alt Hacker NewsThey point to Luhmann and his hundreds of academic papers. But I’ve asked two sociology professors about Luhmann and they had never heard of him.
Replies
mstep • yesterday at 2:47 PM
the zettelkasten of niklas luhmann is currently being digitized. you can browse it online. zettelkasten II is the more interesting one.
https://niklas-luhmann-archiv.de/bestand/zettelkasten/inhalt...
mold_aid • yesterday at 1:40 PM
[Luhmann, back from the dead]: how has my work been received?
Sociology prof: "uhhhh. Well, the good news is that there are a ton of YouTube videos about you."
Luhmann left behind 70,000 index cards, published over 70 books and ~400 papers, and his systems theory is still actively applied in sociology, legal theory, and organizational studies. He's required reading at German universities. Your sample size of n=2 is methodologically a little thin – which Luhmann himself would have appreciated, given that he had a particular fondness for pointing out systemic blind spots.
"Two professors hadn't heard of him" is a fascinating epistemological standard. Like me stating: I've also met two cardiologists who didn't know who Rudolf Virchow was. Guess he wasn't that productive either.