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."
4.5.9 We can say that whatever resists is real (1.1.5). The word "truth" adds only a little supplement to a trial of strength. It is not much, but it gives an impression of potency (2.5.2), which saves what might give way from being tested.
February 13, 2026 at 11:31 AM
4.5.9 We can say that whatever resists is real (1.1.5). The word "truth" adds only a little supplement to a trial of strength. It is not much, but it gives an impression of potency (2.5.2), which saves what might give way from being tested.
4.5.8 One form of know-how is no more "true" than another. It is neither more nor less true than a coffeepot, a tree, or a child's face. There they are, a momentarily stable line of forces (1.1.6).
February 10, 2026 at 10:36 AM
4.5.8 One form of know-how is no more "true" than another. It is neither more nor less true than a coffeepot, a tree, or a child's face. There they are, a momentarily stable line of forces (1.1.6).
4.5.7.3 People usually talk of "scientific truth" in hushed tones. But there have ever been only three ways of celebrating it: consistency "it is logical"; representation—"it fits"; efficacy—"it works." These three expressions simply serve to indicate the extent to which a network has expanded.
4.5.7 There is no such thing as "knowledge" (4.3.2), but it is possible to realize, that is, to make real, to understand.
February 9, 2026 at 9:29 PM
4.5.7.3 People usually talk of "scientific truth" in hushed tones. But there have ever been only three ways of celebrating it: consistency "it is logical"; representation—"it fits"; efficacy—"it works." These three expressions simply serve to indicate the extent to which a network has expanded.
4.5.7.2. How can know-how be extended? Like radios that are made in Hong Kong, or multiplication tables! There must be buyers and sellers, teachers and commercial circuits, representatives and books that are held to be authoritative.
4.5.7 There is no such thing as "knowledge" (4.3.2), but it is possible to realize, that is, to make real, to understand.
February 6, 2026 at 2:18 PM
4.5.7.2. How can know-how be extended? Like radios that are made in Hong Kong, or multiplication tables! There must be buyers and sellers, teachers and commercial circuits, representatives and books that are held to be authoritative.
4.5.7.1 Nothing escapes from a network, least of all know-how, but who doubts that a network which pays the price can extend itself?
4.5.7 There is no such thing as "knowledge" (4.3.2), but it is possible to realize, that is, to make real, to understand.
February 4, 2026 at 2:36 PM
4.5.7.1 Nothing escapes from a network, least of all know-how, but who doubts that a network which pays the price can extend itself?
4.5.7 There is no such thing as "knowledge" (4.3.2), but it is possible to realize, that is, to make real, to understand.
January 31, 2026 at 5:18 PM
4.5.7 There is no such thing as "knowledge" (4.3.2), but it is possible to realize, that is, to make real, to understand.
4.5.6 Nothing can be known outside the networks organized and manipulated by know-how (1.3.7), but those networks may be extended.
January 30, 2026 at 9:29 PM
4.5.6 Nothing can be known outside the networks organized and manipulated by know-how (1.3.7), but those networks may be extended.
4.5.5 The only way to know is through trials of strength. "Knowledge" is the state of this battlefront. It extends no further. How could it? (1.1.0).
January 29, 2026 at 8:29 PM
4.5.5 The only way to know is through trials of strength. "Knowledge" is the state of this battlefront. It extends no further. How could it? (1.1.0).
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.