“For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong.” This
statement was made by Henry Louis Mencken, an American journalist, in the 18th
century. While Mencken was initially referring to patterns in political behavior, the
concept behind the statement can be applied to sustainability – more specifically
sustainable development.

What Mencken meant was that altering a singular aspect of a larger system would not
fix the problem. In fact, it would be worsened as a series of unknown consequences
would be running behind the scenes. We tend to assume that all problems are fixable
if we know all of the different parts. However, Mencken is proposing an alternate
viewpoint. With agents defined as distinct entities with identified characteristics and
abilities, we can distinguish that agents’ initial properties may be alterable or remain
consistent. These adaptive properties determine the outcome of the interactions that
take place between the agents. The overall behavior is what emerges from agents and
their interactions. Emergence is the opposite of simple predictability. The properties
of the agents are what drives the ultimate properties of the system as a whole. Emergent outcomes are properties of the whole system that are not already properties
of the agents. In other words, the whole is not merely the sum of its parts.

This way of viewing issues and systems can be applied to sustainability. Once this
perspective is how we view sustainability, we allow unidentified processes to operate
in the background, contributing to the overall success of the system. If we look
closely, we will begin to see a certain type of behavior coming from emergent
properties. Nearly everything regarding sustainability is an emergent property, as it
refers to the whole. The innominate processes that continue to operate without our
awareness enable a kind of nonlinearity where prior trends hold no place in predicting
future outcomes of a similar situation. Unlike linear systems, what links a cause and
its effect is not predictable, and cannot be recognized. To elaborate upon this
unconventional notion, major causes may culminate in major or miniscule effects, and
minor causes may bring about major or minor effects. Sustainability follows a
nonlinear path, with no direct or predictable outcome.

Sustainability is not one of the issues that can be “solved” by 2030. There is no
definite solution, nor will there ever be one. This is due to sustainability being
complex rather than complicated. Complex adaptive systems, complicated systems,
and simple systems all differ because simple systems are centered around the mastery
of a single variable, complicated systems require an understanding of the several
different components, and complex adaptive systems will never be truly understood as
they are not sealed from the rest of the world. Rather, complex issues are incorporated as a part of the world’s functioning on a large scale. This implies that the flow of
resources in and out of the system results in the inability to understand the system as
an isolated process. Complex adaptive systems are not wholly predictable, and that is
due in part to the series of feedback loops running throughout the system. With
negative feedback loops, the system, which is beginning to move from equilibrium,
proceeds to revert the system to its previously stable state. Positive feedback loops
occur when the system continues to move away from equilibrium. Complex adaptive
systems lay the base for complexity theory, which shares with sustainability the
fundamental belief that open systems with interacting components are a result of their
histories, meaning that because it has a temporal aspect to it, we must understand the
trends that have occurred over time to be able to discern a projected path for the
future. These can take place in the forms of space complexity (location impacts; e.g.
“geography concerns”), time complexity (juncture impacts; e.g. “moment concerns”),
social complexity (institutional impacts; e.g. “culture concerns”), material complexity
(technological impacts; e.g. “resource concerns”), and conceptual complexity
(perspective impacts; e.g. “position concerns”). When all of these complexities come
together, we have a holistic view of sustainability. As sustainability contains multiple
layers of issues under its three pillars (economic viability, social equity, and
environmental protection), it qualifies as a complex topic.

One’s knowledge of emergence, nonlinearity, complex adaptive systems, and
feedback loops can all be combined in order to possess a better understanding of
sustainability as a whole. Sustainability, with its relative ambiguity, is a contestable
concept. This further fuels its position as a complex issue. When it comes to
sustainability, an understanding of the processes as a whole is required, as we will
never enable an understanding of each individual component in the complex system
known as sustainability. As Henry Louis Mencken famously stated, “For every
complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong."