Research
Scale
The size at which a tool, group, or institution works, and the point where it stops working.
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Why more makes less
Self-sabotage, iatrogenesis, nemesis: what Illich meant by each, and the named laws, from road congestion to software, that describe the same pattern.
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Limits are a design brief
For tool design, limits and scope are not obstacles to engineer around; they define the most essential features — the ones that will not be included.
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How many people can a tool serve?
Dunbar’s number is contested, but the finding behind it is not: human social capacity is finite and layered. Tools that ignore the layers work against the grain.
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A group is its own worst enemy
Clay Shirky took Wilfred Bion’s study of therapy groups and applied it to software. Groups are a runtime phenomenon, so tools for groups have to plan for how groups fail.
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Small is beautiful, fifty years on
Schumacher and Illich both published books about scale in 1973. Schumacher’s idea of “intermediate technology” adds a complementary test to Illich’s counterfoil research: is a tool capable, yet simple enough for its users to maintain?