Crowdsourced backend of the Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential
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Dangerous toys
Many toys are capable of causing physical injury to children. Some may also cause psychological...
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Dust
Dust is a particulate contaminant suspended in the atmosphere. Like carbon dioxide it limits the...
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Discrimination against non-human species
Homo sapiens has a tendency to assume itself to be overwhelmingly superior to all other species...
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Avarice
Avarice is the state of being in which an individual attaches such value to wealth and...
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Crop vulnerability
Crops are vulnerable to extensive damage from numerous sources: disease; pests; adverse...
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Dust storms
During wind erosion, the finer soil particles, when set in motion by the wind, are quickly...
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Cat scratch fever
A bacterial (rickettsial) disease that can be acquired from the scratch or bite of a cat; it is...
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Discrimination against youth
Ageism commonly denotes discrimination of the elderly, but recent studies suggest the need for a...
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Excessive governmental spending
A recent report of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) indicates...
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Coronaviruses
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that typically affect the respiratory tracts of...
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Meaninglessness
There is a general sense of lack of meaning and purpose which dominates literature, art and...
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Lifestyle disease
Human activities strongly influence a population's states of health and disease. For example, an...
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Sarcocystosis
Infestation with or disease caused by sporozoan protozoans of the genus Sarcocystis....
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Achlorhydria
You need adequate stomach acid to kill opportunistic pathogens, help properly digest food and...
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Dementia
The term "dementia" is used by the medical community to describe people with impaired...
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Historical misrepresentation
The process of rewriting extremely horrible historical episodes so that those responsible are...
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Abuse of hallucinogens
Hallucinogens constitute a heterogeneous class of psychotropic substances under international...
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Unavailability of building materials
The scarcity of building materials affects development plans in other sectors, including...
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Theft of works of art
Art thefts are increasing. Apart from representing a menace to the cultural heritage, it makes...
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Student revolt
Student dissent has led to widespread criticism of the educational establishment. Some of this...
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Uncontrolled dogs
Uncontrolled dogs, those with or without proper owners, may pose great threat to the bodily well...
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Evil
Evil is a construct which figures prominently in determinations of ethical behaviour as well as...
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Loss of agricultural biodiversity
The rapid expansion of industrial and "green revolution" agriculture over the last 100 years has...
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Burglary
Burglary is surreptitiously entering or remaining in a building with the intent of committing a...
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Economic unrest
Industrial relations vary greatly at different times and places. After a period of comparative...
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Klinefelter's syndrome
Klinefelter's syndrome arises when a boy carries an XXY, rather than XY chromosome. The...
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Abusive distribution of political patronage
Patronage has developed from the distribution of largesse in the form of minor gifts, to the...
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Cleft palate
A cleft is a separation of parts of the mouth that are usually joined together during the early...
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Institutional economic domination
An excessively concentrated degree of investment power is in the hands of very few, very large...
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Killing of plants
Tens of millions of plants are killed by and for human beings every year. They are dug up, cut...
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Informers
It is accepted that a person with knowledge that a crime, or some other form of abuse, has been...
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Violent sports fans
Wherever team sports are played, violence among the spectators is increasing, resulting in...
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Criminal trespass
Criminal trespass is illegally entering into or remaining in a building or structure. This is...
The Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential was initiated in 1972 following a collaboration between two international non-profits, the Union of International Associations (UIA) and Mankind 2000. It is the result of an ambitious effort to collect and present information on the problems humanity is confronted with, as well as the challenges such problems pose to societies' values, development strategies and concept formation.
The online version of the resource is currently undergoing significant transformation, and the publishing model is changing in exciting new ways. The main points are:
- Whilst the above NGOs remain equal copyright holders of the data, it is becoming possible for partners to re-publish any content on presentation sites under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA)
- Content of the database is being made centrally editable at edit.ewphp.org — to allow content changes on this site to propagate to any and all presentation sites
Please feel free to get in touch if you want to know more about the project, the ongoing transformation, or if you aspire to join the volunteer team as a database editor, presentation site developer or any other skill you feel might benefit the project!
News
- March 2016: An initial version of an API that allows retrieval and licensed re-use of the data is ready at demo.ewphp.org. We are currently working with selected developers, and a first public implementation of the API is taking shape as well. News about launch of both will follow soon!
- June 2015: Read the paper and presentation "Loop Mining in the Encyclopedia of World Problems" prepared for the 17th International Futures Conference "Futures Studies Tackling Wicked Problems" in Turku, Finland, 11-12. June 2015 — www.futuresconference.fi/2015