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Joy in the Present
      

1982

Alternation between Development Modes

reinforcing dynamic conception through functional classification of international organizations and concerns

- / -

Prepared for a meeting of Goals, Processes and Indicators of Development (GPID) project (Integrative Group B) of the United Nations University's Human and Social Development Programme (Athens, 19-24 April 1982). This work pre-figured the current operational version that orients subject access to databases of international organizations, world problems, and strategies. The topic was also explored under the title Developing through Complexity using Policy Alternation (1982), also distributed as Development as Discontinuous Societal Learning: cyclic transformation of the global answer economy (1982)

Introduction
Implication dilemmas
Practical possibilities
Feasible possibility
Role of classification schemes
Anti-development biases in classification design
Design considerations: Classification as a political act
Design considerations: Functional pattern
Design considerations: Functional periodicity
Design considerations: Distinguishing functions
Design considerations: Concerns of the international community
Design considerations: Recovering functional emphasis
Implementation: Initial phase
Comment: Flexible open-ended approach
Comment: Dynamic relationship between functions
Comment: Non-linear and oscillatory functional relationships
Comment: Implication of modes of comprehension
Comment: Need for a development "container"
Comment: Intrinsic uncertainty and paradox
Comment: Individual and social development as mutual models
Conclusion
References

Introduction

1. Academic research has not demonstrated that it has much to offer beyond descriptive analysis in response to the current social crisis. Innovation where it has occurred has come from other sectors of society, as in the case of the alternatives movement.

2. Integration initiatives at this time are themselves fragmented and usually mutually hostile in practice. There is considerable confusion about the nature of integration and it is difficult to imagine that integrative processes favoured by one group would be considered to be of much significance by another.

3. In such a context it is appropriate to re-examine some of the options open to a group wishing to further any "integrative" response to the world problematique, in order to avoid concentrating resources on sub-optimum strategies.

4. It is especially important to note the probable destination of any products engendered by such group activity in considering whether the outcome cannot be better designed.

5. This document therefore first considers various constraints on useful integrative initiatives, especially in the light of some of the "nasty" questions which govern the sympathy with which initiatives are perceived.

6. As a result, it is concluded that a viable action at this time is to reformulate the way in which all information relevant to problem response can be ordered to emphasize a variety of integrative dimensions. This is to be contrasted with current information tools which reinforce fragmented, non-developmental initiatives.

7. This approach is carried out with a view to immediate implementation by re-ordering information on the 10,000 internationally-active organizations, the 2,600 world problems with which they are concerned, as well as on 10,000 other elements including multilateral treaties, human values, intellectual disciplines and resources. This information reflects to a great extent the range of forces which are believed, by some, to be of significance at- this time.

8. It is believed that generation of an information instrument of this kind can facilitate the perception of new patterns of relationship between problems and the development of new patterns of interaction between organizations, whether at the global or at the local level. It is particularly relevant to the rapid emergence of the data bank society, which is supposedly equipping itself to come to grips with the world problematique.

9. The design of this new ordering of information is carried out to reflect concerns formulated within GPID. Indeed the ability to embody such concerns is considered an indicator of the relevance of this approach to human and social development.

10. The thrust of this initiative is essentially practical. The failure of fragmented responses to the global problematique over the past decades suggests that it is time to explore high-risk strategies using a wider range of available resources. The narrow view, however well-legitimated by academic and institutional establishments does not appear to be able to generate an adequate response, however capable it is of explaining the reasons for its failure.

Implication dilemmas

In considering what form any integrative product or process should take, it is useful to bear in mind the following dilemmas. These dilemmas constitute constraints on any "straightforward" plan of action. It may well be that they conceal vital clues to a more appropriate mode of action. The list below should not be considered complete or as in any order of importance.

