irreductions
@irreductions.bsky.social
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"Nothing can be reduced to anything else, nothing can be deduced from anything else, everything may be allied to everything else."
4.5.4 The only way to be strong again is to reproduce relations of force that were once favorable. There is no such thing as prediction. Prediction is the repetition of something that has already taken place, scaled up or scaled down. Only magicians believe that they can foretell the future.
January 26, 2026 at 11:17 AM
4.5.4 The only way to be strong again is to reproduce relations of force that were once favorable. There is no such thing as prediction. Prediction is the repetition of something that has already taken place, scaled up or scaled down. Only magicians believe that they can foretell the future.
4.5.3 So they are more certain of themselves than others are? Of course they are ! They have tried their arguments out dozens of times on small-scale models and made all possible mistakes. Obviously they are more certain than those who only have one go.
January 24, 2026 at 10:18 PM
4.5.3 So they are more certain of themselves than others are? Of course they are ! They have tried their arguments out dozens of times on small-scale models and made all possible mistakes. Obviously they are more certain than those who only have one go.
4.5.2.1 The rule is quite simple: if we want to increase our strength, use a thousand against one on topics that will pay a hundred to one.
4.5.2 The supplement of force gained in the laboratory comes from the fact that lots of small objects are manipulated many times, that these microevents can be recorded, that they can be reread at will, and that the whole process can be written for people to read.
January 23, 2026 at 9:35 AM
4.5.2.1 The rule is quite simple: if we want to increase our strength, use a thousand against one on topics that will pay a hundred to one.
4.5.2 The supplement of force gained in the laboratory comes from the fact that lots of small objects are manipulated many times, that these microevents can be recorded, that they can be reread at will, and that the whole process can be written for people to read.
January 21, 2026 at 3:31 PM
4.5.2 The supplement of force gained in the laboratory comes from the fact that lots of small objects are manipulated many times, that these microevents can be recorded, that they can be reread at will, and that the whole process can be written for people to read.
4.5.1 In scientific trades, as in all others, we learn how to increase our force locally (Part One).
January 20, 2026 at 9:05 PM
4.5.1 In scientific trades, as in all others, we learn how to increase our force locally (Part One).
Interlude VIII: In Which a Little Bit of Everyday Sociology Shows What Measures Are
January 19, 2026 at 8:32 AM
Interlude VIII: In Which a Little Bit of Everyday Sociology Shows What Measures Are
4.4.8 Networks are tenuous, fragile, and sparse. We read and we write inside them. We are able to convince only by extending the network, in other words by reducing the scale of whatever is absorbed. The result is that a few people, sitting around a table in a single room, can survey everything.
January 16, 2026 at 1:38 PM
4.4.8 Networks are tenuous, fragile, and sparse. We read and we write inside them. We are able to convince only by extending the network, in other words by reducing the scale of whatever is absorbed. The result is that a few people, sitting around a table in a single room, can survey everything.
4.4.7 It is no more in our power to be abstract than to talk properly (2.2.1).
January 15, 2026 at 1:56 PM
4.4.7 It is no more in our power to be abstract than to talk properly (2.2.1).
4.4.6.1 The *work* of abstraction is no more abstract than the work of the engraver; the *trade* of the formalizer is no more formal than that of the butcher; the work of purification is no more pure than that of the sanitary inspector.
4.4.6 How are "abstraction," "formalism," "exactness," and "purity" achieved? Like cheese, by filtering, seeding, molding, and aging. Or like petrol, by refining, cracking, and distilling. We need dairies and refineries. These are all expensive processes, impure crafts that smell.
January 14, 2026 at 10:26 AM
4.4.6.1 The *work* of abstraction is no more abstract than the work of the engraver; the *trade* of the formalizer is no more formal than that of the butcher; the work of purification is no more pure than that of the sanitary inspector.
4.4.6 How are "abstraction," "formalism," "exactness," and "purity" achieved? Like cheese, by filtering, seeding, molding, and aging. Or like petrol, by refining, cracking, and distilling. We need dairies and refineries. These are all expensive processes, impure crafts that smell.
January 13, 2026 at 10:35 PM
4.4.6 How are "abstraction," "formalism," "exactness," and "purity" achieved? Like cheese, by filtering, seeding, molding, and aging. Or like petrol, by refining, cracking, and distilling. We need dairies and refineries. These are all expensive processes, impure crafts that smell.
4.4.5 So you believe that the application of mathematics to the physical world is a miracle? If so, then I invite you to admire another miracle; I can travel around the world with my American Express card.
January 9, 2026 at 11:01 AM
4.4.5 So you believe that the application of mathematics to the physical world is a miracle? If so, then I invite you to admire another miracle; I can travel around the world with my American Express card.
4.4.4 "Universality" is as local as the rest. Universality exists only "in potentia." In other words it does not exist unless we are prepared to pay the high price of building and maintaining costly and dangerous liaisons.
December 31, 2025 at 3:53 PM
4.4.4 "Universality" is as local as the rest. Universality exists only "in potentia." In other words it does not exist unless we are prepared to pay the high price of building and maintaining costly and dangerous liaisons.
4.4.3 When a series of locations has been mastered and joined together in a network, it is possible to move from one place to another without noticing the work that links them together. *One* location seems "potentially" to contain all the others.
