occupy the six functionswithout getting involved with the other callings,
which, by different means,pursue the same goals as the sciences.Let us
restore to the sciences the crush of democracy from which they were
supposed to have been protected as they grew.
The Contribution of Politicians
To understand how various kinds of skills can be combined to offer
the collective its various competencies, we need to turn to the other
professions, beginning with that of politicians, which is attached to
the same associations of humans and nonhumans, but according to
very different skills from those to which the lab coats have accus-
tomed us. The term “politician” does not correspond to a precise pro-
fession, any more than the term “scientist” does (Figure 4.2); we are
simply starting with existing callings, as good sense offers them to us,
in order to detect their contributions to the six functions of the collec-
tive that are the only things with which we are concerned at the mo-
ment.
Politicians, as we are now well aware, do not exercise their skill on a
SKILLS FOR THE COLLECTIVE
143Scenarization of the totality6Perplexity ConsultationInstitution Hierarchy124 3UPPER HOUSELOWER HOUSESkill (for example,
of politicians)5 Separation of
powersFigure 4.2. Each of the trades (here, that of the politicians) contributes equally to the
six functions of the collective.