Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential
Encyclopedia
The Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential is published by the Union of International Associations
(UIA) under the direction of Anthony Judge
. It is available as a three-volume book, as a CD-ROM, and online.
The Encyclopedia was started in 1972 and now comprises more than 100,000 entries and 700,000 links, as well as 500 pages of notes and commentaries. It was done by a small team at the UIA with connections to international organization
s and a long tradition of excellence regarding information science
. The Encyclopedia collects information on problem
s, strategies
, value
s, concepts of human development
, and various intellectual resources.
s which constitute the backbone of the Encyclopedia. The databases are searchable; query results may be seen as lists or as various visualization
s.
The Encyclopedia online databases consist of over 100,000 entries (also called profiles) and 700,000 links. An entry, for instance War, may include the following elements:
1) name, alternative names, nature or definition, background or context, incidence (for problems) or implementation (for strategies), claim of importance, counter-claim, quotations or aphorisms (for values);
2) links to the same database entries that are more general (broader), more specific (narrower), related (in some as yet unspecified manner), preceding (aggravating or reducing problems, constraining or facilitating strategies, prior modes of awareness), following (aggravated or reduced problems, constrained or facilitated strategies, subsequent modes of awareness);
3) cross-reference links, mainly between entries in the Problems, Strategies, Values, and Development databases;
4) links to entries in other UIA databases, mainly the International Organizations database;
5) reference links to entries in the Bibliography (issues) database;
6) links to relevant websites.
A first objective of the editors in that project is to collect and present information on the following topics: 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; the concepts of human development considered to be either the means or the end of any such social transformation. A second objective is to clarify the conceptual challenge of interrelating such plentiful and disparate or even contradictory information. A third objective is to enable alternation between viewpoints from different cultures, ideologies, beliefs and even "facts", as a way for individuals and societies to become empowered with an appropriate response to the problematic conditions of the moment.
It is the disagreement amongst the advocates of different approaches to problems or solutions which hinders the formation of any consensual strategy and the mobilization of adequate resources. That is why the Encyclopedia uses an approach that is as general and minimally structured as is feasible without losing coherence and utility. The intent is first to contribute to clarify the nature, extent, and interrelationships of problems and solutions. Even the distinction between problems and solutions is not always clear. For instance, housing an increasing number of people is a solution that may aggravate the problem of urban overcrowding, and the death of individuals is a problem that contributes to the solution of reducing ecological impact of overpopulation.
The Encyclopedia databases are much about how problems, strategies, values, development concepts, and organizations are linked together. As a result, the possibility of focusing on feedback loops
has proven to be an important feature of the Encyclopedia, and a program has been carried out to identify "vicious problem loops". A vicious problem loop is a chain of problems, each aggravating the next, and with the last looping back to aggravate the first in the chain. Here is an example: Man-made disasters, Vulnerability of ecosystem niches, Natural environment degradation, Shortage of natural resources, Unbridled competition for scarce resources, Man-made disasters. Solutions that focus on only one problem in a chain may fail or even be harmful, because the cycle has the capacity to regenerate itself, and also because several cycles may interlock, forming tangled skeins of interlinked global problems. The loop detection program detected more than 50,000 loops (of up to 9 elements) in more than 12,000 problem profiles. It is thought that a similar work could be done about mutually facilitating or constraining strategy loops, so as to constitute a dynamic response to aggravating or reducing loops of problems through a circle of matching strategies.
That project endeavors to present all the phenomena in society that are perceived negatively by groups transcending national frontiers. Those phenomena constitute a challenge to creative remedial action. Groups are strongly motivated by the problem
s that infringe their values and arouse their indignation. As such, problems are a major stimulus driving the development of society. Although there is agreement that problems are numerous and that many are really serious, little effort has been made to determine how many problems there are. Likewise, while it is becoming increasingly evident that problems interact with one another, and constitute complex networks or systems, little effort has been made to map that complexity
. The perceptions documented in that project raise useful questions concerning the nature and existence of problems, especially when other groups consider that one perception or another is irrelevant, misleading or misinformed. An aim of that research area, then, is to assemble information whose significance
is collectively repressed, displaced onto some less threatening problems, or projected in the form of blame
onto some other social group.
Views concerning problems are extremely varied. Several pages in the notes and commentaries deal with that variety. Problems are agenda items for assemblies or conferences; action targets for organizations; issues for political parties or governments; events or topics for the media; markets for businesses; sins for religions; puzzles for sciences. Problems can be viewed as synonymous with chaos and disorder, or as elements in an ordered array; as static or dynamic entities; as discrete or continuous phenomena; as objective things or subjective experiences; as directly experienceable phenomena or as indirect implications of seemingly innocent phenomena; as inherently comprehensible or incomprehensible entities; as the results of due processes or as spontaneous phenomena. For many people in the West problems may be considered as artifacts of concerned minds, about which reason, principles, or history are relevant, while in the East to conceive of life as presenting problems to be solved may be seen as a misconception of life. Other pages of notes and commentaries deal extensively with the variety of points of view under headings such as Approaches to problems, Beyond the problem-lobby mindset, or Problem perception and levels of awareness.
That project aims at identifying the complete range of strategies
perceived by constituencies acting at the international level.
