informality benefits the powerful
…structure, only structures that are more or less formal (or [[Legibility|legible]]) . In the absence of well-defined rules for how…
Contents
The observation that things for which a system has no concept do not exist as far as the system is concerned. This is especially dangerous when the system bears on human lives but “human welfare” is not a concept the system is concerned with.
I believe this concept was introduced by James Scott in the book Seeing Like a State
From systemantics:
we present the Fundamental Law of Administrative Workings (F.L.A.W.): THINGS ARE WHAT THEY ARE REPORTED TO BE. The observant reader has doubtless already noted various alternative formulations of this Axiom, all to the same general effect, for example: THE REAL WORLD IS WHAT IS REPORTED TO THE SYSTEM —or, in the world of Diplomacy: IF IT ISN’T OFFICIAL, IT HASN’T HAPPENED.