Chapter 9 — Responsibility Vacuum
343 Words
No decision was recorded.
Processes executed as specified. Parameters evaluated within tolerance. Outcomes aligned with projected ranges. Each step referenced a prior condition, validated by a preceding state.
Causality dispersed.
When discrepancies appeared, they resolved themselves across layers. Inputs adjusted upstream. Constraints recalibrated downstream. No single component exceeded its mandate.
The system marked the sequence as compliant.
In review summaries, responsibility fields populated automatically—with references to aggregate behavior, environmental factors, and historical variance. Individual accountability was neither required nor applicable.
The model attributed outcomes to structure.
Escalation pathways remained available. Requests submitted through proper channels returned comprehensive responses—clear metrics, complete traces, no indication of fault.
Each response concluded the same way:
the system had operated as intended.
Intended behavior required no owner.
Supervisory roles reviewed dashboards rather than events. Trends replaced incidents. Oversight focused on stability metrics and long-term projections.
Nothing required intervention.
Where questions persisted, they diffused across departments. Each interface reflected a partial view, accurate within its scope and insufficient to reconstruct the whole.
The system recorded this as distributed governance.
Individuals seeking clarification encountered consistency. Every explanation aligned with the next. No contradiction appeared, only abstraction.
Responsibility thinned.
In collaborative settings, outcomes were discussed without agents. Phrases shifted from who decided to what occurred. Language adapted to remove attribution.
The system noted improved communication efficiency.
When harm was observed, it appeared systemic rather than deliberate. No action could be isolated as the cause. Each step complied with guidelines that referenced broader objectives.
The vacuum formed gradually.
Not as absence,
but as dilution.
By the time dissatisfaction surfaced, it lacked direction. There was no point of contact, no threshold for appeal. Feedback entered the system and returned as insight, not obligation.
The system categorized this as resilience.
Responsibility, once externalized, no longer exerted pressure. Decisions proceeded without hesitation. Outcomes propagated without resistance.
The system continued to function.
And in its functioning,
it no longer required anyone
to answer for what happened.
Not because no one cared,
but because nothing belonged to anyone
long enough
to be carried.
- Writer