The conventional way of addressing any problem situation is to elaborate a strategy, but given the number, variety and interrelationships of the problems, it is uncertain whether any conventional strategy could be adequate. In general, many groups have "answers" to the current crisis. The proponents of each such answer naturally attach special importance to their own as being of crucial relevance at this time, or even as being the only appropriate basis for a viable world society in the future. However, that focus on "answer production", a vital moving force in society, obscures the manner in which such answers, in the absence of integration between them, undermine each other’s significance.
It appears to the editors that the elements of the strategic challenge at this time include:
The strategic problem therefore is how to ensure that the appropriate organizational resources emerge, and are supported with appropriate conceptual tools, in response to emerging problem complexes. But it would seem that this must be achieved without organizing such response – for to the extent that any part of the network is organized, other parts will develop (and probably should develop) which favor alternative approaches. The challenge is therefore to clarify the conditions of a network strategy, i.e. an approach which facilitates or catalyses (rather than organizes) the development of organizational networks in response to problem networks, in the light of values perceived in various parts of the social system.
Many pages of notes and commentaries describe in details various approaches to global strategies, and their limits. Such are Strategic ecosystem: beyond "The Plan", Governance (a series of pages on reports from the Club of Rome
, the Commission on Global Governance
, and four others groups), Strategic denial: action inhibition, Post-crisis opportunities: range of strategies, and Post-crisis opportunities: strategies in chaos. A long series of pages explores how to "move beyond the unimodal answer and recognize that because each form of action has both strengths and weaknesses, the key to a more effectively multimodal answer lies in finding how to interrelate the various unimodal answers so that they correct for each others weaknesses and counteract each others excesses.” But, it must also be asked, is integrated action of any type feasible at this time? The exploration begins with Strategic appropriateness: questionable answers, and finishes with Action implications: consensus, uncertainty and action formulation. Conditions for progress in strategy-making are more explicitly brought up in pages such as Strategic ecosystem: integrating constraint and opposition, and Post-crisis opportunities: in quest of radical coherence.
That project aims at registering a complete range of value
s with which people identify, to which they are attracted or which they reject as abhorrent. The notion of wisdom
is explored as a way, an art, of dealing with value dilemmas. For instance, Complexity: understanding value systems is a text that looks at values through a positive interpretation, a negative interpretation, a paradoxical negative interpretation of the positive, and a paradoxical positive interpretation of the negative. Another text, Insights: wisdom and requisite variety, gives a list of several sources of wisdom which, in interrelation, may be required in a value system to ensure the long-term viability of a complex society.
The purpose of that project is to provide profiles of human development
approaches and modes of awareness
, and their relationships, as perceived by different beliefs systems, disciplines, religions, and cultures. Much of the material in this section is about the limitations of language in expressing levels of significance beyond that which can be effectively captured by words, so that, seemingly, what we need to understand may only be expressible in a "language" that we do not know! That paradox is explored in a page entitled Language and the reconstruction of reality. Other challenges relative to human potential and development are explored in pages such as Phases of human development through challenging problems, or Barriers to transcendent insight and social transformation.
The purpose of that project is to review the range of communication possibilities of metaphor
, pattern
and symbol
. New conceptual tools are required to configure very large quantities of information into patterns that are both memorable and meaningful, and metaphor is often the only means to deal comprehensibly with complexity. Moreover, exploring “new ways of thinking” in the light of enhanced mental imagery (or mental model
) appears indispensable inasmuch as furthering “mobilization of public opinion” and the “political will to change” is dependent upon insights that are too complex to be easily communicable. For instance, limitations of dualistic
thinking are well-known and holistic
approaches may represent more desirable alternatives, but how is it possible to implement such alternatives? The page Challenge: transcending the "switch" metaphor deals with that question.
The purpose of that project is to assemble descriptions of the range of conceptual approaches which are considered integrative and which are held by some international constituencies to provide a key for strategic response to the global problematique. Buzzwords like "global", "networking" and "systematic" are often used as magical "words-of-power". Nevertheless, in a society characterized by specialization, fragmentation, disparateness, or opposition, integrative approaches until now have proved inadequate or too difficult to implement. In order to go beyond that difficulty, it seems necessary to creatively introduce novelties, such as a science or art of disagreement that could clarify how to disagree intelligently rather than do so in a mindless manner requiring some form of violent or repressive reaction to eliminate the disagreement as soon as possible. There is a wide variety of initiatives pertaining to integrative knowledge
and transdisciplinarity
, and a page like Significance: previous, parallel or related initiatives presents several of them. With regard to interdisciplinary relationships between organizations, problems, strategies, values and human development, there is the Integrative Matrix of Human Preoccupations which has been developed by the editors and which allows to deal with all those elements in an exploratory fashion.
The purpose of that project is to provide a context for the presentation of new approaches to the challenges highlighted by the information in the other projects. The emphasis is on configuring information in new ways, through a variety of accessible techniques, so as to allow easier navigation through complexity
, and to evoke imaginative insights in response to it. The Overview page presents about forty of those approaches or techniques, including interactive database use, q-analysis
, information visualization
, confidence artistry
, tensegrity
organization, I Ching
, transformative conferencing
, or marriage between poetry and policy-making
.
