These equations could be useful tools for further thought experiments, even if they fail to capture the full reality of development efforts.

What happens if the equation is hit with negative factors, or interacts with other equations simultaneously? How can we optimise outcomes when two equations are linked because development projects in different locations have to compete for funds from the same pool of money?

Although I am not a mathematician or physicist, I imagine this is how they work: an equation gets tossed up in the air, gets pushed around, bumps up against other equations, and ends up on paper looking different. Ultimately the equations are just talking points, used to visualize various aspects of complex situations, even in the so-called hard sciences.

The trick is not to hold on to them closely, or believe in them too strongly. Try them, test them, improve them, or discard them. Again and again. This is the art and power of iteration. We need knowledge-building algorithms.

Perhaps this is what the present author is saying about development theories: they need to be stated more simply and clearly, they need to be tossed around as thought experiments, and they need to be tested against what is actually happening in the world. And then they need to be rewritten.

Peter Matthews

The Research Cooperative (http://cooperative.ning.com)

An international home for better research communication (NPO)

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