February 1976
World Problems and Human Potential
Significance and preliminary results of the World Problems Project
- / -
Published in International Associations, 28, 1976, 2, pp. 102-108. An earlier report appearwed as World Problems and Human Potential a data interlinkage and display process (1975). (For the current situation with regard
to this project, and the status of tbe Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential, see: http://www.un-intelligible.org/projects/homeency.php).
Intent
Recognizing the considerable difficulties at this time of :
- achieving any degree of intellectual consensus on matters
of concern to more than one discipline or school of
thought;
- achieving any form of action-oriented consensus on mat-
ters touching the concerns of different nations, ideologies
or cultures;
- compensating for the confusion, secretiveness and mu-
tual hostility arising from the claims, counter-claims and
grantsmanship of the many organizations and individuals
anxious to assert the special value of their own particular
contribution to understanding the current state of the
social system and priorities for action;
- assembling and processing the large amount of relevant
information on factors significant to any overview of the
problems of the world and the resources which can be
brought to bear upon them;
- mobilizing the necessary financial resources and skilled
personnel to undertake such a task given that is neither
within the mandate of any official body nor legitimated
by any academic perspective
The objectives of this project are :
- Identify information items and series which help to clari-
fy the nature of
- all perceived world problems, both
individually and as a complex of interlinked networks,
- the different kinds of intellectual, organizational
and other resources which can be brought to bear on
such problems, both individually and as a totality,
- the values in the light of which the problems are
perceived and any action is initiated, and
- the concepts and processes of human development considered
to be the ultimate justification of any human action
and which, as such, both generate world problems and
are frustrated by them.
- Establish a framework for such items of information
concerning the world social system (particularly those
conventionally perceived as being incommensurable
or essentialy unrelated), in such a way as to permit new
items to be registered, if or when they are recognized,
together with any relationships between such items.
- Demonstrate the consequences of tolerating a larger
number of information items in a series than is con-
ventionally favoured without regrouping (e.g. 100 to 5,000 items rather than 1 to 50). (See also Appendix
3).
- Collect and process sufficient information in each of
the different information series to demonstrate the na-
ture of this approach and to determine its viability.
- Initiate a process to obtain further information and update
the collected information by periodically providing
a product which can be widely distributed to those prov-
iding and using such information, constructively criti-
cized, and used to improve the organized response to
world problems. The design and utility of the product,
as a vehicle for the information contained, should be
such as to ensure that by its sale it could ensure the
financial viability and independence of the project as a
continuing exercise.
- Experiment with different forms of collaboration between
organizations interested in developing particular features
of the project or in improving the process by which new
perceptions are identified and incorporated.
- Demonstrate the extent of the interrelatedness of the
items of information included and the importance of
the possibility of analyzing such information as inter-
linked networks rather than as isolated items.
- Experiment with different methods of processing and
displaying the information on complex interlinked net-
works in order to facilitate their comprehension and
an understanding of their mutual significance.
- Experiment with different methods of classifying and
regrouping the items registered, whilst at the same time
ensuring a relationship to existing systems of classification,
where such exist.
- Establish a flexible computer-based system to facilitate
the achievement of the above objectives (including the
periodic preparation of a saleable product).
- Determine the nature and quality
- of the product
which can be produced in fulfillment of these objectives and in the light of the above-mentioned constraints
on any such project at this time, and
- of the process
which can be initiated to eliminate defects progressivily,
despite such constraints.
- Determine the extent to which such a process could help
to constitute a stabilizing element in the shifting world
of images concerning world problems, resources of
various kinds, and their interrelationships.
Significance
The significance of the Yearbook of World Problems and
Human Potential as a whole can best be briefly illustrated
by the following quotations which, taken together, indicate
the importance of exploring the kind of approach attempted
here.
