In cybernetics, feedback loops are the fundamental atoms of any dynamical system. When we extend these models to institutional analysis, the formal properties of regulation, damping, and runaway growth take on a profound human dimension.
The First-Order Illusion
We frequently operate under the assumption that systems can be guided from the outside—that the architect sits above the mechanism.
Implementation details
The problem is that our observations about the system become inputs to it. To observe the institution is thus to participate in its feedback loop. Recognizing this shifts our posture from “designers” to “participants” trying to shape the very space we inhabit.