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Constructive Conflict Guide >
The Complex Factors That Make Intractable Conflict So Difficult >
The Additional (and Even Bigger) Challenge of Societal Complexity
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Types of Complexity

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Psychological Complexity
Understanding the motivations that lead people to act in particular ways requires an understanding of the basics of neuropsychology, the complexities of cognitive biases, and the mechanics of small group interactions.

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Communication Complexity
People act on the basis of what they have learned about the actions of others through society's complex array of communication mechanisms including both face-to-face interactions and many types of print and electronic media.

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Sociological Complexity
People do not live their lives in isolation. Rather, they live in a complex and overlapping array of groups, each with their own behavioral expectations and constructive and destructive interaction dynamics.

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Legal Complexity
The ability of democracies to effectively eliminate violence as a dispute resolution strategy is largely based on the willingness of people to resolve disputes through a complex, rule of law-based process.

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Political Complexity
Rule of law-based dispute resolution processes require a political process for both making and revising laws and directing joint collective action.

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Economic Complexity
Capitalist economic markets constitute a complex system driven by Adam Smith's "invisible hand" --- a system that is subject to a wide range of constructive and destructive dynamics.

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Environmental / Physical Complexity
Human society exists within the context of a larger physical and biological environment over which we have little control. It is imperative that we understand the limits that this environment places on what we can and cannot do.

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Pursue a Complexity-Oriented Approach
It is not enough to abandon simplistic, us-vs-them thinking. We need to develop and embrace realistic strategies for working at the daunting scale and complexity of modern society.