U. Thant, Secretary-General of the United Nations on the occasion of United Nations Day, 1970
It is unforgivable that so many problems from the past
are still with us, absorbing vast energies and resources
desperately needed for nobler purposes : a horrid and futile
armaments race instead of world development; remnants of
colonialism, racism and violations of human rights instead
of freedom and brotherhood; dreams of power and domination instead of fraternal coexistence; exclusion of great
human communities from world co-operation instead of universality; extension of ideological domains instead of mu-
tual enrichment in the art of governing men to make the
world safe for diversity; local conflicts instead of neighbourly co-operation.
While these antiquated concepts and attitudes persist, the
rapid pace of change around us breeds new problems
which cry for the world's collective attention and care : the
increasing discrepancy between rich and poor nations;
the scientific and technological gap; the population explosion; the deterioration of the environment; the urban
proliferation : the drug problem; the alienation of youth;
the excessive consumption of resources by insatiable
societies and institutions. The survival of a civilized and
humane society seems to be at stake.
The world is bursting out of its narrow political vestments.
The behaviour of many nations is certainly inadequate to
meet the new challenges of our small and rapidly changing
planet. International co-operation is lagging considerably.
Bellagio Declaration on Planning, 1968
Many of the most serious conflicts facing mankind result
from the interaction of social, economic, technological,
political and psychological forces and can no longer be
solved by fractional approaches from individual disciplines.
Complexity and the large scale of problems are forcing
decisions to be made at levels where individual participa-
tion of those affected is increasingly remote, producing a
crisis in political and social development which threatens
our whole future.
John R. Platt. What we must do. Science, 1969
What finally makes all of our crises still more dangerous
is that they are now coming on top of each other. Most administrations... are not prepared to deal with... multiple
crises, a crisis of crises all at one time... Every problem
may escalate because those involved no longer have time
to think straight.
Arnold Toynbee, Aspects of Psycho-history. Main Currents in Modem Thought, 1972
Society is not a crowd or cluster or clump of human
beings; it is a set of networks of relations between human
beings. Every human being is linked with others in a num-
ber of networks which are not mutually exclusive and are
also not coextensive with each other.
Donald Schon. What can we know about social change ? BBC Listener, 1970
The map of organizations or agencies that make up the
society is, as it were, a sort of clear overlay against a page
underneath it which represents the reality of the society.
And the overlay is always out of phase in relation to what's
underneath : at any given time there's always a mis-match
between the organisational map and the reality of problems
that people think are worth solving... There's basically no
social problem such that one can identify and control within
a single system all the elements required in order to attack
that problem. The result is that one is thrown back on the
knitting together of elements in networks which are not
controlled and where the network functions and the net-
work roles become critical.
J. Krishnamurti. The Urgency of Change. 1971
When anything becomes a problem we are caught in the so
lution of it. and then the problem becomes a cage, a barrier
to further exploration and understanding.
R.L. Ackoff. Systems, organizations, and interdisciplinary research. General Systems, 1960
... how is a practitioner of any one discipline to know in a
particular case if another discipline is better equipped to
handle the problem than is his ? It would be rare indeed if
a representative of any one of these disciplines did not feel
that his approach to a particular organizational problem
would be very fruitful, if not the most fruitful....
Editorial, Fortune, 1970
Because our strength is derived from the fragmented
mode of our knowledge and our action, we are relatively
helpless when we try to deal intelligently with such unities
as a city, an estuary's ecology, or the "quality of life".
Helmut Arntz, President, international Federation for Documentation, 1975
Today, as we have seen, information is not primarily the
triumphant standard of progress. It is the only means of
maintaining sufficient control of evolution in order that humanity, strengthened by its knowledge and experiences and
making appropriate use of all available information, can
always maintain itself ahead of any threat which may lead
to catastrophe.
McGeorge Bundy. Managing Knowledge to Save the En- vironment, US House of Representatives, 1970
The problem is that in most, if not all spheres of inquiry
and choice, quantities of raw information overwhelm in
magnitude the few comprehensive and trusted bodies or
systems of knowledge that have been perceived and elaborated by man... Where, for example, does the novice urban mayor turn to comprehend the dynamic inter-relationships between transportation, employment, technology,
pollution, private investment, and the public budget; between housing, nutrition, health, and individual motivation
and drive ? Where does the concerned citizen or Congressman interested in educational change go for the best available understanding of the relationship between communi-
cations, including new technology, and learning ?
