2

With that end in mind, theorists have attempted to generate,

whenever possible, universally applicable explanations of

growth and development; alas, general theories have had to

rely upon specific experience for their support and while

such theories are valuable, they suffer from limitations

not always made explicit. The peculiarities of different

peoples and regions rarely are considered and theories often

are divorced almost entirely from any historical or geo-

graphical consideration.

 Theories are indispensable in organizing thinking

so that sense can be made of an otherwise senseless

plethora of disassociated facts; they are vital to under-

standing. But theories are necessarily abstractions;

they involve ideal, disembodied concepts of complex and

real phenomena. Of necessity, they present reality in

an unreal light. The danger is that theories, meant to

describe the world in which we live, may take on the face

of reality and come to be mistaken for the reality they

only attempt to describe. As a result, the world may

come to be viewed as more ordered, rational, and

predictable than it really is.

 Perhaps it is really a matter of the interminable

argument about first cause. Outside a totalitarian State,

we do not view economic development as arising primarily


essentially messianic in character. It knows the goal
which all societies should seek. Marx's "communism,"
Rostow's "self-sustained growth," and Landes' "industrial-
ization" are prophecies.