Human Values & Wisdom

As humans, values of some sort guide all of our behaviour. Information on values, and how it can be organized, is seen by the UIA as one of the keys to the global organization of knowledge about organizations, strategies, or problems.The Human Values and Wisdom section of the Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential it is an ongoing attempt to provide profiles of, and map relationships between, the different guiding principles of human behaviour - which often occur in value polarities of constructive or destructive values - in the hopes that a more comprehensive understanding would greatly enhance our ability to deal with current global challenges.

Take for instance the value polarity of Attack and Defense. This reality of the human condition has been recognized in the proverbs of lay-people such as "Attack is the best form of defence" to the quotes of famous leaders, including "It is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war" by J F Kennedy. The "destructive" value of attack, necessary as it might seem, generates world problems including racial intimidation and verbal abuse. However, the "constructive" value of defense also aggravates problems such as excessive parental defensiveness. Both values in turn give rise to strategies, both "positive" and "negative", and this value polarity is part of a wider complex of values based around interaction, and other examples could include Support/Opposition and Neutrality/Compromise.

The Human Values and Wisdom section of the Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential includes this value polarity as well as 3200 other value profiles and 120,000 relationships beteween them - from Anarchy, Boredom and Creativity, to Xenophobia, Youthfulness and Zealotry. The values presented are relevant to the aims of international constituencies (profiled in a complementary publication, the Yearbook of International Organizations) dealing with policy making for addressing world problems.

Value Value type
Espionage D: Destructive values
Buoyancy C: Constructive values
Achievement*complex T: Value clusters
Selfishness D: Destructive values
Autism D: Destructive values
Ill D: Destructive values
Overload D: Destructive values
Light-Darkness P: Value polarities
Existence C: Constructive values
Godliness C: Constructive values
Association C: Constructive values
Superficiality D: Destructive values
Righteousness C: Constructive values
Youth C: Constructive values
Undiversified D: Destructive values
Restraint C: Constructive values
Rectitude C: Constructive values
Plenitude C: Constructive values
Sanctimony D: Destructive values
Novelty C: Constructive values
Approval-Disapproval P: Value polarities
Exertion-Rest P: Value polarities
Poverty D: Destructive values
Warmheartedness C: Constructive values
Legality C: Constructive values
Unwillingness D: Destructive values
Decrepitness D: Destructive values
Hope C: Constructive values
Constructiveness C: Constructive values
Noninclusive D: Destructive values
Monopoly D: Destructive values
Overgrazing D: Destructive values
Observance C: Constructive values
Filth D: Destructive values
Expansionism D: Destructive values
Inquietude D: Destructive values
Unsuitability D: Destructive values
Decreasing D: Destructive values
Overheated D: Destructive values
Competence C: Constructive values
Valueless D: Destructive values
Onerous D: Destructive values
Nonverifiability D: Destructive values
Consanguinity C: Constructive values
Leniency-Compulsion P: Value polarities
Incuriousity D: Destructive values
Hindrance D: Destructive values
Overexpansion D: Destructive values
Uncorporate D: Destructive values
Crudity D: Destructive values

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