P.F. Drucker. The Age of Discontinuity; guidelines to our changing society. 1968
The most probable assumption is that every single one
of the old demarcations, disciplines, and faculties is
going to become obsolete and a barrier to learning as well
as to understanding. The fact that we are shifting from a
Cartesian view of the universe, in which the accent has
been on parts and elements, to a configuration view, with
the emphasis on wholes and patterns, challenges every
single dividing line between areas of study and knowledge.
Lewis Mumford. The Transformations of Man. 1956
The development of a world culture concerns mankind at
large and each individual human-being. Every community
and society, every association and organization, has a part
to play in this transformation; and no domain of life will be
unaffected by it. This effort grows naturally out of the crisis
of our time : the need to redress the dangerous overdevelopment of technical organization and physical energies
by social and moral agencies equally far-reaching and
even more commanding. In that sense, the rise of world
culture comes as a measure to secure human survival. But
the process would lose no small part of its meaning were
it not also an effort to bring forth a more complete kind of
man than history has yet disclosed. That we need leadership and participation by unified personalities is clear; but
the human transformation would remain desirable and
valid, even if the need were not so imperative.
The kind of person called for by the present situation is
one capable of breaking through the boundaries of culture
and history, which have so far limited human growth. A person not indelibly marked by the tattooings of his tribe or
restricted by the taboos of his totem : not sewed up for life
in the stiff clothes of his caste and calling or encased in
vocational armor he cannot remove even when it endangers
his life. A person not kept by his religious dietary restrictions from sharing spiritual food that other men have found
nourishing; and finally, not prevented by his ideological
spectacles from ever getting more than a glimpse of the
world as it shows itself to men with other ideological spec-
tacles, or as it discloses itself to those who may, with increasing fe frequency, be able without glasses to achieve
normal vision.
The immediate object of world culture is to break through
the premature closures, the corrosive conflicts, and the
cyclical frustrations of history. This breakthrough would
enable modern man to take advantage, of the peculiar cir-
cumstances today that favor a universalism that earlier
periods could only dream about.
Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization
...that since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the
minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed... a peace based exclusively upon the political and
economic arrangements of governments would not be a
peace which could secure the unanimous, lasting and sin-
cere support of the peoples of the world....
Lewis Mumford. The Transformations of Man. 1956
The relations between world culture and the unified self
are reciprocal. The very possibility of achieving a world
order by other means than totalitarian enslavement and
automatism rests on the plentiful creation of unified personalities, at home with every part of themselves, and so
equally at home with the whole family of man, in all its
magnificent diversity... Without fostering such self-knowledge, balance, and creativity, a world culture might easily
become a compulsive nightmare.
Lancelot Law Whyte. The Next Development in Man. 1950
...the penalty for any principle which fails to express the
whole is the necessity to co-exist with its opposite.
René Maheu, former Director-General of Unesco. Address to a symposium on science and synthesis, 1967
...in face of the growing specialization of thought and action brought about by diversification in research and the
division of labour, Unesco has a duty to promote interdisciplinary activities and contacts and to encourage broad
views, in short, to emphasize the vital importance of the
spirit of synthesis for the health of our civilization. I say
vital advisedly since man -- and I mean his essence, which
is to say his judgement and his freedom of choice -- is
just as likely to be smothered by his knowledge as paralysed by the lack of it. Similarly, he is quite as likely to
lose his identity in the confusion of competing social pres-
sures as to atrophy in the condition known as under-developed.