1. Timelessness

a. There is a persistent hope that, by adopting some favoured plan of action, society could shift itself into some new condition in which all problems and conflicts would be resolved. In effect this may be described as freeing society from historical processes by introducing "timelessness" so that) as in children's fairy tales, people "live happily ever after". The problem is that it seems to be impossible to give content to this condition, or test it, so as to render it realistically attractive as an accessible option. It is even possible that the condition is essentially evanescent.

b. There is a persistent belief that, after new structures and processes have been successfully adopted, their unsatisfactory predecessors permanently disappear. In fact however such unsatisfactory structures and processes merely get shifted (a) out from the centres of implementation towards their peripheries, (b) through educational levels to that at which the more satisfactory modern process is incomprehensible, or (c) into a potential condition from which they can re-emerge at any time, especially as functional analogues. In this sense the past is very much encoded and active in a timeless present and calls for an appropriate response, however seemingly outmoded.

2. The one plan

a. There is a persistent belief, nurtured at great cost by many United Nations conferences, that it is possible to formulate a coherent plan of action, which will appropriately respond to the current global condition.

Whether advanced by an individual or intergovernmental group, such a plan does not escape the charge of constituting a form of conceptual or strategic "imperialism", with all that that implies. As such, it invites countervailing plans which undermine its coherence and divide the resources it was intended to mobilize.

b. There is a well-developed belief, nurtured by grass-roots alternative movements, that the solution to the social planning dilemma lies in "allowing one hundred flowers to bloom". Any necessary integration then emerges from the interaction between these many planned activities. This approach provides no built-in restraint against fragmentation into conditions of semi-chaos which would allow more repressive processes to re emerge. In effect an underlying integrating plan is called for as a context for such uncoordinated initiatives. The difficulty is that such an underlying plan cannot be formulated in a "language" at the same level as those of the individual initiatives (which are effectively self-organizing facets of it). It appears probable that a property of the language required is that it cannot be used without inherent paradox and ambiguity, and thus is unconvincing to those formulating "feet-on-the-ground" initiatives.

3. Resolving disagreement

a. There -is a persistent conviction, nurtured in connection with many international conferences, that agreement can be reached amongst reasonable people, which will provide the necessary basis for fruitful collective action. Where it is achieved, such agreement is essentially superficial, resulting (a) in formal resolutions which are effectively ignored, (b) in treaties which are not implemented, even if the original signatures are ratified to bring them into force, (c) in communique's which are primarily of cosmetic significance for public relations purposes, or (d) in programmes which create a satisfactory impression of activity to all concerned, but without having much significant impact on the underlying problems. The level of agreement between those in professional or alternative groups tends to be of a similar nature. There are essential limitations on the level of collective agreement that can be reached, unless continually supported by an external physical threat (Note that this threat is of value to the integrity of both pro- and anti-nuclear war movements, for example). Maintaining this threat is inconsistent with the objectives of human and social development.

b. There is a persistent conviction, nurtured by revolutionary political and religious doctrines, that a desirable world can only be forged through a (dialectical) process of struggle by which outmoded attitudes are eliminated. Whilst this conviction explains the historical process and ensures active commitment to achieving the desired future, it fails to clarify the possible patterns of order in the present (whilst the disagreement holds), other than in terms of a "no-holds-barred" struggle. Although in the previous case, efforts are vainly made to eliminate disagreement in the present, in neither case are efforts made to accept the reality of patterns of disagreement in the present and work to refine them.

4. Dissemination

a. There is a persistent belief, nurtured by educators and communicators, that relevant information can be conveyed with mini- distortion into appropriate languages and through the variety of communication networks, electronic or otherwise. In fact, this is only true for the simplest forms of information. Complex arguments are of necessity filtered out, or distorted by simplification, if only because they do not "travel" well outside the special context in which they arise.

b. There is a persistent belief, nurtured by reformers, that "the solution" when simply expressed can be conveyed to all concerned by investing in media space or time or commandeering them. This takes no account of the effects on it if converting the solution into propaganda, and the general resistance to such propaganda, however inspired the message.

