WIKIPEDIA, OF COURSE, *ALSO* MISINTERPRETS BEER'S WORK, IN ITS OWN IMAGE. VARIETY'S CONTROL OF VARIETY

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variety_(cybernetics) says:

"In his Designing Freedom, Stafford Beer discusses the patient in a hospital with a temperature denoting fever. Action must be taken immediately to isolate the patient. Here no amount of variety recording the patients' average temperature would detect this small signal which might have a big effect. Monitoring is required on individuals thus amplifying variety (see Algedonic alerts in the viable system model or VSM). Beer's work in management cybernetics and VSM is largely based on variety engineering."

The last two sentences are mistaken, reflecting the efficiency trap that people like to create themselves.

• To monitor one needs to know what to look for -- one cannot focus "on everything"
• This knowledge comes only from cognitive (human) variety, and not from any engineering monitoring. The latter can only amplify it, but it needs to have something to amplify.