Helmut, List, I wonder whether the boundary object in your example is less the press/media itself than the practice of reporting, that is, the shared expectation that claims about events can be checked, challenged, corrected, etc. From the standpoint of semeiotic, “lying press” is a sign whose interpretant may be a habit of dismissing reports before considering their evidence. Repeated often enough, one can imagine that it can weaken a practice through which people with very different views might still inquire together.
Of course, a particular report may deserve criticism. However, the blanket accusation of "lying' does something else: it makes the source’s affiliation with the press sufficient grounds for rejecting whatever it reports. So perhaps the essential question is: What habits of interpretation does this accusation produce? And, further, what are the societal effects of these habits? Best, Gary R On Wed, Sep 23, 2026 at 10:12 AM Helmut Raulien <[email protected]> wrote: > List, > > recently I´ve come across the term "boundary object". Copy-paste-quote > from Wikipedia: > " > > The concept was introduced by Susan Leigh Star > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Leigh_Star> and James R. Griesemer > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_R._Griesemer> in a 1989 publication > (p. 393):[2] > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_object#cite_note-Star1989-2>[3] > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_object#cite_note-3> > > Boundary objects are objects which are both plastic enough to adapt to > local needs and constraints of the several parties employing them, yet > robust enough to maintain a common identity across sites. They are weakly > structured in common use, and become strongly structured in individual-site > use. They may be abstract or concrete. They have different meanings in > different social worlds but their structure is common enough to more than > one world to make them recognizable, a means of translation. The creation > and management of boundary objects is key in developing and maintaining > coherence across intersecting social worlds. > > ". > So, boundary objects are valuable for bridging or coupling systems with > each other. A first thought of mine now is, that an antagonistic subsystem, > in order to define and establish its boundary, may strive to dismantle and > destroy boundary objects. Example: > > "The press" had been defined by its main function: To report. A report > obviously tells facts, so "a report" should be close to the truth. The > antagonistic subsystem in this case is the group of conspiracy-believers. > With their term "lying press", its absurd lump-sum nature, that group > strives to dismantle and destroy the boundary object "press". They do that > with other BOs too, such as "scientists" or "politicians", by not > refraining from extremely absurd insinuations, such as cannibalism (Qanon), > or ultimative, extraterrestrial strangeness ("reptiloids"). Now, this group > usually refers to its own so-called analysis based on "Who does it > benefit?". But this analysis of BOs shows, that the said group itself > benefits from destroying BOs, to establish a boundary, and thus become a > system with competence to act, first of all, by dividing society. > > Now I wonder: How can acts-on-objects be peircelized? > > Best regards, > Helmut > _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ > ► PEIRCE-L subscribers: Click on "Reply List" or "Reply All" to REPLY ON > PEIRCE-L to this message. PEIRCE-L posts should go to [email protected] > . > ► <a href="mailto:[email protected]";>UNSUBSCRIBE FROM > PEIRCE-L</a> . But, if your subscribed email account is not your default > email account, then go to > https://list.iu.edu/sympa/signoff/peirce-l . > ► PEIRCE-L is owned by THE PEIRCE GROUP; moderated by Gary Richmond; and > co-managed by him and Ben Udell.
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