Factored problem-solving fails when threats combine multiplicatively

Evidence

Thus, the flaw in the Royal Navy’s analysis of the threat posed by air power to battleships in the interwar period: “Although specific problems …such as the effect of underwater explosives were occasionally analyzed in depth, there was little continuing research into the…problem as a whole” (Till, 1977, p. 119). Taken one at a time, the problems might be manageable, but when combined the threat could be overwhelming. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2588

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Simultaneous conflicting control variables make behavior abruptly unpredictable — Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on…, 418