SECTION I: The Conceptual Model (Chapters 1-9)

Section I is devoted to offering a conceptual model that is purported to provide a macro-level understanding of the nature of change. It does so by developing a closed-loop framework largely comprised of the following terms: Investment, Resources (renewable and non-renewable, essential and non-essential), Technological Wherewithal (breadth and depth), Affordable Choices, Societal Values (spiritual and material), Variance, and Variance Reduction Actions (five types). These terms are interrelated through a number of premises and linkages which then lead to certain intuitive conclusions about the magnitude and direction of change. In aggregate, the resulting conceptual model is called LATESVOLOGY, an acronym of sorts derived from “the study of” (“ology”) the Linkages Among Technology, Economics and Societal Values (LATES).