2.3

 --- Scenology

Parallelisms : Mathematics - Sociology of translation

Mathematics

This note is only to outline that the number of scenarios that can be constructed upon such a simple maps is fairly big.

Let's first imagine that any actor can give a "question to" and "receive an answer from" any actor - including himself - like illustrated in the adjacent figure. The number of dialog-pairs "p" will be:

p = a²

where "a" is the number of actors.

For the case where we have 20 actors - like in the figure of the upper frame of this page - the number of possible single question-answer pair-dialog is p = 20 x 20 = 400.

Let's now imagine that we look at the possible scenarios made of sequences only 10 pairs of single question-answer dialogs.

According to combinatorial mathematics, the number of possible scenarios "S" will be

S = p^d

where the exponent "d" is the number of selected pair-dialogs.

In the above case, the number of possible scenarios will be 400¹⁰ = 1.05 10²⁶.

As an other example, we may look at an economic scenery where any actor will develop is own scenario independently. In the above case, it will come d = 20 and S = 1.10 10⁵².

Just to picture what so high numbers could mean, we remind that the number of atoms or molecule in a mole - namely the Avogadro number or the number of carbon-12 in 12 grams of carbon - is only 6.02 10²³.

However a map potentially embodies a so great number of scenarios, it remains noticeable that when no arrows and no lines are drawn on a map, the human brain is capable to make sense of it.

Sociology of translation

In compliance with our experiential practices - which in turn confirmed the conclusions of M. Callon and B. Latour on those aspects - we will not make any differences between "objects" and "actors".

We will so make usage of the following nouns' associations "object-actor" and "actor-object" to express that it may not be any fundamental distinction between the nature of their role.

Also conversely to the conclusions of M. Callon and B. Latour, the word "action" will cover both physical and non physical actions with no necessity to specify between those two natures.

With those conventions, one can construct - by holotomial superposition - maps which provide a visual support at scenarios made of the 10 points which summarize the method proposed by M. Callon and B. Latour (see Wikipedia - in French), i.e. like in the following schema:

1. Create the contextual description: map what are the majors actors and objects acting within the scene and its surrounding context.

Care must be taken that groups usually tend to forget at describing the actors-objects of the context - say i.e. the clients and the clients of the clients for a company, the readers for a magazine or the public for an event.

2. Locate the legitimate "translator": the person(s) who - being perceived as a legitimate leader - will state the problem or the concern being the unifying cement between all the "actors-objects" of the scene.

3. Specify the obligatory crossing point: it can be either an actual location on the map or a question at which an answer needs to be necessarily given.

4. Locate and nominate the actors voices representatives: all the actors and objects participating at the scene must have a legitimate representative who will participate to the negotiations during the program elaboration and execution.

5. Create the tangible form investments: the role of the tangible form investments is to produce a simplification of the complexity by being tangible, controllable and in a limited number.

6. Define the "intermediaries": the form investments must produce "mediating agents" - namely "products" that are exchanged between the actors of the scene and by so are strengthening the network.

7. Enroll and mobilize agents: it consists at defining specific tasks for each agent of the network - say define a kind of tasks distribution so that each agent becomes a necessary or non avoidable piece for the global action and gains so a requested role and an interest to stay in the network.

The point of every actors having a necessary but partial role refer to notion of "closure" that will be introduced later - see page 3.4. When a network is not "closed on itself" - say that it incorporates actors whose actions do not imply actions of other actors, the network strength may decrease with the increase of the actor numbers. When a network "closes on itself" - say that the actions of an actor always imply the actions of other actors - hence a network has a chance to become self sustained and its strength may self reinforce with the actor numbers increase.

8. Extend the network: once the initial cell has been set up and works, extending the network aims at creating an irreversible state. Care must be taken at not extending the network by adding members at the periphery of the initial cell: this would decrease the network strength and influence along the distance from the network center - but at replicating - duplicating again and again - the initial cell such that the network strength and influence remain scale independent - say that like each new cell is a group of adherent that is self-sufficient and self sustainable by itself.

The progression by cell reproduction is a manner to maintained the above-mentioned sustainability provided by "closure" of the network on itself.

9. Maintain an external and internal intelligence at fears and tears: during and after set up, one of the sustainability condition is to maintain an intelligence at dangers which may impair the network integrity. 

Interesting is to point out that the holotomial mapping can be created - at the start - and maintained so that it embeds the external actors being potential danger sources for the network viability - and by serve to support the intelligence organization and rounds

10. Maintain an efficient transparency about the network extension and evolution: out of exchanging "intermediaries", information and transparency are an obliged condition to maintain trust in the network individual ownership.

Interesting is again to point out that the holotomial mapping may help to detect where and which are the "actors-objects" on which regular information must be given and to whom the information must be dispatched.

An operational example in the case of a "networked" company is given in the paper "Spots informing" which relates - in an story telling manner - how an information system might be organized and may serve at the same time to assess for the network efficiency.