Work on the first edition started with funds from Mankind 2000, matching those of the UIA
. The publisher Klaus Saur, of Munich, provided funds, in conjunction with those from the UIA, for work on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions. Seed funding for the third volume of the 4th edition was also provided on behalf of Mankind 2000. In the nineties, seed funding was provided, again on behalf of Mankind 2000, for computer equipment which subsequently allowed the UIA to develop a large website and make progressively available for free the Encyclopedia databases as from the 1994–1995 edition. In turn, this proven knowledge management
capacity enabled the UIA, on the initiative of Nadia McLaren, a consultant ecologist who has been a primary editor for the Encyclopedia, to successfully instigate two multi-partner projects funded by the European Union, with matching funds from the UIA. The work done through those two projects, Ecolynx: Information Context for Biodiversity Conservation (mainly) and Interactive Health Ecology Access Links, eventually resulted in what amounted to a fifth, web-based, edition of the Encyclopedia in 2000. In their own ways, two other persons in particular effectively supported the project over the years: Robert Jungk
of Mankind 2000, and Christian de Laet of the UIA.
The Encyclopedia was the fruit of a continuing processing of documents gathered from many of the thousands of the international organization
s profiled in the Yearbook of International Organizations
. Many such bodies regularly produce a wide range of material on the areas of their concern, many regularly send documents to the UIA, and many, when requested more specifically, supplied documents for the Encyclopedia. The following organizations provided documents in the greatest quantity: FAO, ILO, UNICEF, UNESCO, UNCTD, WHO, Commonwealth Secretariat, Council of Europe, OECD, World Bank group. Furthermore, the United Nations Library in Geneva facilitated access to other material over two decades. The Institute of Cultural Affairs International
was contractually associated at one point to the edition and other aspects of the Encyclopedia project. The Goals, Processes and Indicators of Development project (led by Johan Galtung
) of the United Nations University, in which Anthony Judge participated on behalf of the UIA between 1978 and 1982, was an experience of learning and research that had a significant impact on the editorial content of the Encyclopedia. Another noticeable influence came from futures studies, with which Judge has long been associated. He reports in Encyclopedia Illusions how the narrow focus of the Club of Rome
on a few socio-economic aspects of futures research prompted the much vaster exploration concerning world problems and human potential.
Anthony Judge was the architect and managing editor of the Encyclopedia. He was also the main author of the notes and commentaries. The principal editors over the years have been, for different editions, Jon Jenkins and Maureen Jenkins (who had also worked at the Institute of Cultural Affairs), Owen Victor, Jacqueline Nebel, Nadia McLaren, and Tomáš Fülöpp. There were also enthusiastic editorial contributions from volunteers. All people related to the UIA who worked directly on one or more of the five Encyclopedia editions figure on a list that can be found online under the heading Associates of the Union of Intelligible Associations. This is because in 2005, following disagreement over the partnership contract, Anthony Judge, as Executive Secretary of Mankind 2000, reframed the Encyclopedia as having been a strategic initiative of the Union of Intelligible Associations.
Tomáš Fülöpp is currently responsible for the technical maintenance of the Encyclopedia databases at the UIA.
Union of International Associations
The Union of International Associations is a non-profit non-governmental organization researching, under UN mandate, the global civil society and publishing information on international organizations, international meetings, world problems, etc. Headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium...
(UIA) under the direction of Anthony Judge
Anthony Judge
Anthony Judge, is mainly known for his career at the Union of International Associations , where he has been Director of Communications and Research, as well as Assistant Secretary-General...
. It is available as a three-volume book, as a CD-ROM, and online.
The Encyclopedia was started in 1972 and now comprises more than 100,000 entries and 700,000 links, as well as 500 pages of notes and commentaries. It was done by a small team at the UIA with connections to international organization
International organization
An intergovernmental organization, sometimes rendered as an international governmental organization and both abbreviated as IGO, is an organization composed primarily of sovereign states , or of other intergovernmental organizations...
s and a long tradition of excellence regarding information science
Information science
-Introduction:Information science is an interdisciplinary science primarily concerned with the analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information...
. The Encyclopedia collects information on problem
Problem
A problem is an obstacle, impediment, difficulty or challenge, or any situation that invites resolution; the resolution of which is recognized as a solution or contribution toward a known purpose or goal...
s, strategies
Strategy
Strategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked...
, value
Value
Value or values may refer to:Concepts of worth:* Value theory – overview of approaches in various disciplines* Value ** Value * Value ** Theory of value ** Value investing...
s, concepts of human development
Personal development
Personal development includes activities that improve awareness and identity, develop talents and potential, build human capital and facilitates employability, enhance quality of life and contribute to the realization of dreams and aspirations...
, and various intellectual resources.
Databases, entries, and interlinks
The Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential is made up from a data gathered from many sources. Those data are grouped into various databaseDatabase
A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
s which constitute the backbone of the Encyclopedia. The databases are searchable; query results may be seen as lists or as various visualization
Visualization
The term visualization or visualisation may refer to:* Creative visualization* Flow visualization* Geovisualization* Illustration* Information graphics, visual representations of information, data, or knowledge* Information visualization...
s.
List of databases
- World ProblemProblemA problem is an obstacle, impediment, difficulty or challenge, or any situation that invites resolution; the resolution of which is recognized as a solution or contribution toward a known purpose or goal...
s – Issues is a database with 56,000+ entries and 276,000+ links.
Basic universal problems include danger, lack of information, social injustice, war, environmental degradation.
Cross-sectoral problems include animal suffering, irresponsible nationalism, soil degradation.
Detailed problems include detention of mothers, epidemics, white-collar crime.
Emanations of other problems include terrorism targeted against tourists, injustice of mass trials, threatened species of Caudata.
Fuzzy exceptional problems include blaming victims, pacifism, unconstrained free trade.
Very specific problems include blue baby, tomato mottle virus, costly uniforms.
