There is a much more subtle and completely novel threat to man's survival that looms, every year more menacingly, beside that of an atomic holocaust;… - Mihajlo D. Mesarovic

We found that technological optimism is the common and the most dangerous reaction to our findings... Technology can relieve the symptoms of the problem without affecting the underlying causes. Faith in technology as the ultimate solution to all problems can thus divert our attention from the most fundamental problem— the problem of growth in a finite system- and prevent us from taking effective action to solve it... We would deplore an unreasoned rejection of the benefits of technology as strongly as we argue here against an unreasoned acceptance of them. Perhaps the best summary of our position is the motto of the Sierra Club; not blind opposition to progress but opposition to blind progress.
Taking no action to solve these problems is equivalent of taking strong action. Every day of continued exponential growth brings the world system closer to the ultimate limits of that growth. A decision to do nothing is a decision to increase the risk of collapse.
The way to proceed is clear... [we possess] all that is necessary to create a totally new form of human society... the two missing ingredients are the realistic long-term goal... and the human will to achieve that goal.

[Another significant aspect of the concept of growth is the distinction that Mesarovic and Pestel draw between "undifferentiated" and "organic" growth. The former type of growth, according to these authors, consists of mere replication of cells by cellular division, usually expotentially, with an increase in quantity alone. The latter type of growth] involves a process of differentiation, which means that various groups of cells begin to differ in structure and function... During and after differentiation the number of cells can still increase, and the organs grow in size, but while some organs grow, others might celine.

In Nature organic growth proceeds according to a “master plan,” a “blueprint.” According to this master plan diversification among cells is determined by the requirements of the various organs; the size and shape of the organs and, therefore, their growth processes are determined by their function, which in turn depends on the needs of the whole organism.
Such a “master plan” is missing from the process of growth and development of the world system... The masterplan has yet to evolve through the existence of options by people who constitute the world-system.