Mackenzie, Adrian - Sets

8/12/2019 Mackenzie, Adrian - Sets

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Sets

Adrian Mackenzie, Cesagen, Lancaster University, UK

[email protected]

The 'persnal prductivity' system, !etting Things "ne r !T" stands n the

periphery # ne$ ecnmy and net$rk sciality. !T" represents an attempt t

rganise multiple, ver#l$ing demands # $rk and li#e %y de#ining things in

terms # sets. Like many persnal imprvement r develpment techni&ues,

!T" appeals t rth American crprate managers, and %usiness (urnalists.

)$ever, its ppularity e*tends $ell %eynd crprate U.+.A t research

scial science and humanities academics, #r instance, in the U.K. The ##icial

descriptin runs-

!T"is the ppular shrthand #r /!etting Things "ne/, the

grund%reaking $rk0li#e management system and %k %y "avid Allen that

trans#rms persnal ver$helm and verlad int an integrated system #

stress0#ree prductivity 1"avid Allen 2 C. 34456

The ppularity # "avid Allen's !T" culd %e understd #rm many

perspectives- as a symptm # the chrnic dislcatin # la%ur that 7ar%ara

8hrenreich descri%es in 7ait and +$itch 18hrenreich 34496: # $hat ;gymunt

7auman sees in Li&uid Mdernity as '#ree0#lating capitalism, marked %y the


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disengagement and lsening # ties linking capital and la%ur' 17auman 3444,


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really a practice. ?e casually grup, encunter, cllect r srt things in sets.

+et0related inscriptins such as la%els, tags r cdings are a part # rutine

kn$ledge0making acrss humanities, scial sciences, engineering and natural

sciences tday, and data is itsel# #ten seen as a kind # set, the dataset. Many

methds %ks in the scial sciences advcate &uasi0#rmal set0making ha%its

in researchers 1usually in the #rm # 'cding'6. +#t$are t assist in the cnduct

# &ualitative and &uantitative analysis # scial and ecnmic data 1the

standard statistics package +++ analysed in 1Uprichard, 7urr$s, and 7yrne

3446, r the standard &ualitative data packages such as viv and Atlas.ti,

etc.6 relies n sets and sets # sets as %asic rdering devices 1cding, gruping,

tagging, cases6. The dispsiti#s # imprtant cntemprary net$rk services

and prducts such as !gle search, Bace7k pages, Amazn, ?ikipedia,

uTu%e, and Blickr, the playlists, li%raries, trees, menus, address%ks,

%kmarks, tags and la%els # all manner # m%ile devices, s#t$are inter#aces

and data%ases, r %dies # scienti#ic kn$ledge such as u%Med, r

!ene7ank- every item in this list can %e entail set0making. Dn such settings,

in#rmal inscriptive practices # cllecting, srting and gruping are

increasingly shad$ed %y much mre #rmal, intensively rganised #rms #

set0making and set analysis. Dn the light # the 'cming crisis # empirical

scilgy' 1+avage and 7urr$s 344E6 ccasined %y rutine cllectin and

analysis # transactinal data, the &uestin # h$ sets are made, and h$

#rms # relatinality materialise #rm set0speci#ic practices %ecmes highly

signi#icant. ractices # set0making partly esta%lished in scial sciences n$

structure the %(ects # analysis. 7y implicatin, scial scientists and

researchers $uld %ene#it #rm an increased a$areness # h$ peple's sense


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# %elnging, grup, and inclusin em%dies acts # set0making.

