James C. Scott | Seeing like a State

James Scott, (Scott 2020)

Summary

I can’t say for sure whether or not this book is a branch or Tree book without having read it in its entirety. However, I’ve read Scott Alexander | Book Review: Seeing Like A State and skimmed the book itself. I think the summary does justice to the main thrusts of the book:

• Truth resists simplicity
• The ills of Legibility relate to High modernism and, more generally, the reluctance and/or inability of those in positions of power to Imagine others complexly
• States impose Legibility upon their people, lands, languages, etc, they require it in order to function
• Legibility isn’t all bad
  • People may resist a single system for weights and measures but states which have one are at an advantage over states who don’t
  • A single language enables a cohesive culture within the state (albeit at the expense of the sub-cultures)
• Legibility isn’t all good
  • Loss of local traditions and ways of life
  • Ineffective practices and programs branded as “perfect” while based on flawed or incomplete information; see Chesterton’s fence
  • Reduction of human life to a handful of statistics (e.g. Standard Food Units, identical housing, lack of private or Third places); see Moloch
  • Enforces a single way of doing X which (1) doesn’t allow for different preferences between individuals or groups and (2) doesn’t account for how the “best way” of doing X will change over time; doesn’t include room to grow, expand, or change over time.

Thoughts

I treasure this book for introducing me to the state’s (for many definitions of state) perspective in planning and system construction.

Notes

Bibliography

Backlinks

• Scott Alexander | Book Review: Seeing Like A State
• Scott Alexander | Book Review: The Secret Of Our Success
• Zach Tellman | Two Concepts of Legibility