Problems under consideration include feminist backlash, mudslide.
Suspect problems include threatened species of Zapus hudsonius preblei, uncommitted volunteer workers.
- Global StrategiesStrategyStrategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked...
– Solutions is a database with 32,000+ entries and 284,000 links.
Abstract fundamental strategies include compromising, transcending, providing.
Basic universal strategies include eliminating discrimination, combating desertification, reducing unemployment.
Cross-sectoral strategies include orienting economic policy toward social need, managing crises.
Detailed strategies include establishing national government NGO departments, using psychological warfare.
Emanations of other strategies include lifting restrictions on human rights advocacy, reviewing provisions of the UN Charter.
Exceptional strategies include begging, rechanneling expenditures on defence, advocating nihilism.
Very specific strategies include working with young people, undertaking public works.
Unconfirmed strategies include abolishing zoos, ventilating air through buildings.
Provisional strategies include developing chest radiology, preserving internal political borders.
Strategy polarities include deepening-shallowing, intuiting-reasoning, supporting-opposing.
Strategy roles include advisor, traitor, confessor.
Strategy types or complexes include communication, judgement, time.
- Human ValuesValue (personal and cultural)A personal or cultural value is an absolute or relative ethical value, the assumption of which can be the basis for ethical action. A value system is a set of consistent values and measures. A principle value is a foundation upon which other values and measures of integrity are based...
is a database with 3,200+ entries and 119,000+ links.
Constructive values include peace, harmony, beauty.
Destructive values include conflict, depravity, ugliness.
Value polarities include agreement-disagreement, freedom-restraint, pleasure-displeasure.
Value clusters include feeling complex, interaction complex, communication complex.
- Human DevelopmentPersonal developmentPersonal development includes activities that improve awareness and identity, develop talents and potential, build human capital and facilitates employability, enhance quality of life and contribute to the realization of dreams and aspirations...
is a database with 4,800+ entries and 19,000+ links.
Concepts of human development include vocational training, benevolence, emancipation of the self.
Modes of awareness include compassion, sense of shame, conviction, sense of humor.
- PatternPatternA pattern, from the French patron, is a type of theme of recurring events or objects, sometimes referred to as elements of a set of objects.These elements repeat in a predictable manner...
s and MetaphorMetaphorA metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
s is a database with 1,200+ entries and 4,500+ links.
Communication: Forms of presentation include animation, statistical indicators, prophecy.
Metaphors include ball games, sexual intercourse, personification, stick and carrot processes.
Patterns (Christopher Alexander) include encirclement, internal connectedness between domains, partially isolated contexts.
Symbols include birds, food-related objects, sacred calendar.
Transformative conferencing includes aggressive participant type, lecture, team roles.
Transformative metaphors (I Ching) include creativity, receptivity, inexperience.
- BibliographyBibliographyBibliography , as a practice, is the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology...
(issues) is a database with 16,000+ entries and 24,000+ links. - Integrative ConceptsIntegrative thinkingIntegrative Thinking is a field in Applied Mind Science which was originated by [Graham Douglas] in 1986.-Definition:Integrative thinking is a discipline and methodology for solving complex or wicked problems...
is a database with 600+ entries and no links. Entries include design, meta-language, science policy. - Network VisualizationsInformation visualizationInformation visualization is the interdisciplinary study of "the visual representation of large-scale collections of non-numerical information, such as files and lines of code in software systems, library and bibliographic databases, networks of relations on the internet, and so forth".- Overview...
is a database featuring a collection of documents added from 2001 to the present.
Entries and links
The Encyclopedia online databases consist of over 100,000 entries (also called profiles) and 700,000 links. An entry, for instance War, may include the following elements:
1) name, alternative names, nature or definition, background or context, incidence (for problems) or implementation (for strategies), claim of importance, counter-claim, quotations or aphorisms (for values);
2) links to the same database entries that are more general (broader), more specific (narrower), related (in some as yet unspecified manner), preceding (aggravating or reducing problems, constraining or facilitating strategies, prior modes of awareness), following (aggravated or reduced problems, constrained or facilitated strategies, subsequent modes of awareness);
3) cross-reference links, mainly between entries in the Problems, Strategies, Values, and Development databases;
4) links to entries in other UIA databases, mainly the International Organizations database;
5) reference links to entries in the Bibliography (issues) database;
6) links to relevant websites.
Encyclopedia of world problems and human potential project
A first objective of the editors in that project is to collect and present information on the following topics: 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; the concepts of human development considered to be either the means or the end of any such social transformation. A second objective is to clarify the conceptual challenge of interrelating such plentiful and disparate or even contradictory information. A third objective is to enable alternation between viewpoints from different cultures, ideologies, beliefs and even "facts", as a way for individuals and societies to become empowered with an appropriate response to the problematic conditions of the moment.
It is the disagreement amongst the advocates of different approaches to problems or solutions which hinders the formation of any consensual strategy and the mobilization of adequate resources. That is why the Encyclopedia uses an approach that is as general and minimally structured as is feasible without losing coherence and utility. The intent is first to contribute to clarify the nature, extent, and interrelationships of problems and solutions. Even the distinction between problems and solutions is not always clear. For instance, housing an increasing number of people is a solution that may aggravate the problem of urban overcrowding, and the death of individuals is a problem that contributes to the solution of reducing ecological impact of overpopulation.
