"... and no one shall work for money, and no one shall work for fame; But each for the joy of the working, and each, in his separate star, shall draw the thing as he sees it, for the god of things as they are"
-Kipling
-Kipling
This paper written by Donella Meadows is a truely insightful work which describes how to make changes to complex adaptive systems such as economies and ecosystems. If you have been wondering why the recent govermental intervention in the financial markets is getting ever greater with continually diminishing returns, then this paper is a must read. The paper is well written, jargon free and is intended for a non-technical audience.
This paper written by Carlo M. Cipolla defines five basic laws of idiocy. Want to know why people engage in the counter productive actions? This paper offers some insights. It could be Cipolla's laws are as fundamental as Newtons laws or the laws of thermodynamics. Note: Prof Cipolla has recently died and his estate is busy serving takedown notices on the websites that host the paper - so it is getting hard to find. The links below worked when I wrote this post - a search on "cipolla the basic laws of human stupidity" might turn it up if these links go bad.
The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity1
The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity2