Conversations with Luc Hoebeke (series)
This series contains the transcripts of a couple of conversations we had with Luc Hoebeke in the summer of 2024.
On Representations
In this conversation, published in three parts, we discussed representations from different perspectives: individual, organizational, and political. In part 1, Luc argued that representation is not of, but for reality, that models cannot be implemented, and about the importance of shifting perspective from solving problems to expanding what works in spite of problems. We also talked about Kabbalah, the concept of information and how it was created to avoid meaning, and that the basic material of good communication is misunderstanding. Then, we also discussed propaganda, how the Benedictines managed to be a coherent organization without communication, and how, in the last century, machines gave the illusion of control. In Part 2, we talked about representative democracies, replacing people with aggregates, group size, dissension, Mondragon cooperatives, Laws of Form, and more. In the last part, we talked about how, in a world ruled by representations, your physical presence is no proof that you are alive. We discussed unaccountability, staff functions, variety, the importance of experimentation, that human systems can only work on a human scale, why aggregate thinking is flawed, economists, the Viable System Model, the perversity of mass media, political careerism, and why selection by lottery is better for democracy than elections.
