Journal ArticleDOI
The unanticipated consequences of purposive social action
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TLDR
The problem of unanticipated consequences of purposive social action has been widely recognized and its importance equally appreciated, but no systematic, scientific analysis of it has as yet been effected.Abstract:
I N SOME ONE of its numerous forms, the problem of the unanticipated consequences of purposive action has been treated by virtually every substantial contributor to the long history of social thought.' The diversity of context' and variety of terms3 by which this problem has been known, however, have tended to obscure the definite continuity in its consideration. In fact, this diversity of context-ranging from theology to technology-has been so pronounced that not only has the substantial identity of the problem been overlooked, but no systematic, scientific analysis of it has as yet been effected. The failure to subject this problem to such thorough-going investigation has perhaps been due in part to its having been linked historically with transcendental and ethical considerations. Obviously, the ready solution provided by ascribing uncontemplated consequences of action to the inscrutable will of God or Providence or Fate precludes, in the mind of the believer, any need for scientific analysis. Whatever the actual reasons, the fact remains that though the process has been widely recognized and its importance equally appreciated, it still awaits a systematic treatment. Although the phrase, unanticipated consequences of purposive social action, is in a measure self-explanatory, the setting of the prob-read more
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All That Glitters Is Not a Golden Recommendation
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Beata Szymczycha,Karol Kuliński,Anders Wörman,H. E. Markus Meier,Erik Kjellström,Kevin E. Parnell,Eduardo Zorita,Michelle L. McCrackin,Xiaoli Guo Larsén,Kari Hyytiäinen,Jukka-Pekka Jalkanen +10 more
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Perverse Effects in Defense of Computer Systems: When More Is Less
TL;DR: This work gives examples of several categories of perverse effects in defending computer systems and draws on the theory of unintended consequences and the duality of technology to analyze the origins of these perverse effects, and to develop a classification scheme for the different types and some methods for avoiding them.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Serendipity of Merton’s Communications Research
TL;DR: This paper traced the development of Merton's communications research from his unplanned preparation in the early 1940s, through the structured opportunity he ambivalently embraced working with Lazarsfeld during the war, and on to some of the more significant consequences that followed.
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Gestão do paradoxo "passado versus futuro": uma visão transformacional da gestão de pessoas
Isabella Francisca Freitas Gouveia de Vasconcelos,André Ofenhejm Mascarenhas,Flávio Carvalho de Vasconcelos +2 more
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