    
|
|
| Access: secure | normal |
|
Encyclopedia Review - Inquiry Mag, 1987
This article/review appeared in Inquiry Magazine, no. 5, 1987.
The state of the world admits of little doubt that mankind has problems. Not least since the problematique of modern times seems to demonstrate that problems themselves generate a plethora of other problems. One man's attempt to solve a problem is another man's most pressing problem and the root cause of all the problems that are set to follow. Indeed, after three decades geared to world development few would disagree that while basic problems remain, our efforts to solve them have multiplied the intractable nature of world problems.
What kind of problems does the world face? There are now conventional lists covering peace, population, health, poverty and pollution, perhaps 10 standard items which are regularly reiterated. The very familiarity of the list seems to sap the energy and organised effort to provide coordinated action for their resolution. Workers in development aid talk of compassion fatigue afflicting the affluent populations of the West. It might better be termed expert fatigue. The desire to see a better world remains, but wherever world problems are discussed there are coteries of experts and bureaucrats wedded to conflicting and incompatible understandings of the nature of the problems and ways of putting things right. Little wonder that while the experts, politicians and international bodies wrangle the public gets more cynical and the problems continue to compound themselves.
If you thought there were just 10 or say 20 world problems this diagnosis would be bad enough. The Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential lists 10,233 problems; just thinking them is an exercise of despair. In fact it is the healthiest challenge to problem thinking one could hope to find, a radical departure which sheds insight and sense, an undertaking which never fails to stimulate, despite being deeply flawed. After examining the contents one is more than prepared to accept the invitation of the compilers to maintain one's disagreements as a constructive addition to enhance the framework of analysis they have developed.
This is definitely not a conventional encyclopedia. It is not a place to look for authoritative pen portraits and statistics about world problems. The proliferation of such information from other sources would make such a work entirely superfluous. What is needed is a way to make sense of and become informed about all the information on our current predicament, and that is exactly what this volume offers. Its listings, informative in their variety and diversity, are subsidiary to a challenging overview which offers a new perspective on how problems are regarded, tackled and how they could be thought about in the future. This is an encyclopedia of ways of thinking which stretches our comprehension of problems and the relationships between problems. While world problems are described as they are reported in the publications of various organisations and interest groups, the problems are brought into relation with the systems and schools of thought by which they are understood and the dynamics used to resolve them. The context of problems and problem solvers is thus opened to scrutiny in a host of new ways which illustrate the complexity behind the most familiar headline issues, and confirms one's suspicion that attitudes and ideas are an integral part of our present problematique.
The 10,233 listings of world problems provide the largest section of the book, the listings goes far beyond simplistics of mega problems to show the elements of which the big issues are composed. The complex and multi-dimensional aspects of problems are thrown into relief as are the interconnection between problems, and the different perspectives on solving problems. The problem of poverty, for example, is not a straight forward single issue, it has different dimensions, causes and effects in different places. Poverty is related to different structures and different dynamics according to the place where it occurs. Tackling poverty depends on ideology, strategy and understanding and can open up a host of related issues which make poverty eradication a complex web of tasks, each of which can trigger other problems.
What this encyclopedia really demonstrates is that the ecology of our global thinking about problems, as much as the ecology of the problems themselves, demands greater thought. The best description of this book is an encyclopedia of connections between thinking about problems, thinking about answers, thinking about thinking and thinking about activating thinking as they relate to the world problems themselves.
The whole structure of the encyclopedia, which along side the problems examines the issues of values, communication, symbols, metaphors, states of human development and conditions of human potential, tackles head on the central dilemma of thinking about global problems. These issues are notable for the lip service they receive in default of actually being studied, operationalised and integrated into ways of thinking and solving problems. When experts and decision makers try to tackle global problems such as development, everything is reduced to banal indicators and material terms; disagreements have to be abolished to make any 'progress'. The compilers note that while detailed and statistical information on problems is abundantly available, even if it is erratic with some problems buried and obscured within others, detailed information on values is hard to come by. Values, they argue, are called upon without fail, but are not defined, or studied or related to the dynamic of understanding and resolving problems. Nor are the conditions of human potential; what we mean when we talk of increasing human dignity, what human development could possibly consist of and entail, subjected to genuine analysis and discussion. It is in proposing concepts and terms with which to think about these vital areas within the context of world problems, and the systems of knowledge and communication used to tackle these problems, the encyclopedia makes its greatest contribution.
