THE ERROR-CONTROLLED REGULATOR 12/23 



values and his strategy will be unchanged; but if dissatisfied (i.e. if 

 the payment falls below some critical value) the step-functions will 

 change value, and the loser, at the next play, will use a new strategy. 



A related subject is the theory of military codings and de-codings. 

 Shannon's Communication theory of secrecy systems has shown how 

 intimately related are these various subjects. Almost any advance 

 in our knowledge of one throws light on the others. 



More than this cannot be said at present, for the relationships 

 have yet to be explored and developed. It seems to be clear that 

 the theory of regulation (which includes many of the outstanding 

 problems of organisation in brain and society) and the theory of 

 games will have much to learn from each other. If the reader feels 

 that these studies are somewhat abstract and devoid of applications, 

 he should reflect on the fact that the theories of games and cyber- 

 netics are simply the foundations of the theory of How to get your 

 Own Way. Few subjects can be richer in applications than that! 



12/23. We are now at the end of the chapter, and the biologist 

 may feel somewhat dissatisfied, for this chapter has treated only of 

 systems that were sufficiently small and manageable to be under- 

 stood. What happens, he may ask, when regulation and control are 

 attempted in systems of biological size and complexity? What 

 happens, for instance, when regulation and control are attempted 

 in the brain or in a human society ? 



Discussion of this question will occupy the remaining chapters. 



243 



