UNCORRELATED EXTREMES (Law of)
Charles François (2004). UNCORRELATED EXTREMES (Law of), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(2): 3676.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3676 ▶ |
| Object type | Human sciences, Methodology or model |
- “No matter what the complex issue, and no matter what the group involved in its study, theinitial aggregate group opinion concerning the logical pattern of the factors involved in the issue and the final aggregate group opinion concerning the logical pattern of the factors involved in the issue (i.e. the views at the two extremes…) will be uncorrelated; showing that significant learning takes place through the application of the Generic Design process” (J.N. WARFIELD, 1995, p.145).
The law is evident for anyone who has once participated to a group discussion. The point is that its practical consequences (the “Babel tower effect”) are generally not perceived, and still less taken care of.
Still more important is that WARFIELD's methodology of Interpretive Structural Modeling through Nominal Group Technique permits the discovery of the whole field of opinions, as well as their relative weights. It thus opens the way to a thorough evaluation by the group of the whole range of opinions, avoiding resentment from those who otherwise should not have been given a voice. In this way, a base for real consensus can be constructed.