In the scientific system, for example, processes of communication and information-processing rest not only on officially recognized criteria of truth but, in addition, very considerably on reputation. Intimate relationships are not orientated only to the code of love but also form a concrete history of interwoven personal histories, which can to a greater or lesser extent be substituted for the code. Money is in itself so complex that sub-currencies are normally not needed, but they do appear in times of crisis, especially in times of inflation – for instance in the form of moving into foreign currencies, gold, cigarettes, property and land, which, for better or worse, take over part of the function of the money-code. The relationship between formal and informal power is only another instance of this general situation.

XREF: Extends Luhmann's systems theory with a sociological ground — informal codes (reputation, personal history) substitute for formal ones (truth, love, money).

Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, loc. 659