The social sciences have long needed a methodology for exploring the dynamic relationships between competing and incompatible ideas for solving world problems.
Discussing global problems today is fragmented and chaotic, as would be any discussion of space travel without star maps and telescopes describing the territory to be covered. Without such problem maps, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to work in concert, locally or globally, to galvanise political will for action.
Once such network problem maps are developed, they could be bound in atlases to help individuals, communities and nations visualise relationships, distances and differences among problem territories. Global decision making could then be grounded in an accurate understanding of locally perceived problems, and local communities could act in concert toward mutually beneficial solutions to common problems.
Phyllis J. O'Rourke, c/o O'Rourke & Associates, PO Box 889, Lyons, Colorado 80540, USA (tel 303 823 5677).