Past, Present and Future 155Hence, the virtual farmer also defines a network, a virtual network. However,
the latter network does not contain a balance between reality and possibility, it is
completely virtual. It does not consist of the unfolding of the potentials contained
in the current reality. On the contrary, a rupture emerges: the development oppor-
tunities are replaced by the new, virtual macroproject. This macroproject directs
and sanctions the actions of various actors in and around the expert system in an
almost coercive manner (see Figure 8.5), in such a way that, on the whole, the
intended reorganization materializes. Hence, the macroproject implies trust, the
essential cement assumed in a constellation such as that sketched in Figure 8.5. A
virtual network can only function by the grace of trust – that is, by the grace of
faith in the prospect suggested by the expert system. Also, it can only function in
so far as various unintended consequences of the macroproject can be controlled
and/or externalized.
The realization of a macroproject can only happen via and as a comprehensive
reorganization. This implies that variation and selection cannot happen via the
multiple unfolding of various realities. Here selection is no longer part of the
development process: selection becomes a one-off and occurs ex ante.
Alongside macroprojects, other alternatives are implicitly or explicitly inter-
preted as inferior; and as undesirable, because the realization of other, competing
alternatives cannot but be an intrusion on the intended comprehensive reorganiza-
tion, reducing the efficiency of the operation as a whole. Similarly, a partial realiza-
tion of other opportunities refers to an insufficient degree of trust; the virtual
Figure 8.5 The directive role of macroprojects