Around the Stone Table A Brumadinho Cyberneticians’ Song Verse 1 In Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Underneath the Brazilian skies, There’s a stone table waiting there, For cyberneticians everywhere. We gather round, we take a chair, With stories floating through the air, No one quite knows where we will go— That’s half the fun of not knowing so. Chorus Around, around the stone table, Talking as long as we are able, You talk of me, I talk of you, And somehow something becomes new. Yes, yes, yes—and no, no, no, Round the conversation goes, Laughing, listening, having fun, Many voices becoming one— Then many voices once again, Around the stone table with our friends. Verse 2 Someone mentions Stafford Beer, And suddenly his ghost is here, Pask arrives with questions too: “How do I know what you think you knew?” Someone draws a strange design, Someone pours another wine, Someone says, “Observe the observer!” Someone else says, “Pass the water!” Chorus Around, around the stone table, Talking as long as we are able, You change me and I change you, That’s what conversations do. Yes, yes, yes—and no, no, no, Where it stops we never know, Difference dancing, having fun, Never needing to become one— Just conversations without end, Around the stone table with our friends. Bridge — The Recursive Bit I talk about you, You talk about me, We talk about us Talking recursively. I see you seeing, You see me see, And somewhere between us Appears a “we.” But who observes the “we” we see? Ah! Verse 3 Brumadinho, earth and stone, Reminds us we are not alone, Mountain, water, soil and sky Join the conversation passing by. No hierarchy rules the day, The conversation finds its way, A joke, a story, disagreement too— The world gets larger through another view. Final Chorus Around, around the stone table, Everyone welcome, everyone able, Old ideas and something new, A little bit of me, a little bit of you. Yes, yes, yes—and no, no, no, Round and round the meanings go, Laughing underneath the sun, Cybernetics should be fun! So raise your glass—or coffee cup— The conversation’s starting up. In Brumadinho, gather round: Listen to the people, Listen to the water, Listen to the mountain, Listen to the ground. And when we think the song is done— Someone asks another question.
