Forgetting / Cybernetics

This article aims to trace epistemological connections between cybernetics and German media theory by emphasizing the notion of forgetting. This notion is presented as a central condition for problematizing, first, the human-machine coupling pointed out by cybernetics and, second, the rise of the machines that has concerned German media theory for decades. To this end, the article draws a line between an early text by Friedrich Kittler and Heinz von Foerster’s work on memory; a connection that will also be discussed in the light of findings and statements by Moritz Hiller and Jan Müggenburg. Finally, this article will outline a (still hypothetical) way to problematize the techno-epistemological scope of Project Cybersyn through the lens of such a notion.