Systems are rational by reducing complexity without overburdening the individual

Evidence

All in all, system theory accomplishes more than ethics in that it makes comprehensible the system’s specification mechanisms. It too, in the final analysis, cannot tell the actor how he should act and whether he should trust or not. It does, however, possess the possibility of showing clearly how systems can be set up in which, despite high complexity, it can be left to the actor to decide whether to trust or not. Systems are rational to the extent that they can encompass and reduce complexity, and this they can only do if they possess understanding of how to make use of trust and distrust without placing too heavy demands on the person who finally shows trust or distrust, that is, on the individual. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 324

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines system rationality as complexity reduction achieved through the strategic use of trust and distrust, sparing the individual.
• XREF: Central for the reader’s thesis: Darlington Hall fails this very test — it demands total trust and thereby overburdens Stevens, so the institution is not rational by Luhmann’s own standard. — connects to: Modern rationality is procedural rather than substantive across all value spheres — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 392; Technological rationality erodes individual critical reason and produces mechanical conformity — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 23; Economic models are deliberately simplified representations enabling mathematical reasoning. — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 40 (+2 more)