Georges Gusdorf. Interdisciplinaire (connaissance). In : Encyclopedia Universalis
Interdisciplinary knowledge can only develop through
interdisciplinary education; it is a question of facilitating
the emergence of a new form of knowledge... Whilst opera-
ting according to the norms of his specific dimension, the
researcher must be able to encompass a mental space
vaster than the epistemological cell within which his rese-
arch runs the risk of confining him... The new understan-
ding must be based on an affirmation of the functional
unity of the human being as a focal point for all research
intentions in the different domains of knowledge... This
new understanding must be embodied in a new pedagogy,
oriented to compensating for the deficiencies of speciali-
zation by stressing the solidary unity of all domains of knowledge
Lawrence S. Kubie. The nature of psychological change
and its relation to cultural change. In : Ben Rothblatt (Ed.), Changing perspectives on Man. 1968
The fact which confronts us is that cultural change is
limited by the restrictions imposed on change in individual
human nature by concealed neurotic processes. At the
same time there is continuous cybernetic interplay between
culture and the individual, i.e. between the intra-psychic
processes which make for fluidity or rigidity within the in-
dividual and the external processes which make for fluidity
or rigidity in a culture. It would be naive to expect political
and ideological liberty to give internal liberty to the indivi-
dual citizen unless he had already won freedom from the
internal tyranny of his own neurotic mechanisms... There-
fore, insofar as man himself is neurotogenically restricted,
he will restrict the freedom to change of the society in
which he lives.
This interplay is sometimes clearly evident, sometimes
subtly concealed; but it is the heart of the solution of the
problem of human progress •.
Lewis Mumford. The Transformations of Man. 1956
Post-historic man, the wholly subservient creature of the
machine, dismally adapted to the pseudo-life of its mecha-
nical collectives, is a theoretic possibility, not a historic
probability. For the conflicts between the overrational and
the irrational, between the mechanized institutions and
atavistic men, are too great to promise more than an in-
creasingly erratic oscillation, ending in a final breakdown...
An apocalyptic termination of all human development
has become possible in our day... Man's principal task
today is to create a new self, adequate to command the
forces that now operate so aimlessly and yet so compulsi-
vely. This self will necessarily take as its province the
entire world, known and knowable, and will seek, not to
impose a mechanical uniformity, but to bring about an or-
ganic unity, based upon the fullest utilization of all the
varied resources that both nature and history have revealed
to modern man. Such a culture must be nourished, not only;
by a new vision of the whole, but a new vision of a self.
capable of understanding and co-operating with the whole.
In short, the moment for another great historic transforma-
tion has come. If we shrink from that effort we tacitly elect
the post-historic substitute.
The political unification of mankind cannot be realistically
conceived except as part of this effort at self-transformation -- without that aim we might produce uneasy balances
of power with a temporary easing of tensions, but no fullness of development.
Center for the Study at Social Policy of the Stanford Research Institute. Changing Images of Man. 1974
We can either involve ourselves in the recreative self and
societal discovery of an image of humankind appropriate
for our future, with attendant societal and personal consequences, or we can choose not to make any choice and,
instead, adapt to whatever fate, and the choices of others,
bring along.
Summary
In summary, it seems appropriate to attempt to bring together and interrelate within one framework information
on : the problems with which humanity perceives itself to
be faced; the organizational, human, and intellectual resources it believes it has at its disposal; the values by
which it is believed any change should be guided; and the
concepts of human development considered to be either
the means or the end of any such social transformation.
Problems, organizations, concepts and human development
are usually considered as though they were unrelated. But
it is necessary to have a progressively more integrated
conceptual structure in society before the interrelationships
between the newer problems can be perceived. Both are
needed before an attempt can be made to interrelate organizational units to handle the interlinked problems. Individual ability to tolerate and comprehend the complexity
and dynamism of these interrelationships is directly related
to the individuals' own degree of personal development.
Furthermore, a general increased integration in any of
these four domains will tend to increase integration in the
other three. Equally, progressive fragmentation in any of
the domains will provoke disintegrative tendencies in the
others.
Even if the constraints make it impossible to achieve a
satisfactory result through this particular exercise, it is to
be hoped that through the process outlined here it will be
possible to learn more about how information from very
diverse sources can be concentrated and structured to the
critical level required to provide the kind of integrative
overview necessary for all to develop a sufficiently complex
and strategically sound response to the world problems
complex as it is now emerging.