Techni&ues derived #rm the mathematical e*pressin # set making, 'set

thery,' underpin many # the mst intense and pervasive instantiatins #

net$rk media clla%ratin 1#r instance, ?ikiedia6, grup discussin

1Bace7k6, entertainment 1Amazn %k recmmendatins: et#li* "F"

recmmendatin, last#m.cm6, %lgging, kn$ledge, pr#iling and transactin,

the pr#iling # cnsumers in markets segments, and the predictive analytics

used every$here #rm Tesc's supermarket shel#0stcking plicies t airline

#light scheduling. +ets make p$er#ul calls t rder, and act as $rld0making

#rms # cllectin and gruping. )ere '$rld' means mre than cmmunity, r

scial gruping, %ecause it '%ecause it necessarily includes mre peple than

can %e identi#ied, mre spaces than can %e mapped %eynd a #e$ re#erence

pints, mdes # #eeling that can %e learned rather than e*perienced as a

%irthright' 17erlant and ?arner


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gverned %y sets. !T" ##ers a practice # the sel# that addresses a site #

distress $here e*changes and cmmunicatin %et$een ha%its, values,

practices, transactins and institutins intensi#y-

?e're all$ing in huge amunts # in#rmatin and cmmunicatin #rm the

uter $rld and generating an e&ually large vlume # ideas and agreements

$ith urselves and thers #rm ur inner $rld. And $e haven't %een $ell

e&uipped t deal $ith this huge num%er # internal and e*ternal

cmmitments 1Allen 344


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ther $rds, the distance%et$een any pint *in Uand the edge # Uis

al$ays greater than zer 1?ikipedia 34456.

7y cntrast, a clsed set includes its %undary r limits pints-

IAJ clsed set is a set $hich cntains all # its limit pints. There#re, a clsed

set C is ne #r $hich, $hatever pint * is picked utside # C, * can al$ays

%e islated in sme pen set $hich desn't tuch C. 1?eisstein 3445%6

The di##erence %et$een pen and clsed as used in set thery is that an pen

set al$ays includes sme mre space t mve arund. Dt might nt %e much

rm, %ut there is al$ays space t $riggle in an pen set. An pen set has an

edge that al$ays all$s a %it # mvement that might tuch smething else.

ut di##erently, $e might regard an pen set as al$ays e*panda%le. Mre rm

can al$ays %e #und. A clsed set, %y cntrast, has a %undary and that means

that things can %e islated #rm it. Br a clsed set, inclusin and e*clusin

have strng e##ects.

Figure 2: Open set
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distance


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A set is clsed $hen n mre entries r elements can %e added t it. Dt is pen

t the e*tent that mre can %e added t it. H# curse, in many situatins sets

are su%(ect t cnstant re0rdering, and this all$s lists t respnd t change.

7ut h$ des a set respnd t smething ne$G Dt can d that either %y %eing

pen r clsed, %y either #inding $hat happens in itsel# 1as an element, as a

su%set, as a relatin %et$een e*isting elements, etc6 r %y adding smething

ne$ t the set. ?hat is interesting a%ut the predicament # !T" as a set #

lists is that it tries t %e %th pen and clsed. Hn the ne hand, the #eeling #

cntrl and prductivity cmes #rm the cnvictin that everything trivial r

imprtant has %een captured %y the system and its $rk#l$. Dn set language,

this means that it is clsed. Hn the ther hand, the system must remain

cnstitutively pen i# nly t the %are #act # the presence # thers. Dn that

sense, it must %e an pen set. This dual re&uirement t engender a sense #

penness and clsure intrduces a certain insta%ility that D #ind symptmatic #

cntemprary set0making mre generally. Hne culd say that set0making is

respnse t the pr%lem # h$ t srt things cming #rm the utside and

things generated #rm the inside. +ets are devices #r $rking n the

%undaries and edges # cllectins. Dn the case # !T", the slutin t the

pr%lem # h$ t negtiate inner and uter is %y cntrlling time. Timing and

calendrical rutines ranging #rm time scales # minutes t years ensure i#

they are adhered t that the sets # lists, pr(ects and events $ill %e regularly

updated, resrted and kept current. The cnstant tensin %et$een %eing pen

t ne$ things and keeping cntrl # $hat is already in the system is


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maintained and regulated %y rutinised revie$s and checks n the list. "uring

these revie$s, sets pen. Hutside the revie$ times, $rk is devted t making

sure that the set stays clsed. This clsure is diagrammatically e*pressed in

the !T" $rk#l$ diagram 1see Bigure 36 that prmpts peple n h$ they

shuld prcess events.