5. The one value

a. There is a persistent belief, nurtured by humanitarians and religious groups, that meaningful change can only be achieved by universal acceptance of the fundamental implications of one value or set of values (eg. love, peace, justice, etc.). Focusing activities to this end fails to distinguish' between superficial adherence to values with which (as with "motherhood") no one need disagree, and violent disagreement over their significance in practice (as in the case of "Peace"). The result therefore tends to favour lip-service to the chosen value with careful avoidance of any further implications.

b. There is a persistent belief, nurtured equally by academics and people-in-the-street, that the fundamental qualities aspirations, and needs of humanity can be satisfactorily encapsulated in suitable words (or shared experiences). This is only successful when a set of implicit values is shared. Once any effort is made to render them explicit or to engage in discussion to improve the value set in any way, the values providing the foundation for the discussion are themselves brought into question, thus jeopardizing the content and any possibility of consensus. The only satisfactory values thus transcend language if they are to be of significance, as recently noted by designer Christopher Alexander in discussing the "quality without a name" as the core experience of "quality of life" (1)

6. Enemies of the people

a. There is a persistent belief, nurtured by many, that the problems of the world are prinarily due to the activities of a well-defined group of entities (e.g. capitalists, communists, multinationals, freemasons, religious obscurantists, trade unions, etc). It is then simply a matter of eliminating the group in question, or re-educating those affected by its activities, in order to bring about the desirable new order. This belief fails to take into account the negative consequences of the activities of those whose actions are effectively "laundered" by clearly defining such scapegoats. By taking the acceptable course of defining the enemy as elsewhere, any responsibility for threatening improvements to one's own actions is safely transformed into reinforcement of actions against such an enemy. Responsibility for counter-acting one's own excesses is thus effectively "delegated" to those groups by whom one is perceived as the enemy

b. There is a persistent belief, nurtured by certain philosophical and religious viewpoints, that the world is perfect as it is. The need to oppose other -groups is then itself the origin of the illusory perception of the world as less than satisfactory. Such viewpoints stress the need for personal transformation and consider other initiatives a waste of effort. This belief effectively denies the possibility of useful collective action directed towards the transformation of the external world. It fails to take into account the way in which people and groups are energized by opposition, although it is through the resulting actions that individual and collective learning takes place.

7. Responsible addressees

a. There is a persistent belief, nurtured by the public information programmes of government-related establishments, that these is an effective authority to which recommendations for social change can (and should) be addressed. Many international campaigns culminate triumphantly with the delivery of some declaration or recommendations to the United Nations, despite the long record of token responses accorded to such initiatives in a context which makes it virtually impossible to act upon them. At this time, there is no body to which proposals for major societal change can be addressed with the expectations of more than token response.

b. There is a persistent belief, nurtured by grass-roots community activists, that (whether or not government can achieve anything) "we the people" can bring about change in our own environments. As a result, some gatherings of activists formulate their proposals using phrases such as "we should do...".

Such groups are often very successful in linking together those who agree to implement the proposed initiative. Their difficulty lies in their relationship with those who disagree with it or are indifferent to it. The very success of the self-selection process endangers the responsible nature of the action which can result. It filters out those with counter-balancing viewpoints, which together take into account a broader range of factors. Such "we's" thus tend to be essentially irresponsible within the larger context.

8. Unfinished proposals

a. There is a persistent belief, nurtured by those favouring a positivist world view of science, that any appropriate proposal can (and should) be supported with a complete rational explanation. In this way the project is essentially pre-planned, definitive, and leaves little to chance. This may to some extent be feasible in a highly controlled society, but the more definitive the plan, the more difficult it is to adapt to unforeseen circumstances. In a less controlled society such an approach leaves very little opportunity for collective learning and growth through feedback and participation. It reinforces a static concept of society which is thus vulnerable to highly discontinuous, disruptive change. Such a conc3pt is increasingly perceived is inadequate to the paradoxical richness of reality as it can be perceived.

b. There is a persistent belief, nurtured by participative change agents, that valid proposals can only arise through ongoing dialogue within the community concerned. In this way, manipulative planning is avoided, and seen to be avoided, and the initiative can be continually adapted to changing circumstances and serendipitous opportunities. The difficulty here is that this approach leaves little opportunity to benefit from collective learning that has not taken place within the community itself or within the memory spare of those not active in the dialogue.

