Laws of Form is a seminal work in foundations of logic, mathematics and philosophy published by G Spencer-Brown in 1969. The book provides a new point of view on form and the role of distinction, markedness and the absence of distinction (the unmarked state) in the construction of any universe. A conference was held August 8-10, 2019 at the Old Library, Liverpool University, 19 Abercromby Square, L697ZN, UK to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the publication of Laws of Form and to remember George Spencer-Brown, its author. The book is a collection of papers introducing and extending Laws of Form written primarily by people who attended the conference in 2019.

This Special Issue of Cybernetics and Human Knowing contains rare material related to G. Spencer-Brown's book Laws of Form and its contents. In 1973 there was a conference at Big Sur at which Spencer-Brown discussed his calculus with a group of scientists. This was the AUM Conference at Esalen, and the scientists consisted in an assortment of remarkable individuals exploring the cutting edge of human consciousness and culture, including Alan Watts, Ram Dass, John Lilly, Heinz von Foerster, Kurt von Meier, and others. One of the participants, Walter Barney, has written about this conference and has long been a keeper of the transcripts of Spencer-Brown's talks. In this issue we print Barney's transcripts of the conference and an article by Walter Barney and Kurt von Meier reflecting on the AUM conference. The transcripts are a remarkable amalgam of the thinking of Spencer-Brown and the questions and comments of the participants in AUM. The transcripts carry the same lucidity that infuses Laws of Form. The other articles in this issue include a paper on Flagg Resolution by James Flagg and Louis Kauffman, a paper on Paper Computers and the Emergence of Fermions by Louis Kauffman, and a Virtual Logic Column by Louis Kauffman that is a new take on the Barber paradox and the Russell Paradox, based on satire, mirrors, and the key observation of Douglas Harding that no person can (in the absence of mirrors) perceive his or her own head. There is an American Society for Cybernetics Column by Zane Gillespie about the structure of implausibility in music, art, and cybernetics.

Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this multi-million-copy New York Times bestseller is the definitive manual for anyone interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control – from the author of The Laws of Human Nature. In the book that People magazine proclaimed “beguiling” and “fascinating,” Robert Greene and Joost Elffers have distilled three thousand years of the history of power into 48 essential laws by drawing from the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, and Carl Von Clausewitz and also from the lives of figures ranging from Henry Kissinger to P.T. Barnum. Some laws teach the need for prudence (“Law 1: Never Outshine the Master”), others teach the value of confidence (“Law 28: Enter Action with Boldness”), and many recommend absolute self-preservation (“Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally”). Every law, though, has one thing in common: an interest in total domination. In a bold and arresting two-color package, The 48 Laws of Power is ideal whether your aim is conquest, self-defense, or simply to understand the rules of the game.

Provides an essential introduction to classical logic.

An understanding of psychology—specifically the psychology behind how users behave and interact with digital interfaces—is perhaps the single most valuable nondesign skill a designer can have. The most elegant design can fail if it forces users to conform to the design rather than working within the "blueprint" of how humans perceive and process the world around them. This practical guide explains how you can apply key principles in psychology to build products and experiences that are more intuitive and human-centered. Author Jon Yablonski deconstructs familiar apps and experiences to provide clear examples of how UX designers can build experiences that adapt to how users perceive and process digital interfaces. You’ll learn: How aesthetically pleasing design creates positive responses The principles from psychology most useful for designers How these psychology principles relate to UX heuristics Predictive models including Fitts’s law, Jakob’s law, and Hick’s law Ethical implications of using psychology in design A framework for applying these principles

This volume is a collection of articles on themes related to the book Laws of Form by George Spencer-Brown. Laws of Form was first published in 1969 and brings forth a new articulation of the foundations of thought. In Laws of Form we have a mathematical formalism based on one symbol and an approach to the question how the world would appear if a distinction could be drawn. Laws of Form does not answer the question how, given nothing as a beginning, a distinction can, indeed must, inevitably take place. This second question must, in its own structure, be left to each individual thinker. Nevertheless, Laws of Form, beautifully written and content free (form is emptiness, emptiness is form) is the most powerful mathematical text on the edge of nothing that has been produced since Euclid's Elements. These papers are a tribute to Spencer-Brown and his singular achievement.