Book

Venkatesh Rao, of ribbonfarm.com, wrote about the idea of states and large organizations frequently imposing “order” on pre-existing chaotic systems, in an effort to improve legibility.

His primary source is the book Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed, in which the author, James C. Scott, describes some major social engineering ventures in history that have failed spectacularly.