9. Policy significance

a. There is a persistent belief, nurtured by the academic community, that research on social change opportunities is directly relevant to the policy-making community. This is far from being the case and these are in fact few effective communication pathways between the two communities - always excepting studies commissioned to legitimate policies already decided upon. Part of the problem is that policy needs are for practical proposals relating to problems considered politically "visible" within a reasonably short time frame (1-4 years) and especially proposals which lend themselves to favourable media treatment. This is the "fire fighting" approach.

b. There is a persistent belief, nurtured by the policy-making community, that academic research is essentially irre"Levant, narrow and impractical. This view is reinforced by the nature of academic studies whose arguments tend to exceed the attention span favoured within ("he policy community - as reflected in the relative length of studies within each community. The difficulty is that in this way the policy community is deprived of rapid access to studies which contain a more profound understanding of the phenomena in question. In theory it is precisely such studies whose complexity should enable the diversity of the social environment to be adequately encompassed as a basis for a more appropriate response.

10. Integrated perception

a. These is a persistent belief, nurtured by the mathematically oriented, that problems will at last prove soluble once societal processes can be encompassed in an adequate computer-based world model. Such an objective model of reality can then function as the basis for the ultimate integrated plan. Experience has however demonstrated that such models, whatever their advantages, are essentially partial in their coverage and are primarily tools for the advancement of particular institutionalized value systems. There is no place within them for the individual. Furthermore, they compete with each other for the claim of ultimate adequacy,. thus undermining their value.

b. There is a persistent belief, that the only satisfactory integrated perception of the environment is essentially subjective. Faced with alienating, disintegrative, external constraints, increasing numbers of people seek a transformation of their environment through a change of consciousness. At one extreme, this involves personal growth (body and feelings). At the other, this sense of personally significant integration is accomplished with less effort through drugs of various kinds. The relevance of this is apparent in the use of "soma" in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.

11. Anthropocentrism

a. There is a persistent belief, nurtured by physicists and epistemologists, that great effort must be made to de-anthropocentrise current understanding of the external world. This is seen as essential to the establishm2nt of a more healthy relationship to the environment. Unfortunately, this initiative results in very sophisticated explanations whose significance is inaccessible to most people.

b. There is a persistent belief, nurtured by popularizers of every kind, that effort must be concentrated at this time in translating human knowledge into terms accessible to the underprivileged. Only knowledge "on a human scale" is thus necessary to man. This belief effectively denies the importance at this time of any argument or description which cannot be readily portrayed in such terms, presumably including much technology and the theories on which it has been developed, but especially the "philosophical" abstractions of the social sciences.

Practical possibilities

The practical possibilities for integrative initiatives include the following :

  • policy recommendations to an appropriate institution,
  • publication and distribution of research conclusions to academic communities,
  • public information programme to adapt and disseminate conclusions,
  • formulation of an educational programme for schools and universities,
  • implementation of a community dialogue programme in the light of the conclusions,
  • implementation of a field programme acting directly on societal problems,
  • design of new organizations and institutions capable of responding more adequately to the societal condition,
  • design of a new information system to ensure more effective interaction concerning materials related to the subject matter and conclusions,
  • organization of (a series of) meetings on the subject matter and conclusions,
  • further research on the subject matter and conclusions.

These are all "classical" options to ensure an integrated response to any societal condition. However, the previous section could be considered a simplistic demonstration that any form of action undertaken in response to societal conditions is essentially of limited effectiveness. The point to be made is rather that each such form of action has basic strengths and weaknesses. Unchecked action cn the basis of the strengths merely aggravates the current condition. Total reliance on any one form of action creates vulnerability in terms of its weaknesses. The problem is not which form of integrative action to adopt but rather how to interrelate the various forms of action so that they correct for each others weaknesses and restrain each others excesses.

The problem of practical integrative action at this time would seem to lie more in the mind-set which forces institutions to adopt one or more of the above strategies, whilst at the same time denying the significance of the others - especially when they introduce constraints on the favoured form(s) of action.

Feasible possibility

It is clearly difficult to hope to transform the essentially disintegrative partiality of the elusive mind-set mentioned above. The task takes on a new light, however, if the focus is switched to existing devices which reinforce or legitimate such unbalanced activity.