Preliminary results
Further comments on the results will
emerge from discussion with interested
bodies and individuals. The Yearbook
of World Problems and Human Potential is designed, in part, as a working
document to facilitate this process. Fu-
ture editions may incorporate more detailed comments on the results as well
as appropriate modifications in response to constructive criticism.
| Yearbook of World Problems and Human Potential: Databases and Items Profiled |
 |
Quantitative Summary of Information in Yearbook of world Problems and Human Potential
(Totals are for relationship pairs, not for cross-references) |
| . |
A |
C |
D |
E |
H |
J |
K |
M |
P |
Q |
S |
T |
V |
Total |
ENTRIES |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
— incorporated |
3300 |
241 |
1845 |
132 |
228 |
428 |
421 |
606 |
2653 |
77 |
1197 |
931 |
704 |
12763 |
— cross-referenced only |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
311 |
— |
— |
4791 |
698 |
— |
— |
— |
5800 |
TOTAL |
3300 |
241 |
1845 |
132 |
228 |
739 |
421 |
606 |
7444 |
775 |
1197 |
931 |
704 |
18563 |
INTRA-SERIES RELATIONSHIPS |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
Hierarchical |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
— contextual |
625 |
235 |
1417 |
157 |
. |
243 |
. |
. |
5013 |
— |
. |
. |
. |
. |
— component |
752 |
235 |
1417 |
157 |
. |
535 |
. |
. |
6612 |
698 |
. |
. |
. |
. |
— associated |
790 |
— |
983 |
— |
. |
— |
. |
. |
554 |
— |
. |
. |
. |
. |
Functional |
881 |
_ |
_ |
_ |
. |
_ |
. |
. |
6408 |
_ |
. |
. |
. |
. |
TOTAL INTRA-SERIES (*): |
(2423) |
(235) |
(2400) |
(157) |
. |
(535) |
. |
. |
(13574) |
(698) |
. |
. |
. |
(20022) |
INTER-SERIES RELATIONSHIPS |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
A International agencies
and associations |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
C Traded products and commodities |
203 |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
D Intellectual disciplines and sciences |
478 |
— |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
E Economic and industrial sectors |
109 |
516 |
— |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
H Human development concepts |
22 |
— |
22 |
— |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
J Occupations and jobs |
1284 |
— |
572 |
89 |
— |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
K Integrative and transdisciplinary concepts |
48 |
— |
54 |
— |
7 |
— |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
M Multinational corporations |
— |
480 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
P World problems |
1036 |
122 |
1282 |
39 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
Q Human diseases |
91 |
_ |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
197 |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
S International periodicals and serials |
193 |
— |
1440 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
151. |
— |
. |
. |
. |
. |
T Multilateral treaties and agreements |
536 |
27 |
— |
13 |
— |
46 |
— |
— |
227 |
— |
— |
. |
. |
. |
V Human values |
614 |
_ |
_ |
_ |
37 |
_ |
47 |
_ |
353 |
— |
— |
83 |
. |
. |
TOTAL INTER-SERIES C) : |
4614 |
1348 |
3848 |
766 |
88 |
1991 |
156 |
480 |
3407 |
288 |
1784 |
932 |
1134 |
(10433) |
TOTAL RELATIONSHIPS C) : |
(7037) |
(1583] |
(6248) |
(923) |
88 |
(2526) |
156 |
480 |
(16981) |
(986) |
1784 |
932 |
1134 |
(30455) |
Interesting questions
Interesting questions that emerged
during the course of work on this project include :
- How can networks of relationships
be analyzed systematically as networks
to determine what are the most important focal points for action, and what
different meanings could then be
attached to "importance" ?
- How can comprehension of complexity be improved without artificially
forcing relationships into (definitive)
hierarchical groupings, thus doing
violence to any inter-hierarchical linkages ?
