Feedback Loop
The loop or circuit that forms when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs, as part of a chain of cause-and-effect.
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Origin
American mathematician Norbert Wiener developed the concept while working on World War II anti-aircraft systems, formalizing it in his 1948 book Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine. Wiener coined "cybernetics" in 1947 with Arturo Rosenblueth. Their 1943 paper "Behavior, Purpose and Teleology" laid groundwork for understanding how information-based feedback mechanisms stabilize systems. This insight revolutionized control theory, automation, and systems thinking.
Updated February 22, 2026