If the question is asked : within what existing framework are such action possibilities currently juxtaposed, this should identify the device which is reinforcing the inappropriate mind-set. One such framework is the thesaurus or classification scheme used to order the range of human activity. Since there are many such schemes, the problem is likely to lie in the principles by which they are generated, and the lack of relationship between the various forms they themselves take.

Classification schemes are of little academic, political or legal significance at the present time. They are portrayed, especially by their creators, as essentially neutral tools of convenience. If true, this would suggest that they have the immense advantage of being transformable without the tremendous opposition which faces other advocated structural changes.

The remainder of this paper explores the significance of classification schemes as practical integrative devices at this time in the light of constraints on the design of an experiment with such a scheme covering information on the international community of organizations and the problems to which they are responding.

Role of classification schemes

Aside from their obvious role in libraries, classification schemes are of less obvious significance in the following settings, all of which are vital to the elaboration of the mind-set from which change initiatives emerge:

  • bookshop layout
  • meeting agenda design
  • educational curricula design
  • organization chart design
  • elaboration of legislation in support of classifications for administrative purposes (e.g. categories of people)
  • media programme planning
  • institutional programme design (with budget).

Each of these design problems constitutes an essentially arbitrary process of classification, governed by traditional practice and short-term considerations, and unguided by any comprehensive understanding of the selection of human perceptions which are being manipulated in this way.

In each case the design constitutes a world view, in some cases partial, which only remotely reflects current awareness of the dimensions relevant to an integrative concept of human and social development. In some cases, the classification schemes even directly reinforce injustice and infringement of human rights (2).

The "universal" schemes used in libraries and information systems are not related to the practical design problems above and tend to be equally primitive in the quality of the world view which they imply. They are not perceived as an instrument of human and social development in their own right, but as essentially unrelated to such operational concerns - even when specially adapted to documents on those topics (3).

Anti-development biases in classification design

The biases listed below seem to characterize many efforts to classify at this time. The biases have been discussed in detail in a separate paper. These biases are particularly serious where the classification is related to social science concerns.

  • Static bias associated with noun categories
  • Low-context bias associated with western science
  • Pattern conservation bias
  • Dysfunctional bias
  • Insensitivity to thesaurus implications
  • Avoidance of top-of-hierarchy issues
  • Preference for adaptive "maintenance" schemes
  • Investment in rigid, anti-experimental systems
  • Depersonalized portrayed of schemes
  • Concealment of contradictions
  • Concealment of values
  • Preference for simplistic list structures
  • Exclusion of uncodeable dimensions
  • Mechanistic concept of integration.

In the following sections some of these concerns are highlighted and ways of countering them are discussed. They have been discussed in detail in a separate paper (4).

Design considerations: Classification as a political act

1. The construction of a thesaurus or classification scheme is not a neutral process but a political act, as was well demonstrated by the encyclopaedists in the 18th century. A thesaurus which treats "homelessness" as an aspect of "sociology", and "war" as an aspect of "political science" is taking a strong political position (5). This is also true of an encyclopaedia which omits any entry on "torture" (6). A totally exploitative attitude towards the environment is suggested by an institutional information system concerned solely with "fisheries", "fishing" and "fish processing, production, storage and utilization", but not "fish" as having an important role in planetary ecosystems (7).

2. Classification schemes tend to de nature and neutralize the functional significanc3 of categories, by excising their non-conceptual component. This is clearly seen from the treatment of "homelessness- and "war" in the previous section. Such schemes are concerned with reflection and verbalization as opposed to action, which is thus rendered impotent.

3. The political dangers of classification are not discussed amongst the specialists concerned with the design of international information systems. Aside from their treatment of minorities and the disadvantaged, most of these systems are simply reflections of a western world-view. As such they can only do violence to nonwestern cultures in the present form.

4. Classification schemes tend to encourage "functional empire-building", as may be seen in the treatment of "economics'' disciplines in relation to "other social sciences" in the ILO classification of occupations, for example (8). many existing systems are allowed to "bulge" in favour of hyperactive functional development (technology, industry, etc) at the expense of functions which are politically insignificant (religion, ethics, art, etc) at the present time.

5. Positioning, or failing to position, a term in a thesaurus is a political act which contributes to some kind of "functional story". There is no concern for the stories being told in this way or for the political education to which they contribute.