- Might it not be useful to investigate
the result of using the mathematical
technique to convert relationships between points into points in a network ?
Useful insights may then emerge from
being able to switch between the perception of problems as linked in a nework of relationships and the perception of problems as relationships which
intersect at certain points.
- Given that the number, variety and
relationships of human diseases, and
the nature of their effects on the individual are now well understood, do they
not suggest ways for organizing thought
about the range and variety of psycho-
social problems and their impact on
the psycho-social system ?
- Is it as ecologically inappropriate to
ask the question: "What are the five
most important problems (organizations,
etc) in the social system" as it is to
ask the question "What are the five
most important animals (plants, etc.)
in the natural environment"?
- Can the relationships between problems for between organizations) be
usefully conceived as analogous to the
food chains and trophic levels within
which animals are embedded ? Does
this help to suggest why different kinds
of problems emerge as being of major
importance at different times ? How
might the evolution of problems and
problem systems be conceived in this
light ?
- From what is the stability of a "problem ecosystem" (as it might emerge
from the previous point) derived ? Is it
useful to distinguish between degrees
of (negative) maturity of problem ecosystems and to attempt to determine the
amount of energy required to maintain
them ? Is anything suggested for better
understanding of problem systems by
the (act that a highly diversified ecosystem has the capacity for carrying a
high amount of organization and information and requires relatively little
energy to maintain it, whereas, conver-
sely, the lower the maturity of the system, the less the energy required to
disrupt it (as emphasized by R. Margalef) ? Thus anything that keeps an ecosystem oscillating (or"spastic"), retains it in a state of low maturity,
whence the possible danger of simplis-
tic reorganization of organizational,
conceptual or value systems. Is the
problem of understanding and organizing the maturation of natural ecosystems of a similar form to that of understanding and organizing the disruption
of problem ecosystems?
- Given the absence of sufficient comparable information to produce sensitive, widely acceptable, quantitative
world models covering all aspects of
the psycho-social system, to what ex-
tent can increasing the number and
variety of non-quantitative relationships
and entities documented lead to valuable insights of greater acceptability ?
In other words, to what extent can
knowing less about more (and organizing that knowledge) compensate for
not being able to know more about
less ? Can any relationships be established between the amount of information, the type (quantitative, structured
or unstructured, qualitative), the manner of representation, and its degree
of acceptability ?
- To what extent is the complexity of
the problem system with which humanity is faced greater than that which its
organizational and intellectual resour-
ces are capable of handling ? Worse,
is there a widespread unacknowledged
preference for simplifying the representation of complex problem (and other) systems down to less than 10
elements so that they lend themselves
to easy debate In public and in a policy-making environment (as might be
suggested by some of the work of communication psychologist George Miller) ?
Are organizational and conceptual resources then marshalled and structured
to match the problem system as simplified rather than to handle it in its
more dangerous complexity, thus running the (unacknowledged) risk of
leaving the problems uncontained and
uncontainable by the resources available ? Does this suggest a corollary
to Ashby's Law of Requisite Variety which might read : That any attempt
to control a psycho-social system with
a control system of less complexity
(i.e. of less variety) than that of the
psycho-social system itself can only
be made to succeed by suppressing or
ignoring the variety (i.e. reducing the
diversity) in the psycho-social system
so that it is less than the relative simplicity of the control system ? Such
attempts tend to breed violence, however.
| Crisis and Opportunity |
 |
The Chinese symbol opposite represents"crisis"or a"critical turning point". It is composed of an upper character representing"danger"and a lower character associated with the notions of"organic complexity","intricate systems","hidden opportunity"and"and evolutionary change".
It is reproduced here because this Yearbook of World Problems and Human Potential also attempts to embody these seemingly incompatible dimensions in an equally positive manner. It therefore identifies the multiplicity of dangers to society, but it also highlights the interlocking complexity of the existing organizational, intellectual and personal resources. This contains the concealed opportunity for creative change and the opportunity for appropriate response to the crisis of crises. |
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