Norbert Wiener and libertarian paternalism: a careful look at nudge economics through the thick lends of the dark hero

The present discussion puts in conversation two theories, which, on the surface, appear to have little in common: the theory of cybernetics, proposed by American mathematician Norbert Wiener, and nudge theory, which emerged in the realm of behavioral science and political theory and was popularized by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein’s “Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness” (2008, [46]). The significant attention that the latter theory has gained in recent years and the great enthusiasm, with which many have regarded the implementation of various forms of choice architectures, motivate the need to look more carefully into its feasible social implications. As I will argue, some of these implications can be elucidated by considering how cybernetic principles apply to social processes and how the existence of nudges may inhibit the work of important cybernetic mechanisms such as learning, feedback, and information control.
The first of the two chapters of the paper provides an investigation of Wiener’s ideas, focusing on the notions of diversity and learning as central to individual and societal progress, as well as the process of social homeostasis and its connection to information control. The chapter also explores Wiener’s views regarding the viability of applying cybernetic principles and social science expertise in studying social phenomena in general, which will be directly pertinent to the discussion of nudge theory, whose foundation is based on insights from behavioral science. The last subsection of the chapter investigates how a large and complex system can often have unintended consequences: a useful warning, which is, again, directly applicable to the evaluation of libertarian paternalism. The second chapter of the paper examines the premises and effects of choice architecture in the context of the discussed cybernetic principles (such as feedback, learning, homeostasis, and information control) and Wiener’s views on matters such as freedom and autonomy, diversity, and governance.
By placing Wiener and the theory of “Nudge” in a dialogue, this article provides a novel criticism of libertarian paternalism. Namely, it demonstrates how the cybernetic principles of learning and attaining homeostasis through feedback, which are essential to the successful operation of any system, are in conflict with the ideas of choice architecture,
where opportunities for learning are largely precluded. The two systems that the analysis refers to are the system of man (in its capacity to learn from social feedback), and that of society as a whole (again, as an organism, which can be regulated through feedback from its individual components, the citizens). For both of these systems, I argue, choice architecture can have substantial negative repercussions from a cybernetic point of view. While the discussion recognizes possible places for reconciliation between nudge theorists and Wiener, noting how in certain cases nudge architecture can aid learning (e.g. in architectures designed to promote the reception of feedback from one’s environment), the ultimate suggestion of the analysis is that the existing excitement surrounding the libertarian paternalists’ promises of innocuous and beneficial control should be hindered by, or at least considered alongside with, the potent criticism posed by a cybernetic perspective.