This is life
What a fucked up thing we do
What a nightmare come true
Or a playground if we choose
And I choose

I Choose, The Offspring

This is the motto of a dissertation thesis written by Evo Busseniers for the Doctor of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. The thesis cuts across systems theory, mathematics, philosophy and sociology. Its title is “Self-organization versus hierarchical organization – a mathematical investigation of the anarchist philosophy of social organization”, and its promoter was Francis Heylighen.

The problem is this: while you have levels in and with self-organisation of real-world systems, which are called “hierarchy” in systems thinking like General System Theory, hierarchies have a negative connotation in social life and in social theory as they are associated with power, force, exploitation and oppression. The thesis at hand is an attempt to clarify how a solution can be found.

We plan a discussion with Evo on that, once the pandemic situation allows an event in Vienna.

Meanwhile, you can watch the defensio here.

And have a look into the thesis.