The Encyclopedia databases are much about how problems, strategies, values, development concepts, and organizations are linked together. As a result, the possibility of focusing on feedback loops
Feedback
Feedback describes the situation when output from an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or occurrences of the same Feedback describes the situation when output from (or information about the result of) an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or...
has proven to be an important feature of the Encyclopedia, and a program has been carried out to identify "vicious problem loops". A vicious problem loop is a chain of problems, each aggravating the next, and with the last looping back to aggravate the first in the chain. Here is an example: Man-made disasters, Vulnerability of ecosystem niches, Natural environment degradation, Shortage of natural resources, Unbridled competition for scarce resources, Man-made disasters. Solutions that focus on only one problem in a chain may fail or even be harmful, because the cycle has the capacity to regenerate itself, and also because several cycles may interlock, forming tangled skeins of interlinked global problems. The loop detection program detected more than 50,000 loops (of up to 9 elements) in more than 12,000 problem profiles. It is thought that a similar work could be done about mutually facilitating or constraining strategy loops, so as to constitute a dynamic response to aggravating or reducing loops of problems through a circle of matching strategies.
World problems and global issues
That project endeavors to present all the phenomena in society that are perceived negatively by groups transcending national frontiers. Those phenomena constitute a challenge to creative remedial action. Groups are strongly motivated by the problem
Problem
A problem is an obstacle, impediment, difficulty or challenge, or any situation that invites resolution; the resolution of which is recognized as a solution or contribution toward a known purpose or goal...
s that infringe their values and arouse their indignation. As such, problems are a major stimulus driving the development of society. Although there is agreement that problems are numerous and that many are really serious, little effort has been made to determine how many problems there are. Likewise, while it is becoming increasingly evident that problems interact with one another, and constitute complex networks or systems, little effort has been made to map that complexity
Complexity
In general usage, complexity tends to be used to characterize something with many parts in intricate arrangement. The study of these complex linkages is the main goal of complex systems theory. In science there are at this time a number of approaches to characterizing complexity, many of which are...
. The perceptions documented in that project raise useful questions concerning the nature and existence of problems, especially when other groups consider that one perception or another is irrelevant, misleading or misinformed. An aim of that research area, then, is to assemble information whose significance
Significance
Significance can refer to:with purpose and importance* Meaning** In semiotics, the meaning assigned to a sign* Significant figures or significant digits, the precision of a numerical value* Significance , a stock issue in policy debate...
is collectively repressed, displaced onto some less threatening problems, or projected in the form of blame
Blame
Blame is the act of censuring, holding responsible, making negative statements about an individual or group that their action or actions are socially or morally irresponsible, the opposite of praise. When someone is morally responsible for doing something wrong their action is blameworthy...
onto some other social group.
Views concerning problems are extremely varied. Several pages in the notes and commentaries deal with that variety. Problems are agenda items for assemblies or conferences; action targets for organizations; issues for political parties or governments; events or topics for the media; markets for businesses; sins for religions; puzzles for sciences. Problems can be viewed as synonymous with chaos and disorder, or as elements in an ordered array; as static or dynamic entities; as discrete or continuous phenomena; as objective things or subjective experiences; as directly experienceable phenomena or as indirect implications of seemingly innocent phenomena; as inherently comprehensible or incomprehensible entities; as the results of due processes or as spontaneous phenomena. For many people in the West problems may be considered as artifacts of concerned minds, about which reason, principles, or history are relevant, while in the East to conceive of life as presenting problems to be solved may be seen as a misconception of life. Other pages of notes and commentaries deal extensively with the variety of points of view under headings such as Approaches to problems, Beyond the problem-lobby mindset, or Problem perception and levels of awareness.
Global strategies and solutions
That project aims at identifying the complete range of strategies
Strategy
Strategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked...
perceived by constituencies acting at the international level.
The conventional way of addressing any problem situation is to elaborate a strategy, but given the number, variety and interrelationships of the problems, it is uncertain whether any conventional strategy could be adequate. In general, many groups have "answers" to the current crisis. The proponents of each such answer naturally attach special importance to their own as being of crucial relevance at this time, or even as being the only appropriate basis for a viable world society in the future. However, that focus on "answer production", a vital moving force in society, obscures the manner in which such answers, in the absence of integration between them, undermine each other’s significance.
It appears to the editors that the elements of the strategic challenge at this time include:
- a vast and changing network of perceived problems, on which no single body has (or possibly could have) adequate control;
- a vast and changing network of conceptual tools and knowledge resources, which is not (and possibly could not be) controlled by any single body;
- a vast and changing networkSocial networkA social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...
of agencies, organizations, groups and active individuals spanning every conceivable human interest and extending from the community level to the international level, and on which no single body has (or possibly could or should have) adequate control.
The strategic problem therefore is how to ensure that the appropriate organizational resources emerge, and are supported with appropriate conceptual tools, in response to emerging problem complexes. But it would seem that this must be achieved without organizing such response – for to the extent that any part of the network is organized, other parts will develop (and probably should develop) which favor alternative approaches. The challenge is therefore to clarify the conditions of a network strategy, i.e. an approach which facilitates or catalyses (rather than organizes) the development of organizational networks in response to problem networks, in the light of values perceived in various parts of the social system.
Many pages of notes and commentaries describe in details various approaches to global strategies, and their limits. Such are Strategic ecosystem: beyond "The Plan", Governance (a series of pages on reports from the Club of Rome
Club of Rome
The Club of Rome is a global think tank that deals with a variety of international political issues. Founded in 1968 at Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, Italy, the CoR describes itself as "a group of world citizens, sharing a common concern for the future of humanity." It consists of current and...
