Conventional Worlds strategies operate on the direct levers of change that can influence economic patterns, technology, demographics and institutions. Mainstream development policy focuses on these proximate drivers. A Great Transition would go deeper to the root causes that shape society and the human experience. These
ultimate drivers include values, understanding, power and culture(Figure 9). Proximate drivers are responsive to short-term intervention. The more stable ultimate drivers are subject to gradual cultural and political processes. They define the boundaries for change and the future. The Great Transition project would expand the frontier of the possible by altering the basis for human choice.