Ordering Principles in a Dynamic World of Change – On social complexity, transformation and the conditions for balancing purposeful interventions and spontaneous change

Abstract

Consider autonomous, discontinuous and non-linear change a constant factor in the transformative world we humans are part of: Heraclitus revisited. What seems to be stable is nothing more than a temporary period of persistence, a frozen moment within a dynamic world, the lee-side of a world in flow. As there is no permanent stability, tensions, frictions, mismatches and breaks occur more or less constantly. Such a situation is not necessarily undesirable. On the contrary, these tensions, frictions and mismatches prove to be essential for development and progress. This contribution will construct a frame of reference for such a world of discontinuous change, proposing ordering principles that can guide planners and decision-makers in a world of non-linear change.