, the Commission on Global Governance
Commission on Global Governance
The Commission on Global Governance was an organization co-chaired by Swedish Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson, and former Commonwealth Secretary-General Shridath Ramphal, that produced a controversial report, Our Global Neighborhood, in 1995 . The report was attacked by pro-sovereignty groups for...
, and four others groups), Strategic denial: action inhibition, Post-crisis opportunities: range of strategies, and Post-crisis opportunities: strategies in chaos. A long series of pages explores how to "move beyond the unimodal answer and recognize that because each form of action has both strengths and weaknesses, the key to a more effectively multimodal answer lies in finding how to interrelate the various unimodal answers so that they correct for each others weaknesses and counteract each others excesses.” But, it must also be asked, is integrated action of any type feasible at this time? The exploration begins with Strategic appropriateness: questionable answers, and finishes with Action implications: consensus, uncertainty and action formulation. Conditions for progress in strategy-making are more explicitly brought up in pages such as Strategic ecosystem: integrating constraint and opposition, and Post-crisis opportunities: in quest of radical coherence.
Human values and wisdom
That project aims at registering a complete range of value
Value
Value or values may refer to:Concepts of worth:* Value theory – overview of approaches in various disciplines* Value ** Value * Value ** Theory of value ** Value investing...
s with which people identify, to which they are attracted or which they reject as abhorrent. The notion of wisdom
Wisdom
Wisdom is a deep understanding and realization of people, things, events or situations, resulting in the ability to apply perceptions, judgements and actions in keeping with this understanding. It often requires control of one's emotional reactions so that universal principles, reason and...
is explored as a way, an art, of dealing with value dilemmas. For instance, Complexity: understanding value systems is a text that looks at values through a positive interpretation, a negative interpretation, a paradoxical negative interpretation of the positive, and a paradoxical positive interpretation of the negative. Another text, Insights: wisdom and requisite variety, gives a list of several sources of wisdom which, in interrelation, may be required in a value system to ensure the long-term viability of a complex society.
Human potential and development
The purpose of that project is to provide profiles of human development
Personal development
Personal development includes activities that improve awareness and identity, develop talents and potential, build human capital and facilitates employability, enhance quality of life and contribute to the realization of dreams and aspirations...
approaches and modes of awareness
Consciousness
Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
, and their relationships, as perceived by different beliefs systems, disciplines, religions, and cultures. Much of the material in this section is about the limitations of language in expressing levels of significance beyond that which can be effectively captured by words, so that, seemingly, what we need to understand may only be expressible in a "language" that we do not know! That paradox is explored in a page entitled Language and the reconstruction of reality. Other challenges relative to human potential and development are explored in pages such as Phases of human development through challenging problems, or Barriers to transcendent insight and social transformation.
Patterns and metaphors
The purpose of that project is to review the range of communication possibilities of metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
, pattern
Pattern
A pattern, from the French patron, is a type of theme of recurring events or objects, sometimes referred to as elements of a set of objects.These elements repeat in a predictable manner...
and symbol
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
. New conceptual tools are required to configure very large quantities of information into patterns that are both memorable and meaningful, and metaphor is often the only means to deal comprehensibly with complexity. Moreover, exploring “new ways of thinking” in the light of enhanced mental imagery (or mental model
Mental model
A mental model is an explanation of someone's thought process about how something works in the real world. It is a representation of the surrounding world, the relationships between its various parts and a person's intuitive perception about his or her own acts and their consequences...
) appears indispensable inasmuch as furthering “mobilization of public opinion” and the “political will to change” is dependent upon insights that are too complex to be easily communicable. For instance, limitations of dualistic
Dualism
Dualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...
thinking are well-known and holistic
Holism
Holism is the idea that all the properties of a given system cannot be determined or explained by its component parts alone...
approaches may represent more desirable alternatives, but how is it possible to implement such alternatives? The page Challenge: transcending the "switch" metaphor deals with that question.
Integrative knowledge and transdisciplinarity
The purpose of that project is to assemble descriptions of the range of conceptual approaches which are considered integrative and which are held by some international constituencies to provide a key for strategic response to the global problematique. Buzzwords like "global", "networking" and "systematic" are often used as magical "words-of-power". Nevertheless, in a society characterized by specialization, fragmentation, disparateness, or opposition, integrative approaches until now have proved inadequate or too difficult to implement. In order to go beyond that difficulty, it seems necessary to creatively introduce novelties, such as a science or art of disagreement that could clarify how to disagree intelligently rather than do so in a mindless manner requiring some form of violent or repressive reaction to eliminate the disagreement as soon as possible. There is a wide variety of initiatives pertaining to integrative knowledge
Integrative thinking
Integrative Thinking is a field in Applied Mind Science which was originated by [Graham Douglas] in 1986.-Definition:Integrative thinking is a discipline and methodology for solving complex or wicked problems...
and transdisciplinarity
Transdisciplinarity
Transdisciplinarity connotes a research strategy that crosses many disciplinary boundaries to create a holistic approach. It applies to research efforts focused on problems that cross the boundaries of two or more disciplines, such as research on effective information systems for biomedical...
, and a page like Significance: previous, parallel or related initiatives presents several of them. With regard to interdisciplinary relationships between organizations, problems, strategies, values and human development, there is the Integrative Matrix of Human Preoccupations which has been developed by the editors and which allows to deal with all those elements in an exploratory fashion.
