I spent most of my time at University not studying, and besides it was thirty years ago, so it's not surprising I don't remember much. However, one thing that has stayed with me is the idea of first and second order change. We were introduced to the idea by Mal McCouat, a long-standing social work lecturer at the University of Queensland, and a 1974 book by Paul Watzlawick, John Weakland, and Richard Fisch which went by the rather unpromising title of Change: Principles of Problem Formation and Resolution. The idea of first and second order change is simple in the way that so many brilliant ideas are. Most of the changes we make in our lives, or in our society, are first order changes. These are changes made within the established order or the normal pattern of relationships. One of Watzlawick et al's examples was in the field of illicit drug supply. In response to concerns about drug use, authorities bring in new laws which increase the penalties for supply of
'Contemplating the teeming life of the shore, we have an uneasy sense of the communication of some universal truth that lies just beyond our grasp.' - Rachel Carson