Differentiated societies develop generalized communication media to bridge their subsystems.

Evidence

Communication media are raised above the taken-for-granted reality of normal life only where influence is contingent and thereby, for once, rather improbable. Only when, and in so far as, goods are scarce does the active claim to some of them on the part of one person become a problem for others, and this situation is then regulated by a communication medium, which transfers the action selected by the one person into the experience of the others and so makes it acceptable. In the context of scarcity, influence becomes precarious in a special way, so that, in view of this unusual situation, a specifically generalized communication medium can take shape, which makes possible the transmission of reduced complexity in this case, but not in others. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 605 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Contingency is the central problem generalized media must solve; Every communication medium depends on shared organic conditions among participants; Every communication medium pairs its symbols with a symbiotic mechanism anchored in organic existence (+4 more)

Related

• Communication media form only where selection has become contingent and improbable (similarity 0.86)
• Social evolution drives differentiation, which in turn generates more generalized communication media. (similarity 0.82)
• Symbolically generalized communication media structurally produce inevitable disappointments. (similarity 0.81)
• Advanced societies need specialized symbolic media beyond language to secure acceptance of selections. (similarity 0.80)
• Communication media reduce complexity by symbolically pre-conditioning selections (similarity 0.78)
• Modern communications technology has fundamentally reshaped human consciousness and social relations (similarity 0.78)
• Every communication medium depends on shared organic conditions among participants (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Contingency is the central problem generalized media must solve #expands (0.75)
• Differentiated societies need more trust to reduce their greater complexity #expands (0.70)
• Communication media form only where selection has become contingent and improbable #complicates (0.65) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 605
• Every communication medium depends on shared organic conditions among participants #qualifies (0.60)
• Every communication medium pairs its symbols with a symbiotic mechanism anchored in organic existence #qualifies (0.55)