Transformative approaches to social organization
The purpose of that project is to provide a context for the presentation of new approaches to the challenges highlighted by the information in the other projects. The emphasis is on configuring information in new ways, through a variety of accessible techniques, so as to allow easier navigation through complexity
Complexity
In general usage, complexity tends to be used to characterize something with many parts in intricate arrangement. The study of these complex linkages is the main goal of complex systems theory. In science there are at this time a number of approaches to characterizing complexity, many of which are...
, and to evoke imaginative insights in response to it. The Overview page presents about forty of those approaches or techniques, including interactive database use, q-analysis
Q-analysis
Q-analysis is a mathematical framework to describe and analyze structures. It was introduced by Ronald Atkin in the early seventies [Atkin , , ] .- Applications :* Analysis of large-scale systems structure* Analysis of social network...
, information visualization
Information visualization
Information visualization is the interdisciplinary study of "the visual representation of large-scale collections of non-numerical information, such as files and lines of code in software systems, library and bibliographic databases, networks of relations on the internet, and so forth".- Overview...
, confidence artistry
Confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
, tensegrity
Tensegrity
Tensegrity, tensional integrity or floating compression, is a structural principle based on the use of isolated components in compression inside a net of continuous tension, in such a way that the compressed members do not touch each other and the prestressed tensioned members delineate the...
organization, I Ching
I Ching
The I Ching or "Yì Jīng" , also known as the Classic of Changes, Book of Changes and Zhouyi, is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts...
, transformative conferencing
Meeting
In a meeting, two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal setting.- Definitions :An act or process of coming together as an assembly for a common purpose....
, or marriage between poetry and policy-making
Policy
A policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. The term is not normally used to denote what is actually done, this is normally referred to as either procedure or protocol...
.
Contributors
The project was originally conceived in 1972 by James Wellesley-Wesley, who provided financial support through the foundation Mankind 2000, and Anthony Judge, by whom the work was orchestrated.Work on the first edition started with funds from Mankind 2000, matching those of the UIA
Union of International Associations
The Union of International Associations is a non-profit non-governmental organization researching, under UN mandate, the global civil society and publishing information on international organizations, international meetings, world problems, etc. Headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium...
. The publisher Klaus Saur, of Munich, provided funds, in conjunction with those from the UIA, for work on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions. Seed funding for the third volume of the 4th edition was also provided on behalf of Mankind 2000. In the nineties, seed funding was provided, again on behalf of Mankind 2000, for computer equipment which subsequently allowed the UIA to develop a large website and make progressively available for free the Encyclopedia databases as from the 1994–1995 edition. In turn, this proven knowledge management
Knowledge management
Knowledge management comprises a range of strategies and practices used in an organization to identify, create, represent, distribute, and enable adoption of insights and experiences...
capacity enabled the UIA, on the initiative of Nadia McLaren, a consultant ecologist who has been a primary editor for the Encyclopedia, to successfully instigate two multi-partner projects funded by the European Union, with matching funds from the UIA. The work done through those two projects, Ecolynx: Information Context for Biodiversity Conservation (mainly) and Interactive Health Ecology Access Links, eventually resulted in what amounted to a fifth, web-based, edition of the Encyclopedia in 2000. In their own ways, two other persons in particular effectively supported the project over the years: Robert Jungk
Robert Jungk
Robert Jungk , also known as Robert Baum and Robert Baum-Jungk, was an Austrian writer and journalist who wrote mostly on issues relating to nuclear weapons....
of Mankind 2000, and Christian de Laet of the UIA.
The Encyclopedia was the fruit of a continuing processing of documents gathered from many of the thousands of the international organization
International organization
An intergovernmental organization, sometimes rendered as an international governmental organization and both abbreviated as IGO, is an organization composed primarily of sovereign states , or of other intergovernmental organizations...
s profiled in the Yearbook of International Organizations
Yearbook of International Organizations
Yearbook of International Organizations, established in 1910 and published under current title since 1950 is a reference work on non-profit international organizations...
. Many such bodies regularly produce a wide range of material on the areas of their concern, many regularly send documents to the UIA, and many, when requested more specifically, supplied documents for the Encyclopedia. The following organizations provided documents in the greatest quantity: FAO, ILO, UNICEF, UNESCO, UNCTD, WHO, Commonwealth Secretariat, Council of Europe, OECD, World Bank group. Furthermore, the United Nations Library in Geneva facilitated access to other material over two decades. The Institute of Cultural Affairs International
The Institute of Cultural Affairs International
The Institute of Cultural Affairs International is an International Non Governmental Organization which works to influence development policy through a worldwide network of national ICA organizations that implement human development programming within their countries...
was contractually associated at one point to the edition and other aspects of the Encyclopedia project. The Goals, Processes and Indicators of Development project (led by Johan Galtung
Johan Galtung
Johan Galtung is a Norwegian sociologist and the principal founder of the discipline of peace and conflict studies. He founded the Peace Research Institute Oslo in 1959, serving as its Director until 1970, and established the Journal of Peace Research in 1964...
) of the United Nations University, in which Anthony Judge participated on behalf of the UIA between 1978 and 1982, was an experience of learning and research that had a significant impact on the editorial content of the Encyclopedia. Another noticeable influence came from futures studies, with which Judge has long been associated. He reports in Encyclopedia Illusions how the narrow focus of the Club of Rome
Club of Rome
The Club of Rome is a global think tank that deals with a variety of international political issues. Founded in 1968 at Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, Italy, the CoR describes itself as "a group of world citizens, sharing a common concern for the future of humanity." It consists of current and...
on a few socio-economic aspects of futures research prompted the much vaster exploration concerning world problems and human potential.