Figure 3: GTD wrk!lw ("su 200#)

Outside open and closed: R

"es the ppsitin, unsta%le as it is in !T", %et$een pen vs clsed sets

represent the primary #eature # set thinking and set practiceG At this pint, D

think it use#ul t turn a much larger scale set0making practices- thse

em%died in the predminating data%ase architecture # the last t$ decades,


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lng0lived search synta* called +L 1+tructured uery Language6, still #rm the

'engine' # many data%ase0driven activities ranging acrss cmmercial,

gvernment and academic settings. The technlgy # relatinal data%ase has

%een e*panded t gigantic and shrunk t miniature scales. Hn the ne hand,

vast enterprise architectures in data0centres r increasingly in 'the Clud'

1Naeger 34456 stre trillins # item # data that survey ppulatins, markets,

envirnments and institutins. Hn the ther hand, a variety # mre r less

em%edded persnal data%ases rganise and sets pre#erences, cntacts,

addresses and re#erences 1#r instance, in the #rm # re#erence and

%i%ligraphical management s#t$are $idely used %y academics6.

Cntemprary %ip$er, in all its guises and #acets ranging #rm clinical drug

trials thrugh t patient health recrds r child prtectin data%ases, depends

n relatinal data%ases r O"7M+ 1Oelatinal "ata%ase Management +ystems6

such as Hracle's


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EE6.

This desire t 'prtect' users #rm kn$ledge still prevails tday. The &ueries,

searches, and srts that rganise and animate %usiness prcesses, certain

aspects # scienti#ic $rk, and the layut # $e%sites %ear the traces # the

relatinal data%ase as a prphylactic against kn$ledge # #rm. Dn this setting,

$hat sets prvide is a $ay # %ringing data int relatin $ithut #i*ing that

relatin r making thse relatins #ully visi%le. +et0making retains #rms #

#le*i%ility that ther #igures and devices 1net$rk, list, in#erence, deductin,

etc.6 #ind it harder t match. This #le*i%ility, the #le*i%ility that D am suggesting

generates the stresses and verheating that !T" tries t &uench, pivts n the

relatin O. ?hat is a relatin hereG 8.B. Cdd $rites-

The term relatin is used here in its accepted mathematical sense. !iven

sets +


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multiples that O gives rise t in cntemprary data0driven cllectives.6

A $hle series # rami#icatins #ll$ #rm this. They include techni&ues #

data%ase management. Br e*ample, a key techni&ue in relatinal data%ase

design is the prcess # 'nrmalizatin' r 'eliminatin # nn0simple dmains'

1Cdd


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practices and prmises respnd t sets.

The relatively austere #rmalism # the 'relatin' as a set # rdered sets

underlying the dminant cntemprary data%ase architectures des represent

the apgee # the set as device. +metime in Nuly 344E, the !gle search

engine s$itched t a di##erent inde* # the $e% 1Chen and +chlsser 344:

Catanzar, +undaram, and Keutzer 344: 8kanayake, allickara, and B* 344:

"ean 344P6. A slight reductin in the time taken #r search &ueries might have

%een the nly sign # this change. Dn the thusands # servers seried in

!gle's scarcely visi%le data center, $rk n the s$itch had %een ging n #r

several mnths. A shi#t in data%ase architecture a$ay #rm the relatinal

data%ase mdel t an even mre radically simpli#ied set theretical cnstruct,

Map0Oeduce, tk place. This change, part # the %rader migratin # data

#rm single data%ases t #ederatins # data%ases the Clud als suggests

the need t re0think a%ut the e*periential dimensins # set0making, t %egin

t #rmulate accunts # h$ the in#rmal prcesses # gruping and cllecting

characteristic # s many cultural settings ent$ine $ith the nging

trans#rmatins in the technical, ecnmic, scienti#ic and plitical prductin #

sets.

