction “duel or no-duel” has been pre-
Vented from reaching the essential variables.
Through the remaining chapters we shall be considering this
Type of active defence, asking such questions as: what principles
Must govern it? What mechanisms can achieve it? And, what is to
Be done when the regulation is very difficult?
201
Fig. 10/6/1
There is no doubt that Model B is the better; and I decide this pre-
Cisely because its record gives me no information, as does A’s,
About what disturbances, of heat or cold, came to it. The thermom-
Eter and water in bath B have been unable, as it were, to see any-
Thing of the disturbances D.
The same argument will apply, with obvious modifications, to
The automatic pilot. If it is a good regulator the passengers will
Have a smooth flight whatever the gustiness outside. They will, in
Short, be prevented from knowing whether or not it is gusty out-
Side. Thus a good pilot acts as a barrier against the transmission
Of that information.
The same argument applies to an air-conditioner. If I live in an
Air-conditioned room, and can tell, by the hotness of the room,
That it is getting hot outside, then that conditioner is failing as a
Regulator. If it is really good, and the blinds are drawn, I shall be
Unable to form any idea of what the outside weather is like. The
Good conditioner blocks the flow inwards of information about
The weather.
The same thesis applies to the higher regulations achieved by
Such activities as hunting for food, and earning one’s daily bread.
Thus while the unskilled hunter or earner, in difficult times, will
Starve and will force his liver and tissues (the essential variables)
To extreme and perhaps unphysiological states, the skilled hunter
Or earner will go through the same difficult times with his liver
And tissues never taken to extremes. In other words, his skill as a
Regulator is shown by the fact, among others, that it prevents
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200
REQ U ISI TE V A RI ETY
Chapter
11
RE Q U IS I T E V A RI E T Y
In the previous chapter we considered regulation from the
Biological point of view, taking it as something sufficiently well
Understood. In this chapter we shall examine the process of regu-
Lation itself, with the aim of finding out exactly what is involved
And implied. In particular we shall develop ways of measuring the
Amount or degree of regulation achieved, and we shall show that
This amount has an upper limit.
The subject of regulation is very wide in its applications,
Covering as it does most of the activities in physiology, sociology,
Ecology, economics, and much of the activities in almost every
Branch of science and life. Further, the types of regulator that exist
Are almost bewildering in their variety. One way of treating the
Subject would be to deal seriatim with the various types, and chap-
Ter 12 will, in fact, indicate them. In this chapter, however, we
Shall be attempting to get at the core of the subject— to find what
Is common to all.
What is common to all regulators, however, is not, at first sight
Much like any particular form. We will therefore start anew in the
Next section, making no explicit reference to what has gone
Before. Only after the new subject has been sufficiently developed
Will we beam to consider any relation it may have to regulation.
Play and outcome. Let us therefore forget all about regula-
Tion and simply suppose that we are watching two players, R and
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