The central thesis is that the world cannot attain values, human development and the fulfillment of human potential by leaving these matters out of the processes of thought and study concerned with understanding our contemporary problems and devising strategies, systems of knowledge and plans of action to resolve them. Nor, it is cogently argued, can much be achieved by thinking that there must be some global consensus which eradicates all argument, debate and disagreement so that uniform patterns of action can be implemented.
The reality of today's world is fragmentation, complexity and diversity. The way forward is not the abolition of that reality, even if that were possible. What is needed is a better understanding of these conditions, how they arise and affect each other. If insights from global modeling, future studies and social sciences are to be of any use they need to be concerned with integrative knowledge which facilitates constructive use of complexity and diversity to generate creative tension between different perspectives and ways of acting. In short what we probably need most is the recognition that while everyone cannot be completely right, not everyone is completely wrong, that whose with whom we disagree or those ideas we do not fully understand may have something constructive to offer for the betterment of the human condition. This argument is worked out in completed detail and across an enormous range of disciplines. The flaws in execution may be many but the implications of the arguments advanced in the area unfailingly arresting and challenging to conventional wisdom and familiar approaches.
Clearly the compilers consider that modern approaches to knowledge and information, though highly sophisticated, neglect values and the spiritual dimension of mankind. Without recognising what it actually consists of, we are unlikely to be able to organise or achieve greater quality of life. Bringing this perspective into conjunction with almost all scientific theories and philosophies, ideologies and fads and fashion of thinking is a great service. The strategies the encyclopedia seeks to promote, by juxtaposing so many seemingly contending ideas and alternatives, focus on creative concentration on values, human creativity and potential as a means of devising and deploying pathways of transformation and change. They provide more than enough food for thought to make this an invaluable work of reference and stimulus to thought and action, whatever one's point of view or academic orientation.
The achievement of this encyclopedia stands despite its numerous failings. While stressing they are taking no editorial stance and seeking to portray different viewpoints as their proponents would express them, the numerous flaws in this work all arise from the narrowness of the viewpoints examined and the implicit bias which is the compilers' own opinionated stance. The major source of insight which impels them is eastern mysticism. It is in the traditions of Hindu, Buddhist and Taoist thought that they find a viable framework of values and concepts for thinking about global problems and developing human potentials. These eastern traditions are indeed sophisticated ways of thought. but they are not the only mystical traditions. The encyclopedia seems uninformed on Sufi thought, having less than a handful of references to only Nakshbandi thinking.
While mysticism is vaunted, orthodox religion, of whatever variety, gets a highly opinionated treatment. One must conclude the compilers' regard for orthodox religion as a closed system, rather than the ever open source of concepts upon which people have closed their minds. They seem unaware that mysticism grows out of a spiritual view of humanity which derives from the concepts of religious systems, that many a mystical tradition is nonsensical without the orthodoxy which prompts and sustains it. The attraction of eastern mysticism in the West often seems the illusory notion that somehow one can have spiritual sensitivity. values and human potential without wrestling with all the central questions which have affected I and often deformed religious thought I through the ages. In many entries which refer to religious ideas the compilers refer solely to the New Model Religion, as if it originated without reference to exactly the same sources, as their curiously biased depictions of orthodox religion. Islam is virtually unrepresented in the encyclopedia, which given its overall conception of embracing complexity is definitely a major failing. It is especially irritating when the familiar denigrations of fundamentalist Islam figure among the world problems but the well established literature on promotive Islamic contemporary alternatives are not introduced as balance.
And yet... There is here a sustained, argument and analysis which opens up possibilities, which engages critical thought and its constructive application. The failings which it embraces can be tackled as part of the on-going nature of the project. Even as it stands this book is an essential resource for anyone seriously concerned with coming to terms with the problems of the contemporary world and discovering ways to get out of the mess. Linear thinking, a narrow perception of human problems and most of all a narrow perception of the nature of mankind has brought us to the present global crisis. As this encyclopedia demonstrates so vividly and convincingly, they can never help us to transcend our present impasse.
|
|
|
target="_blank" title="Send an e-mail to the Union of International Associations (UIA)" style="font-family: Verdana; color: #6f6f6f; background: White;">Send your comments or questions by e-mail, post them in our online discussion fora, or contact us by other means.
© MMIX Union of International Associations (1907-2009) (UIA profile in the Yearbook). All rights reserved. Support our work. Terms of use. |