ABSTRACT
Crossing the street would be a heroic feat without the equilibria of the rules of traffic; bartering with the baker would take an enormous amount of time without the equilibrium of a common currency.
Emphasizing the fragility rather than the robustness of social systems is like seeing the glass half empty or half full. This is why reflexivity elicits opposite reactions. Understandably, it has often been perceived a source of problems to be solved: if you are a scientist interested in explanation and prediction, reflexivity makes your life harder. But some scholars rejoice and celebrate feedback loops – like Douglas Hofstadter in his bestselling book on Go¨del, Escher, Bach (subtitle: An Eternal Golden Braid). Loops may have creative, generative power. They may bring new kinds and phenomena into being. They may even bring about new ways of living – new human identities, as Ian Hacking has pointed out.3 In general, feedback loops need not be disruptive.
