Multiplicity of problems facing society

In spite of much publicity, the complexity and magnitude of the problems faced by humans if they are to survive as a social animal are still only adequately conceived by specialists; they derive not so much from the mere multiplicity and gravity of problems awaiting a solution in the present technological society nor from the frightening series of problems appearing over the horizon, as from the fact that between these multiple problems there exists an incalculable number of inter-relationships which, whether ascertained or not, greatly restrict the range of action open to the policy-maker. It is this situation which has brought about the tendency for the solution of one problem to create a number of new ones, often in fields only distantly related at first sight to the original matter. In particular, this not being fully understood, there is a general disposition to envisage and treat the symptoms of trouble, particularly the more obvious ones such as the various forms of pollution of the environment, rather than to deal with the root cause which is to be found in the inadequacy of the decision-making machinery of society under any form of government presently known.