Celestial Weasel (celestialweasel) wrote,
Celestial Weasel
celestialweasel

Stafford Beer Again

Following on from my comment about most photos of Samuel Delany being ones of him with a long white beard, the same is largely true of Stafford Beer. I think one book I have has a picture of him looking rather young and geeky, and there is one I have seen a number of times of him with an immaculately trimmed short black beard and obviously expensive but understated three piece suit, every inch officer class. So officer class, in fact, that it is hard not to believe that his cybernetic democracy is not, on some level, a cybernetic democracy of officer class males. Certainly, I recall a quote that the aim of the Star Trek style controls on the chairs in the Cybersyn control room was to 'get the girl out of the room' i.e. no need for secretaries.

Anyway, here is a picture I haven't come across before
http://www.syncho.com/pages/index.php?menu=s&mm=s&tex=s&sm=au

At the bottom of this page is what claims to be a picture of Beer showing how the controls on the chairs are used. This is the only picture of the control room I have seen apart from the one everyone uses. Though is it me or does the perspective on the picture seem rather weird. Is it some sort of composite of reality and drawing? By this point Beer's beard was longer and getting towards the mad guru look.
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