Heinz von Foerster
1911–2002 — second-order cybernetics; observer inside the system
Austrian-American scientist who developed second-order cybernetics — systems that observe themselves and include the observer.
Heinz von Foerster (1911–2002) was an Austrian-American scientist associated with the Biological Computer Laboratory and the development of second-order cybernetics — the study of observing systems, where the observer is part of the system under description and measurement changes what is measured.
Why he matters here
First-order cybernetics treats feedback loops as if the observer stands outside. Human organisations and socio-technical platforms do not — actors know they are measured and respond to metrics. That is the mechanism behind Goodhart’s Law, metric substitution, and the need for meta-loop control alongside closed-loop control.