The Encyclopedia
of World Problems
& Human Potential

Obsession with novelty

Name(s):

Intolerance of proven methods

Bias in favour of the new

Excessive adherence to fashion

Claim

1. Fashion is more powerful than any tyrant (Latin proverb).

2. Fashion is gentility running away from vulgarity and afraid of being overtaken.

3. Art produces ugly things which frequently become beautiful with time. Fashion, on the other hand, produces beautiful things which always become ugly with time (Jean Cocteau).

Counter-claim

1. Fashion is that by which the fantastic becomes for the moment the universal (Oscar Wilde).

2. One had as good be out of the world as out of fashion.

3. Fashion is made to become unfashionable (Coco Chanel).

Broader

Intolerance

Narrower

Fashion-motivated use of animals and plants

Aggravates

Food fads

Ecotourism

Consumerism

Hero worship

Counterfeiting

Sense of impermanence

Inadequate hero images

Dependence on popular idols

Destructive performance art

Proliferation of consumer products

Dumping of consumer waste products

Pursuit of short-term gratification

Fixation on partial solutions to problems

Unethical practices in the apparel industry

Trade in animal products of endangered species

Unconvincing alternatives to existing societies

Reduced by

Conservatism

Unproven new methods

Strategy(ies)

Beautifying people

Setting appropriate fashion for consumption of goods and services

Being concerned with novelty

Avoiding the old

Showing bias

Tolerating proven methods

Requiring proof of methods

Value(s)

Type

(F) Fuzzy exceptional problems

About the Encyclopedia

The Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential is a unique, experimental research work of the Union of International Associations. It is currently published as a searchable online platform with profiles of world problems, action strategies, and human values that are interlinked in novel and innovative ways. These connections are based on a range of relationships such as broader and narrower scope, aggravation, relatedness and more. By concentrating on these links and relationships, the Encyclopedia is uniquely positioned to bring focus to the complex and expansive sphere of global issues and their interconnected nature.

The initial content for the Encyclopedia was seeded from UIA’s Yearbook of International Organizations. UIA’s decades of collected data on the enormous variety of association life provided a broad initial perspective on the myriad problems of humanity. Recognizing that international associations are generally confronting world problems and developing action strategies based on particular values, the initial content was based on the descriptions, aims, titles and profiles of international associations.

About UIA

The Union of International Associations (UIA) is a research institute and documentation centre, based in Brussels. It was established in 1907, by Henri la Fontaine (Nobel Peace Prize laureate of 1913), and Paul Otlet, a founding father of what is now called information science.

Non-profit, apolitical, independent, and non-governmental in nature, the UIA has been a pioneer in the research, monitoring and provision of information on international organizations, international associations and their global challenges since 1907.

www.uia.org

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Obsession with novelty

About the Encyclopedia

About UIA