Anthony Judge was the architect and managing editor of the Encyclopedia. He was also the main author of the notes and commentaries. The principal editors over the years have been, for different editions, Jon Jenkins and Maureen Jenkins (who had also worked at the Institute of Cultural Affairs), Owen Victor, Jacqueline Nebel, Nadia McLaren, and Tomáš Fülöpp. There were also enthusiastic editorial contributions from volunteers. All people related to the UIA who worked directly on one or more of the five Encyclopedia editions figure on a list that can be found online under the heading Associates of the Union of Intelligible Associations. This is because in 2005, following disagreement over the partnership contract, Anthony Judge, as Executive Secretary of Mankind 2000, reframed the Encyclopedia as having been a strategic initiative of the Union of Intelligible Associations.
Tomáš Fülöpp is currently responsible for the technical maintenance of the Encyclopedia databases at the UIA.
Editions
- The 1st edition, initiated in 1972 and published in 1976, has one volume entitled Yearbook of World Problems and Human Potential, comprising thirteen sections, several of which have not appeared in subsequent editions.
- The 2nd edition, initiated in 1983 and published in 1986, has the new definitive title Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential. It is still a single volume (published, this time only, as volume 4 of the Yearbook of International OrganizationsYearbook of International OrganizationsYearbook of International Organizations, established in 1910 and published under current title since 1950 is a reference work on non-profit international organizations...
), but it has a different set of sections, and because it is printed on thin paper with a special world award winning typesetting, the book is equivalent to several normal volumes.
- The 3rd edition, initiated in 1988 and published in 1991, has two volumes: World Problems (vol. 1), and Human Potential (vol. 2).
- The 4th edition, initiated in 1992 and published in 1994–1995, has three volumes: World Problems (vol. 1), Human Potential – Transformation and Values (vol.2), Actions – Strategies – Solutions (vol. 3). A CD-ROM version, Encyclopedia Plus, is also published.
- The online edition, initiated in 1997 and completed in 2000, is freely available. It may be noted that a gigantic "Questions database" was added in 2006, but removed shortly after to reduce server burden. For the future, it can be seen on the UIA website that a participative and interactive process is in place, which might allow eventually, in accordance with the often expressed intentions of the editors, to develop the online Encyclopedia in a continuous manner.
- Here is a table showing the number of entries for certain topics in the various editions.
1st edition 1976 2nd edition 1986 3rd edition 1991 4th edition 1994-5 Online edition 2000 World Problems 7,444 10,233 13,167 12,203 56,564 Human Development 288 1,596 4,051 4,456 4,817 Values 704 2,270 2,270 3,254 3,257 Strategies 0 8,335 0 29,542 32,547
Reviews and criticisms
There has been several reviews of the Encyclopedia. One of the harshest criticisms came from the American Library Association in 1987: "The board considers the Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential a problematic monument to idiosyncrasy, confusion, and obfuscation that certainly is not worth purchasing at any price." The work itself is keen on presenting, in various places, disclaimers, reservations or warning texts that anticipate criticisms and explain the strengths and weaknesses of its approaches, including the failure to advocate a position, or the sometimes excessive complexity in its methods or language. Most reviews are laudatory, however. Richard Slaughter emphasized that the significance of the work is not its size or the scope of its references, impressive though these are. It is rather in the nature of what has been attempted. The accompanying notes and commentaries, he said, are good enough to be published separately because they contain highly cogent observations on the "global problematique", commentaries on the work of numerous great thinkers from a wide variety of fields, and an impressive array of insights about the epistemology, symbolism, metaphysics, metaphors and linguistic representations of the subject. As far as practice is concerned, the highest commendation perhaps is to be found in the words of Elise Boulding: "Any one of us (...) can actively become a part in the world problem solving process by using this encyclopedia."See also
- Decision makingDecision makingDecision making can be regarded as the mental processes resulting in the selection of a course of action among several alternative scenarios. Every decision making process produces a final choice. The output can be an action or an opinion of choice.- Overview :Human performance in decision terms...
- Environmental issueEnvironmental issueEnvironmental issues are negative aspects of human activity on the biophysical environment. Environmentalism, a social and environmental movement that started in the 1960s, addresses environmental issues through advocacy, education and activism.-Types:...
- Global governanceGlobal governanceGlobal governance or world governance is the political interaction of transnational actors aimed at solving problems that affect more than one state or region when there is no power of enforcing compliance. The modern question of world governance exists in the context of globalization...
- Policy
- Political issue
- Problem solvingProblem solvingProblem solving is a mental process and is part of the larger problem process that includes problem finding and problem shaping. Consideredthe most complex of all intellectual functions, problem solving has been defined as higher-order cognitive process that requires the modulation and control of...
- Public policyPublic policyPublic policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...
- Social issue
- Wicked problemWicked problem"Wicked problem" is a phrase originally used in social planning to describe a problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognize. Moreover, because of complex interdependencies, the effort to solve...
External links
- Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential – Home page
- UIA Online Databases
- Encyclopedia of world problems and human potential project
- Frequently Asked Questions about the Encyclopedia
- A short movie exemplifying the use of the Encyclopedia can be seen on YouTube: Ecolynx