Every communication medium develops informal extra codes running counter to its main code

Evidence

In the scientific system, for example, processes of communication and information-processing rest not only on officially recognized criteria of truth but, in addition, very considerably on reputation. Intimate relationships are not orientated only to the code of love but also form a concrete history of interwoven personal histories, which can to a greater or lesser extent be substituted for the code. Money is in itself so complex that sub-currencies are normally not needed, but they do appear in times of crisis, especially in times of inflation – for instance in the form of moving into foreign currencies, gold, cigarettes, property and land, which, for better or worse, take over part of the function of the money-code. The relationship between formal and informal power is only another instance of this general situation. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 659

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

• DEFINE: Generalizes the formal/informal power distinction into the concept of the extra code across all media — the chapter’s key theoretical move.

Related

• Formal codes spawn informal parallel codes that serve the same function oppositely. (similarity 0.87)
• Communicating about a medium’s code requires another medium, reducing autonomy. (similarity 0.81)
• Informal extra codes depend on context, milieux, trust, and history for functioning. (similarity 0.80)
• Informal extra codes depend on unshareable trust and milieu knowledge (similarity 0.78)
• Treating power as a communication medium enables comparing it with truth and money. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Informal extra codes depend on unshareable trust and milieu knowledge #expands (0.70) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 660
• Every communication medium depends on shared organic conditions among participants #expands (0.70) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 701
• Every communication medium pairs its symbols with a symbiotic mechanism anchored in organic existence #expands (0.65) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 701