6. The process of embodying a term in a classification scheme has a benumbing effect which tends to render passive the users of the scheme and to deactivate th~3 information included. A means is required to reactivate the information and the users by changing their relationship to the scheme.

7. Designers of a classification scheme necessarily engage in a process which may in part be justifiably labelled as "scheming". The scheme imposes a pattern of perception against which there is very little possibility of appeal. A new approach is required which gives users some power over the process. "Who classifies for me ?" is an important political question.

8. The Functional control of society (or its absence) is implicit in the emphasis and juxtaposition of categories in a classification scheme. This is especially true when the excesses of one function can only be corrected by another. If the latter is absent from the scheme, or unrelated to the former, then the "spastic" processes of arbitrary control are reinforced.

9. There is a need to "liberate" significance nexi from the dominance particular ways of apprehending reality. A spe6ific concern is the politics of term appropriation. For example in French "development" and "cooperation" are virtually unuseable in the political arena, except in rel~3tion to the Third World.

10. The above considerations suggest the need for a politically "aggressive" approach to classification which does not simply accept the result of discipline political activity, empire-building, or blinkered manipulation of other functional domains. A political stance is required with regard to the need to "see things whole".

Design considerations: Functional pattern

1. "Subject" categories selected for classification schemes tend to conceal functions by using noun descriptors. It is appropriate to ask whether such static categories facilitate development processes.

2. As suggested by Bohm (9) and Thom (10), a more realistic approach is to use verb "descriptors", thus emphasizing the essentially dynamic processes of development.

3. Descriptors in current use can only adequately express a percentage of the functions with which they are associated. Categories are not completely bounded by available descriptors. Language is essentially incomplete and approximate - as is evident when descriptors from different languages are compared.

4. An integrated pattern of categories is essential if functional integration is in any way a reality. In many classification schemes categories are grouped arbitrarily with little, if any, concern for the relationship between functions.

5. Classification schemes tend to conceal the absence of categories which do not relate to the functional preoccupations of those elaborating the scheme. Such categories are signalled naturally in an integrated pattern.

6. An integrated pattern should lend itself to perception through different "cuts", according to depth of interest and level of complexity tolerated.

7. To contain the complexity and range of differences, the pattern of integration should highlight differences as well as similarities.

Design considerations: Functional periodicity

1. Categories of "subjects" or functions necessarily emerge in sets (eg. health, education, labour, etc). An apparently isolated function effectively calls for the simultaneous presence of other functions located elsewhere in space (if engenders a process which gives rise to other functions at some later time.

2. General systems theory has demonstrated a certain degree Of equivalence between systems characteristic of different levels, whether physically biological, social or conceptual (11, 12). In each such system sets of functions may be distinguished.

3. Recent research in universal classification by Ingrid Dahlberg (13) has demonstrated the possibility of designing a scheme based on ontical levels (e.g. energy/matter, geosphere, biosphere, socio-sphere, etc) and implementing it (14). This scheme is portrayed in the form, of a matrix in which the rows correspond to the levels [see current ooerational version on-line . The columns are determined by a "systematifier" giving rise to a recurrent pattern. This approach is a major departure from the list structure favoured in most other schemes.

4. An earlier section on "implication dilemmas" highlighted the essential incompatibility between different action strategies. In an earlier paper (15), a detailed exploration was made of sets of mutually incompatible elements. When functions replace one another in time (e.g. centralization by decentralization, theory by praxis, etc), there occurs a form of alternation of mode which has been explored in an earlier paper (16) as an oscillatory phenomenon essential to functional integration. The importance of non-linearity and irrationality is discussed below in terms of the functional significance of alternating between right-hemisphere and left-hemisphere modes of thought.

5. The above points suggest the value of basing a classification scheme on a form of "functional periodicity". One useful guide to reflection on this is the periodic table of chemical elements. This embodies the most sophisticated set of relationships between quantitative and qualitative attributes after over a century of experiment (17). One author, Edward Haskell, has explored possibilities of generalizing this periodic concept to encompass other domains (18).

