Cybernetics and science fiction: A pedagogical proposal

Abstract

Cybernetics, in the world nowadays, awakens some conceptual formulations about men and the artificial technological reality that transports them to a world of superhuman conditions, a fictional world. In this world, Mathematics plays a relevant role, its logic and its precision are resources used to make the facts more convincing. Most of the fictional works can be used as teaching material of various sciences, arousing in the student's mind a curiosity for topics that are not always available in curricular contents, such as artificial intelligence and Cybernetics. Many successful researches were influenced by works of science fiction. According to this point of view, this paper also brings a science-fiction tale entitled Bioboy, the Cyborg who calculated, alluding to Malba Tahan's book, The Man Who Calculated. The purpose of the story is to illustrate the impacts of cybernetics and the sciences arising from it, in society.