Chaotic behaviour of complex systems has got much attention in the past decades. Several examples of chaotic systems have been investigated. Also, parts of the society appear to display a chaotic character. Steering a chaotic system requires a different approach, because the relationship between cause and effect is often too complex to be a solid frame of reference to find effective measures. Leaving the developments to the free society forces is risky, because autonomous developments often end in a trap of social dilemmas. An alternative approach is to apply opportunistic steering within a framework of a vision and to work with experiments and pilots. Personality characteristics appear to have a large influence on the vision that people have on chaotic developments. The dominant vision within the government seems to be more to control the chaos and to apply direct steering than to use opportunities coming from the spontaneous dynamics in society. (A)
Abstract