Editing Unintended consequences (section)

==Causes==
Possible causes of unintended consequences include the world's inherent [[complexity]] (parts of a system responding to changes in the environment), [[perverse incentive]]s, human [[stupidity]], [[self-deception]], failure to account for human nature, or other [[cognitive bias|cognitive]] or [[emotional bias|emotional]] biases. As a sub-component of complexity (in the scientific sense), the chaotic nature of the universe—and especially its quality of having small, apparently insignificant changes with far-reaching effects (e.g., the [[butterfly effect]])—applies.

In 1936, [[Robert K. Merton]] listed five possible causes of unanticipated consequences:<ref>{{cite book|author=Merton, Robert K|title=On Social Structure and Science|series=Heritage of Sociology Series |publisher=[[The University of Chicago Press]]|year=1996|url=http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/O/bo3626245.html|access-date=2018-05-16}}</ref>

* Ignorance, making it  impossible to anticipate everything, thereby leading to incomplete analysis.
* Errors in analysis of the problem or following habits that worked in the past but may not apply to the current situation.
* Immediate interests overriding long-term interests.
* Basic values which may require or prohibit certain actions even if the long-term result might be unfavourable (these long-term consequences may eventually cause changes in basic values).
* [[Self-defeating prophecy]], or, the fear of some consequence which drives people to find solutions before the problem occurs, thus the non-occurrence of the problem is not anticipated.

In addition to Merton's causes, psychologist [[Stuart Vyse]] has noted that [[groupthink]], described by [[Irving Janis]], has been blamed for some decisions that result in unintended consequences.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vyse |first1=Stuart|author-link=Stuart Vyse |title=Can Anything Save Us from Unintended Consequences? |journal=[[Skeptical Inquirer]] |date=2017 |volume=41 |issue=4 |pages=20–23 |url=https://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/can_anything_save_us_from_unintended_consequences |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919223200/https://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/can_anything_save_us_from_unintended_consequences |archive-date=2018-09-19 |access-date=19 September 2018}}</ref>