# Counterintuitive Behavior of Social Systems

*Source* · `src-forrester-1971-counterintuitive-behavior-social-systems` · status: **n/a**

| field | value |
|---|---|
| kind | Peer-reviewed paper |
| authors | Jay W. Forrester |
| venue | Technology Review 73(3), 52-68 (January 1971); author's updated text, MIT System Dynamics memo D-4468-2 (1995) |
| date | 1971-01 |
| url | https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/15-988-system-dynamics-self-study-fall-1998-spring-1999/65cdf0faf132dec7ec75e91f9651b31f_behavior.pdf |
| accessed | 2026-10-31 |

## Archived

https://web.archive.org/web/20260828090524id_/https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/15-988-system-dynamics-self-study-fall-1998-spring-1999/65cdf0faf132dec7ec75e91f9651b31f_behavior.pdf

## Notes

Read the full text of the author's 1995 update (D-4468-2), an MIT OpenCourseWare reading; the snapshot holds the same bytes. p. 3: "Social systems belong to the class called multi-loop nonlinear feedback systems." p. 14: "Each level is caused to change by the rates of flow in and out, such as the birth rate and death rate that increase and decrease population." System dynamics describes levels (stocks) changed by rates (flows), joined by feedback loops.

## Citation

Jay W. Forrester (1971-01). *Counterintuitive Behavior of Social Systems*. Technology Review 73(3), 52-68 (January 1971); author's updated text, MIT System Dynamics memo D-4468-2 (1995) https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/15-988-system-dynamics-self-study-fall-1998-spring-1999/65cdf0faf132dec7ec75e91f9651b31f_behavior.pdf

Archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20260828090524id_/https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/15-988-system-dynamics-self-study-fall-1998-spring-1999/65cdf0faf132dec7ec75e91f9651b31f_behavior.pdf

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Provenance: created in run `2026-10-31-es-review-framing-pdf`.