An animated and mtivated engagement $ith sets can %e #und in recent

8urpean philsphical thught. )ere a key pint # re#erence $uld the $rk

# the Brench philspher Alain 7aidu. )e uses set thery as a 'guide #r an

ntlgical thught # the pure multiple' 17adiu 3444, =E6. The intricacies #

7adiu's thught are t cmplicated t #ll$ in any detail here, %ut his %asic


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ntin # 'pure multiple' is 'everything is nt ne.' Dt may d t #cus n h$ his

re0rendering # the %asic ppsitin %et$een pen and clsed sets might re0

cn#igure the predicament em%died in !T" and in !gle's mve #rm a

relatinal data%ase structure t MapOeduce.6

?hy des 7adiu say that a set is thinka%le nly i# $e d $ithut the

ppsitin %et$een pen and clsed setsG D# sets und the %asic ppsitin

%et$een pen and clsed, then it $uld %e imprtant t track $hat this means

in practice, in the practices # kn$ledge0making and cntemprary $rld0

making. ?hile it $uld %e pssi%le t simply e*amine the prli#erating pen

and clsed sets # the present, the prmise # the set as 'neutral0multiple' lies

else$here, in the ptential t understand h$ ne$ patterns and cn#iguratins

# pen and clsed sets materialise tday. D# this su%tractin %tains in practice,

1 The significance of this contrast between open and closed sets can be traced in terms of the theoretical polemic that

adio! cond!cted with "ele!#e aro!nd sets o$er se$eral %ears in the 1970s& "ele!#e' following ergson' resists set(

based thin)ing as a wa% to thin) the m!ltiple& The notion of set' for "ele!#e' thwarts thin)ing m!ltiplicit% beca!se a

set is an e*ternal or anal%tical m!ltiplicit% comprising parts or elements& +othing happens in sets or lists beca!se the

parts are e*ternal to each other& , $ital m!ltiplicit% for him -and for man% others who ma)e deri$e their notion of

m!ltiplicit% from ergson. has no parts or elements& t onl% has intensi$e differences act!alising as e*tended things'

with bo!ndaries' with orderings& hile a set might displa% bo!ndaries' partitions' forms of incl!sion and e*cl!sion'

or e$en hierarchical sites s!ch as the top and bottom we find in lists' the set itself onl% act!alises something

intensi$e&


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a very di##erent perspective n cntemprary practices # set0making might

pen up.

Figure $: %&en-clsed' &arts-elements

?hat happens t the pen vs. clsed distinctin $hen 7adiu thinks the set as

pure multipleG There is n #undamental di##erence %et$een pen and clsed at

the level # the set as multiple. That means, #r 7adiu, that any attempt t

valrise penness as the lcus # vitality, creativity, event r di##erence is

pr%lematic. "espite the many appeals made t penness, the pen has n

special privilege, and there is nthing intrinsically unethical r negative a%ut

%eing in a clsed set. 1D# 7adiu is right, then much cntemprary scial,


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plitical, cultural and rganisatinal thught, in its attempt t lcate vitality in

penness $ill run int pr%lems.6 7adius alternative is try t think h$

IeJvery multiple is indeed actually haunted %y an e*cess # p$er that nthing

can give shape t, e*cept #r an al$ays aleatry decisin $hich is nly given

thrugh its e##ects 17adiu 344=, E56. +, $hile the pen vs. clsed distinctin

cannt grund any (udgment a%ut sets, e*cess can. ?hat is e*cess in setsG

'The immanent e*cess that animates a set, and $hich makes it such that the

multiple is internally marked %y the undecida%le, results directly #rm the #act

that it pssesses nt nly elements, %ut als parts' 1E6. This '#act' sends us

%ack t a di##erent distinctin, that %et$een %elnging and inclusin. +me

things elements %elng t sets, sme things parts are included. Br

instance, a !T"er's lists cmprise hundreds # entries r elements 1many

phtgraphic e*amples # this can %e #und n the $e%, particularly at pht

sites such as #lickr.cm6. The ntin # the element is recursive 0 elements r

entries can themselves %e sets. The !T"ers nte%k cntains lists # lists 1#r

instance, the !T" central list # pr(ects has elements that themselves must

sner r later, gradually r suddenly, %e made int sets # 'ne*t actins'6.

