Abstract
Ashby's Law of Requisite Variety demands the insertion of a variety attenuator in any homeostatic system to regulate the relationship between the high variety environment and the low variety monitor. We argue that, in the system which is constituted by man and his environment, this function is performed by myth, i.e., that myth is a variety attenuator. The nature of the concept of myth is explored, and a relationship traced between the functions of classical myth and contemporary modes of understanding. Some implications follow, in particular, that serious dysfunctions inevitably occur as a result of overattenuation where the environmental variety increases at a greater rate than man's ability to understand it, as in the present technological age.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ABERCROMBIE, N.
,
HILL, S.
,
TURNER, B. S.
The dominant ideology thesis . London : George Allen & Unwin , 1980 .
2.
ARENSBERG, C. M.
The Irish countryman . Gloucester, Massachusetts : Peter Smith , 1959 .
3.
ASHBY, W. R.
An introduction to cybernetics . London : Methuen , 1964 .
4.
ASHBY, W. R.
Analysis of the system to be modelled . In
R. M. Stodgill
(Ed.), The process of model-building in the behavioural sciences . Columbus, Ohio : Ohio State University Press , 1970 .
5.
BAILEY, F. G.
The peasant view of the bad life . In
T. Shanin
(Ed.), Peasants and peasant societies: Selected readings . Harmondsworth : Penguin , 1971 .
6.
BARTHES, R.
Mythologies . London : Jonathan Cape , 1972 (selected and translated by A. Lavers).
7.
BATESON, G.
Steps to an ecology of mind . London : Paladin , 1973 .
8.
BEER, S.
Designing freedom . London : John Wiley , 1974 .
9.
BEER, S.
Platform for change . London : John Wiley , 1975 .
10.
BEER, S.
The heart of the enterprise . Chichester : John Wiley , 1979 .
11.
BEER, S.
Brain of the firm (2nd edition ). Chichester : John Wiley , 1981 .
12.
BERGER, J.
, &
MOHR, J.
A seventh man . London : Writers & Readers , 1982 .
13.
BOHM, D.
Wholeness and the implicate order . London : Ark Paperbacks , 1983 .
14.
BROWN, N. O.
Life against death . Middletown, Connecticut : Wesleyan University Press , 1970 .
15.
BRUNER, J.
On knowing . Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press , 1972 .
16.
CHASE, R.
Quest for myth . Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press , 1949 .
17.
COHEN, A. P.
The management of myths . Manchester : Manchester University Press , 1975 .
18.
COHEN, P. S.
Theories of myth . Man , 1969 , 4 (3 ).
19.
COOPER, R.
A note on the social structure of motive. Department of Behaviour in Organisations , University of Lancaster , 1982 .
20.
COOPER, R.
Information, communication and organisation . Paper presented at Standing Conference on Organisational Symbolism , Groningen , 1983 .
21.
CROSSLEY-HOLLAND, K.
The Norse myths . Harmondsworth : Penguin , 1980 .
22.
EASTON, D.
A framework for political analysis . Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey : Prentice Hall , 1965 .
23.
ELIADE, M.
Myth and reality . London : George Allen & Unwin , 1964 .
24.
ELLUL, J.
The technological society . New York : Alfred A. Knopf , 1964 (translated by J. Wilkinson).
25.
EVANS-PRITCHARD, E. E.
Witchcraft, oracles and magic among the Azande . Oxford : Clarendon Press , 1937 .
26.
FEYERABEND, P.
Against method . London : Verso , 1978 .
27.
FREUD, S.
Totem and taboo . London : Routledge & Kegan Paul , 1960 (translated by J. Strachey).
28.
FREUD, S.
The future of an illusion . London : Hogarth Press , 1978 .
29.
LEACH, E.
The legitimacy of Soloman . European Journal of Sociology , 1966 , 7 , 58 -101 (cited in A. Cohen, 1975).
30.
LEACH, E.
Levi-Strauss . Glasgow : Fontana/Collins (Fontana Modern Masters) , 1974 .
31.
LEACH, E.
Social anthropology: A natural science of society?
Proceedings of the British Academy (Vol. LXII), Oxford University Press , 1976 .
32.
LEATHER, P.
Desire: A structural model of motivation . Human Relations , 1983 , 36 , 2 .
33.
LEVI-STRAUSS, C.
The raw and the cooked . London : Jonathan Cape , 1969 .
34.
LEVI-STRAUSS, C.
From honey to ashes . London : Jonathan Cape , 1973 .
35.
MARCUSE, H.
Eros and civilisation . London : Allen Lane, The Penguin Press , 1969 .
36.
MILLER, J.
(Ed.). States of mind . London : B.B.C. , 1983 .
37.
MORGAN, G.
(Ed.). Beyond method . Beverley Hills : Sage , 1983 .
38.
MUMFORD, L.
The pentagon of power . London : Secker & Warburg , 1970 .
39.
POLIAKOV, L.
The Aryan myth . London : Sussex University Press/Heinemann , 1974 (translated by E. Howard).
40.
ROLT, L. T. C.
Red for danger . London : Pan , 1978 .
41.
ROSEN, M.
Myth and reproduction . Department of Management, New York University , 1983 .
42.
SAHLINS, M.
The use and abuse of biology . London : Tavistock , 1977 .
43.
SCHIRER, W. L.
The rise and fall of the Third Reich . London : Pan , 1964 .
44.
SIMON, H. A.
Administrative behavior (3rd edition ). The Free Press , 1976 .
45.
SWINGEWOOD, A.
The novel and revolution . London : Macmillan , 1975 .
46.
WATKINS, A.
The old straight track . London : Abacus , 1974 .
47.
WESTERLUND, G.
, &
SJOSTRAND, S.-E.
Organizational myths . London : Harper & Row , 1979 .
48.
WILDEN, A.
System and structure (2nd edition ). London : Tavistock , 1980 .
49.
WOODWARD, K.
(Ed.). The myths of information . London : Routledge & Kegan Paul , 1980 .