December 20, 2025 at 9:40 PM
4.4.3 When a series of locations has been mastered and joined together in a network, it is possible to move from one place to another without noticing the work that links them together. *One* location seems "potentially" to contain all the others.
4.4.2 "General ideas" can be built, but to do so is no more and no less difficult than building a railroad network. We have to pay for a "general idea." We cannot move from one table to another via the concept of "table."
December 13, 2025 at 4:10 PM
4.4.2 "General ideas" can be built, but to do so is no more and no less difficult than building a railroad network. We have to pay for a "general idea." We cannot move from one table to another via the concept of "table."
4.4.1 Whatever is local always stays that way. No kind of work is *more* local than any other unless it has been conquered (1.2.4) and forced to yield a trace. Then it can be worked on *in its absence*.
December 6, 2025 at 11:37 PM
4.4.1 Whatever is local always stays that way. No kind of work is *more* local than any other unless it has been conquered (1.2.4) and forced to yield a trace. Then it can be worked on *in its absence*.
4.3.5 Do they turn toward nature? What could this mean? Look at them! They lean over their writing and talk to one another *inside* their laboratories. Look at them! Their only principle of reality is one that they have determined themselves (1.2.7).
December 1, 2025 at 10:28 PM
4.3.5 Do they turn toward nature? What could this mean? Look at them! They lean over their writing and talk to one another *inside* their laboratories. Look at them! Their only principle of reality is one that they have determined themselves (1.2.7).
4.3.4 Despite all impressions to the contrary, standing by what is written on a sheet of paper alone is a risky trade. However this trade is no more miraculous than that of the painter, the seaman, the tightrope walker, or the banker.
November 24, 2025 at 5:02 AM
4.3.4 Despite all impressions to the contrary, standing by what is written on a sheet of paper alone is a risky trade. However this trade is no more miraculous than that of the painter, the seaman, the tightrope walker, or the banker.
4.3.3 We do not *think*. We do not have ideas (2.5.4). Rather there is the action of writing, an action which involves working with *inscriptions* that have been extracted ...
November 22, 2025 at 11:33 PM
4.3.3 We do not *think*. We do not have ideas (2.5.4). Rather there is the action of writing, an action which involves working with *inscriptions* that have been extracted ...
4.3.2 Knowledge does not exist—what would it be (1.4.3)? There is only know-how. In other words, there are crafts and trades. Despite all claims to the contrary, crafts hold the key to knowledge. They make it possible to return "science" to the networks from which it came (Introduction).
November 18, 2025 at 8:39 PM
4.3.2 Knowledge does not exist—what would it be (1.4.3)? There is only know-how. In other words, there are crafts and trades. Despite all claims to the contrary, crafts hold the key to knowledge. They make it possible to return "science" to the networks from which it came (Introduction).
4.3.1 "Science" is much too ramshackle to talk about. We must speak instead of the allies which certain networks use to make themselves stronger than others (1.3.1, 2.4.1, 3.3.1). In this way we will see force instead of potency (4.1.5).
November 14, 2025 at 9:20 PM
4.3.1 "Science" is much too ramshackle to talk about. We must speak instead of the allies which certain networks use to make themselves stronger than others (1.3.1, 2.4.1, 3.3.1). In this way we will see force instead of potency (4.1.5).
4.2.6 Belief in the existence of "science" is the effect of exaggeration, injustice, asymmetry, ignorance, credulity, and denial. If "science" is distinct from the rest, then it is the end result of a long line of coups de force.
November 7, 2025 at 11:54 PM
4.2.6 Belief in the existence of "science" is the effect of exaggeration, injustice, asymmetry, ignorance, credulity, and denial. If "science" is distinct from the rest, then it is the end result of a long line of coups de force.
4.2.5 "Science" is a sanctuary only so long as we treat the winners and the losers asymmetrically.
November 6, 2025 at 7:21 PM
4.2.5 "Science" is a sanctuary only so long as we treat the winners and the losers asymmetrically.
4.2.4 "Science" only gives the impression of existing by turning its existence into a *permanent miracle*. Unable to admit its true allies, it is forced to explain one marvel with another, and that one with a third. It goes on until it looks just like a fairy tale.
October 15, 2025 at 7:00 PM
4.2.4 "Science" only gives the impression of existing by turning its existence into a *permanent miracle*. Unable to admit its true allies, it is forced to explain one marvel with another, and that one with a third. It goes on until it looks just like a fairy tale.
4.2.3 "Science" is an artificial entity separated from heterogeneous networks by *unjust means*. There are two measures, one for the "scientists" and the other for the rest.
October 9, 2025 at 1:38 PM
4.2.3 "Science" is an artificial entity separated from heterogeneous networks by *unjust means*. There are two measures, one for the "scientists" and the other for the rest.
4.2.2 "Science" has no standing of its own. It takes shape only by denying what carried it to power and by attributing its solidity not to what holds but to what is held together (2.4.7). With this denial "it" ignores even itself.
September 28, 2025 at 10:43 AM
4.2.2 "Science" has no standing of its own. It takes shape only by denying what carried it to power and by attributing its solidity not to what holds but to what is held together (2.4.7). With this denial "it" ignores even itself.