6. One merit of a structure like the periodic table is that it tells several different "stories". In effect it consists of several overlaid patterns. It is just this multiplicity of interweaving stories which provide the desirable integrative relationships. The pattern as a whole provides a model of society

7. The importance of aiming for a complex pattern is indicated by Ashby's Law (19) concerning the need to provide a control system of adequate complexity if control of the system is to be adequate. This is a basic concept in cybernetics which is relevant to the adequacy of any theory or description.

8. A special advantage of the periodic table concept is that it engenders empty cells for items not yet detected as well as going some way towards predicting their properties. It is thus essentially open to the future in contrast with conventional classification systems which are threatened by every socio-political innovation (e.g. "development" "environment", "energy").

9. It is important to stress that using the periodic table as a guideline does not necessarily imply any link between chemistry and the structure of society. The periodic table is a well-developed guide to understanding complex patterns of qualitative periodicity and is valuable for this rpa3on alone. This said, and to the extent that such schemes say as much about man's ability to organize his concepts as they do about the contents classified (20), it may well be useful to consider such linkages at a later stage. The most fruitful line of exploration could be whether such periodic schemes ire rot special cases of a more general scheme intimately related to man's ability to encode his environments.

10. Two major considerations provided constraints on the initial size of the classification matrix. The first was the loss in significance and comprehensibility if the number of rows or columns exceeded seven to any great extent, is discussed in an earlier paper (21). The second was the facility of using a single digit to denote each column or row in th- matrix as done by Ingrid Dahlberg (14). This also provided sufficient cells to handle complexity analogous to that of the periodic table. Each cell thus acquired a two digit cod-, with the possibility of using a further two digits to distinguish elements within the cell.

Design considerations: Distinguishing functions

1. Given that much effort has been devoted in the past ( 22) to isolating clusters of "subjects" and that these clusters are still used in modern systems, it is appropriate to assume that they reflect some degree of functional clustering. This exercise should therefore respect such clusters to the extent possible. Doing so has the considerable advantage of making the result more readily acceptable. The main modifications therefore lie in the positioning of clusters relative to one another and in giving greater or lesser weight to some of them. This corresponds to the view discussed above that the difficulties and opportunities lie not within the clusters but in how they are understood to be related.

2. The process of distinguishing and interrelating functions within a framework is one of design. As such it necessarily involves both art and science, right hemisphere and left, and some measure of synthesis resulting in a decision. This process is guided by previous practice and is especially sensitive to constraints. In seeking to generate a Fruitful set of overlaid patterns materials obtained and processed in earlier papers (15, 23) were used as Possible guidelines, as was the structure of the periodic table itself.

3. This paper is based on the assumption that an entirely rational approach would lead to a sterile result. The aim was therefore to interrelate patterns of agreement and disagreement as discussed in an earlier paper (15). The process may be likened to tuning a musical instrument in which the significance of a tone only emerges in its relationship to the other tones. This analogy highlights the significance of harmony and discord between tones. The difficulty is that, given the matrix form, the "strings" take the form of an array of columns and rows. The tuning must thus be achieved in two dimensions to distinguish a tone appropriately The process may also be likened to stretching a rubber sheet (of "seamless significance") over a curved frame in such a way as to eliminate the creases whilst giving equal prominence to each node in the pattern. It is also worth reflecting on the generation of Chladni interference patterns in this context (24).

4. A special effort is made to open up locations for "awkward" topics which tend to be forgotten or grouped in miscellaneous categories. Finding any position for them in conventional schemes is such a relief that there is no desire to open up any discussion about the justification of the pigeon-hole finally used; (Why is it that a list of hard-to-classify topics does not seem to have been published ?). It is the process of fitting in the concept for which there is no natural place which should creatively redefine the significance of the whole pattern.

5. A cluster is not necessarily rejected because it is "fuzzy". The property of being well-defined way well be a characteristic of certain kinds of cluster but not others.

6. Terms located in the cells of the resulting matrix are merely approximations to the concepts or functions to which they refer. The cell as a whole cannot be adequately named. Much of its significance derives from its status within the functional pattern as a whole.

