# Coupled Agencies Can Pursue Different Purposes by Norbert Wiener > "Disastrous results are to be expected not merely in the world of fairy tales but in the real world wherever two agencies essentially foreign to each other are coupled in the attempt to achieve a common purpose." > **— Norbert Wiener**, *1960, “Some Moral and Technical Consequences of Automation,” Science 131(3410)* ## Sources and Context - **Full source:** [Norbert Wiener, “Some Moral and Technical Consequences of Automation,” Science 131(3410), 1960](https://www.cs.umd.edu/users/gasarch/BLOGPAPERS/moral.pdf). The warning addresses coordination between agencies with different operating structures, not an assertion of malice. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/AI Escape Is the Wrong Metaphor|AI Escape Is the Wrong Metaphor]] - **Article:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Next Interface Layer|The Next Interface Layer]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Alignment Problem|Alignment Problem]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Some Moral and Technical Consequences of Automation|Some Moral and Technical Consequences of Automation]] - [[wiki/Alignment Problem|Alignment Problem]] ## Share on Social Media ``` "Disastrous results are to be expected not merely in the world of fairy tales but in the real world wherever two agencies essentially foreign to each other are coupled in the attempt to achieve a common purpose." — Norbert Wiener, 1960, “Some Moral and Technical Consequences of Automation,” Science 131(3410) https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-wiener-coupled-purposes ```