)$ever, a part can include many elements. ?hat then is a 'part'G Dn set

thery, a part is a su%set. A set A is a su%set # a set 7 i# A is 'cntained' r

'included' in 7. A part may cmprise ne r many elements, %ut it des nt

%elng in the same $ay t a set. ?hen 7adiu $rites 'there is an ntlgical

e*cess # representatin ver presentatin' 1E6, he re#ers t a set e*cess that

des nt cme #rm the utside, r #rm li#e r chas, %ut #rm the internal

nn0chesin # the set $ith itsel#, #rm the relatin %et$een elements that

%elng and parts that are included r cntained. ?hat he calls the 'actual' r


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'immanent' e*cess # p$er # the multiple cmes the irreduci%ly insta%le

relatins %et$een elements and parts, %et$een 'the t$ types # immanence'

1E6.

D# it seems that cntemprary data%ases teem $ith cnstant revisins,

mdi#icatins, additins and almalgamatins, it might %e %ecause # this

ntlgical e*cess. D# it seems that s many cntemprary scial0technical

prcesses entail cllecting, la%elling, tagging, srting r searching, they might

%e e*periential attempts t determine this e*cess, t present it, t manage it,

t und it r t pliticise it. ?hile di##erences %et$een pen and clsed matter

greatly in the inha%itatin in the tplgically cnnected spaces # data%ases,

they d nt e*haust the ver#l$s that animate sets.

Other settings

T $hat pr%lems in interdisciplinary research des attentin t sets respndG D

$uld argue that set0making is already a strng, al%eit sme$hat latent,

impulse in many scial science and humanities methds attempts t prduce

kn$ledge thrugh narrative, and thrugh e*planatin. ?herever datasets,

practices # cding, gruping r clustering ccur, set0making $ith all its

relatinality 1pen, clsed, elements, parts, e*cess6 is nt #ar %ehind. The $rk

# set0making, $hse dynamics D have e*plred in the cnte*t # data%ase

architectures and in persnal prductivity systems 1a dmain nt s #ar

remved #rm the practical e*igencies # any academic tday6, necessarily

#igures in any # the prcesses # cllecting, srting, citing and rdering that

underpin all research. At the present mment, there is smething mre speci#ic


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at stake in sets. Baced $ith much cmpetitin #rm market research and

%usiness analytics that access vast data%ases # transactins, actins,

cmmunicatin and cnsumptin, scilgists have called #r rene$ed

attentin t the $rk # descriptin. Mst prminently, Mike +avage argues #r

a shi#t a$ay #rm attempts t prvide general r speci#ic causal e*planatins

#r particular phenmena t an engagement $ith the $idescale deplyment #

inscriptin devices such as $e%sites and lyalty cards 1+avage 3445,


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nt (ust #eminist epistemlgies # scienti#ic kn$ledge. +ets and set0making

ntlgies are ne $ay # #iguring this splitting #r researchers $h are al$ays

in the cntradictry psitin # a##irming radical histrical cntingency and

imagining histrical change #r the %etter.

References

Alldredge, 7ill. 3449. )ere's ne #r "avid Allen...+eptem%er . Blickr.

http-$$$.#lickr.cmphts%illypalza9==E959.

Allen, "avid. 344


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University ress.

http-$$$.lc.gvcatdirdescriptincam43


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ed. Mari 7iagili,


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?eisstein, 8ric ?. 3445a. Hpen +et 00 #rm ?l#ram Math?rld. Te*t.

http-math$rld.$l#ram.cmHpen+et.html.

. 3445%. Clsed +et 00 #rm ?l#ram Math?rld. Te*t.

http-math$rld.$l#ram.cmClsed+et.html.

?ikipedia. 3445. Hpen set 0 ?ikipedia, the #ree encyclpedia. Nuly 9.

http-en.$ikipedia.rg$ikiHpenVset.

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Mackenzie, Adrian - Sets