The problem of the unintended consequences of human actions

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Chapter 1 in Unintended Consequences and the Social Sciences, 2023, pp 1-18 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter shows how unintended consequences are the permanent product of human action. They can be positive and negative. The complexity of the social fabric and our condition of ignorance and fallibility make them inevitable. Not having found the correct explanation, human beings have resorted to religion and magic. The most significant story is that of the Greek tragedy, in which unintentional outcomes of a negative character are transformed into intentional consequences, produced by the will of an invisible population of divinities. The fact is that the life of human beings is permanently studded with phenomena (natural and social) that are beyond our control. To protect ourselves from unintended negative consequences and take advantage of unintended positive consequences, we must try to free them from the dominion of the sacred-magical forces. It is from this attempt that science was born and, as far as we are concerned, the social sciences.

Keywords: Economics and Finance; Politics and Public Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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