7. A distinction is made between complementary or competing functions at the same level (row) in the matrix. These are alternative modes relating to different content. A different distinction is made between functions of the same type (column) concerned with similar content. These two dimensions open up the possibility of two kinds of functional substitution and development.

8. In distinguishing between levels (rows) a basic departure from conventional classification was made by separating five major groups :

  • tangible phenomenal world
  • society and praxis
  • concept and theory
  • principle, policy and value
  • experience.

This is done to avoid the trap of denaturing functions by transforming them into the "subjects" of documents and theoretical discussion. The object is not to classify documents. Each term has potential as an "operator" which it is useful to respect.

9. Deliberate efforts were made to avoid the distractions of currently fashionable topics which cause current classification schemes to "bulge". These are considered a reflection of short-term functional imbalance.

10. Deliberate efforts were made to avoid the anthropocentric emphasis in classification schemas, which reinforces a totally exploitative misunderstanding of the interacting forces in the planetary ecosystem in a form of "environmental apartheid". The aim is to ensure a "fair deal" for bugs, plants, and animals, as well as man. Fish are not only to be understood as "fish-able" for man. It is regrettable that plants and animals are converted by classification schemes into pests, foodstuffs, or industrial products. Nutrition, health, habitat., and migration are not just a problem for man. In addition, such narrowness closes off any possibility of interspecies understanding, ignoring such questions as animal education and the intelligence of dolphins and whales, with all that that could imply for their rights with man on the planet in a more enlightened culture.

Design considerations: Concerns of the international community

1. In designing such a scheme, it is important to guide the process by confronting it at each stage with a universe of information of some practical significance. If the classification is to be of relevance to the international community, it must reflect the ongoing concerns of that community, both actual and potential.

2. Several computer programme were developed to extract and sort the significant terms in the English titles of some 10,000 internationally active organizations in the Yearbook of Inter national Organizations (25). This gave rise to some 4,000 terms. The collection was extended by extracting terms from various computer files user] to prepare the Yearbook of World Problems and Human Potential, namely : world problems, multilateral treaties, human values, human development concepts, integrative concepts, intellectual disciplines, economic sector, commodities, and occupations (26). This resulted in a tot-al of 9,000 terms.

3. A further concern was to ensure that the scheme could distinguish in an interesting way the concerns identified by the Goals, Processes and Indicators of Development (GPID) project of the United Nations University13 Human and Social Development Programme. These cover such domains as : needs, rights, ways of life', indicators, etc (27).

Design considerations: Recovering functional emphasis

1. As has been stressed, conventional classification schemes focus on "subjects". This term covers many "objects" in the material world and the world of ideas. If these subjects are perceived as functions, as advocated here, it should be possible to give greater reality to the functions by clarifying how they are manifested through such special kinds of subject as those noted below. In each case the cells of the matrix should reflect some corresponding element.

2. There should be occupations or professions corresponding to many of the functions. Together they reflect the pattern of human resources in an integrated society.

3. There should be institutions, organizations and groups corresponding to many of the functions. Of special interest is the correspondence with government ministries and agencies, specially as the country develops .

4. There should be types of building (or parts of a town) characteristic of many of the functions, as well as rooms (or parts) of a home.

5. There should be organizational or community roles corresponding to many of the functions.

6. There should be information systems or styles of information processing characteristic of many of the functions.

7. There should be characteristic human needs and satisfiers associated with many of the functions. Together these should reflect an Integrated pattern of human needs.

8. There should be characteristic values associated with many of these functions, and possibly characteristic mind-sets, ways of being or weltanschaungen.

9. There should bc characteristic events, objects, and processes associated with many of the functions. With the processes should be associated characteristic concepts of change.

10. There should be characteristic methods, tools, distinctions and problems associated with many of the functions.

11. There should be characteristic human activities associated with many of the functions. These should correspond to the elements in a time budget analysis.

12. There should be characteristic symbols or rites associated with many of the functions. For certain traditional cultures there should he divinities manifesting appropriate qualities Together these are an important guide to viable functional integration.

13. There should be characteristic images of man associated with many of the functions.

14. There should be characteristic educational processes associated with many of the functions. Together these would make up an integrated educational programme and should correspond t