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Publication Info: Psychology Today
Date of Publication: July 26
Year of Publication: 2020
Publication City: New York, N.Y.
Publisher: Sussex Publishers, LLC
Author(s): Daniel T. Blumstein, Ferenc Jordán, Paul R. Ehrlich
Systems thinking is essential to prevent and manage pandemics.
Wicked problems, like climate disruption, extinction, and pandemics have multiple drivers. Effects of these drivers may be simply additive, where the effect of A and the effect of B sums up to the combined effect C (A+B=C), or be synergistic. Such synergistic effects include interference in a non-additive way, such as seen when there is dampening (A+B>C) or escalation (A+B<C). To manage wicked problems we must think systematically about these potential relationships. Just like the major threats to nature are caused by multiple drivers of change (1), the current threats to human health are generated by multiple, interacting drivers (2). We need to view the complexity of socio-ecological challenges from a systems perspective more than ever.
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