Without feedback we are reduced to a bumbling, twitching, aimless, lump of flesh!

Let’s do a thought experiment:

Imagine driving a car without any feedback. No feedback at all. Close your eyes and hold your hands out as if holding a steering wheel. You can’t see a thing. But you can still feel the location of your hands and arms in space through your proprioceptive sense. Try now to imagine that you can no longer feel where your hands and arms are. Oh sure, you may know that your brain commanded them into a particular position but how would you know they’re there. Perhaps they got tired and began to slip downward. You wouldn’t know. But you can still feel the vibrations, hear the rumble of the motor and the sound of the tires rolling on the pavement. Well, imagine that you are now in a special car with remarkable insulation that eliminates any and all vibrations and sounds. Try to visualize what it is like to drive like this. “Why, I can’t drive at all! How do you expect me to drive a car without seeing, feeling, or hearing anything!” Precisely, it’s impossible isn’t it? You the driver, a sophisticated system if ever there was one, is reduced to a bumbling, twitching, aimless, lump of flesh, without feedback. What I hope is now clear is that feedback is a crucial component of any system, without which the system simply cannot function. And that’s why, changing feedback can have profound effects on the behavior of any system.