Development can be defined in a manner applicable to all societies at all historical periods as an upward ascending movement featuring greater levels of energy, efficiency, quality, productivity, complexity, comprehension, creativity, mastery, enjoyment and accomplishment.
Conversely, people-oriented programs and policies can improve health, education, living standards, and other quality-of-life measures with no special emphasis on monetary growth.
Growth refers to horizontal expansion in the existing plane characterized by quantitative expansion—such as a farmer increasing the area under cultivation, or a retailer opening more stores.
The level of people's education, intensity of their aspiration and energies, quality of their attitudes and values, skills and information all affect the extent and pace of development.
[5] The gathering of conscious knowledge of society matures and breaks out on the surface in the form of new ideas—espoused by pioneers who also take new initiatives to give expression to those ideas.
Increasing European international trade in the 16th and 17th centuries demanded corresponding development in the banking industry and new commercial laws and civil arbitration facilities.
As a result, a new business entity appeared—the joint-stock company, which limited the investors' liability to the extent of their personal investment without endangering other properties.
When Eastern European countries wanted to transition to market-type economies, they were seriously hampered in their efforts due to the absence of supportive systems and facilities.
Ready access to information about economic factors helps investors transfer capital to sectors and areas where it fetches a higher return.
Modern technology has helped increase the proven sources of oil by 50% in recent years—and at the same time, reduced the cost of search operations by 75%.
For example, when the astronomer Copernicus proposed a heliocentric view of the world, the church rejected it[citation needed] because it did not conform to established religious doctrine.
Nobel laureate economist Arthur Lewis observed that the mechanization of factory production in England—the Industrial Revolution—was a direct result of the reorganization of English agriculture.
They build on past accomplishments in an incremental manner, and give a conscious form to the unconscious knowledge that society gathers over time.
[citation needed] In medieval times, when guilds tightly controlled their members, medical progress was slow mainly because physicians were secretive about their remedies.
When Denis Papin demonstrated his steam engine, German naval authorities refused to accept it, fearing it would lead to increased unemployment.
John Kay, who developed a flying shuttle textile loom, was physically threatened by English weavers who feared the loss of their jobs.
[citation needed] Whether the public receives an invention readily or resists depends on their awareness and willingness to entertain rapid change.
Where people drove a simple bullock cart, they now design ships and aircraft that carry huge loads across immense distances.
[citation needed] By using intelligence, society has turned sand into powerful silicon chips that carry huge amounts of information and form the basis of computers.
The term 'vital' denotes the emotional and nervous energies that empower society's drive towards accomplishment and express most directly in the interactions between human beings.
Before the full development of mind, it is these vital energies that predominate in human personality and gradually yield the ground as the mental element becomes stronger.
Despite its limitations, the physical stage lays the foundation for subsequent phases of development, serving as a crucial starting point for societal evolution and progress.
[citation needed] As the vital stage matures through the expansion of the commercial and industrial complex, surplus income arises, which prompts people to spend more on items so far considered out of reach.
These changes began in the Renaissance and Enlightenment, and gained momentum in the Reformation, which proclaimed the right of individuals to relate directly to God without the mediation of priests.
Global networks for transportation and communication now connect the nations of the world within a common unified social fabric for sea and air travel, telecommunications, weather reporting and information exchange.
In addition to spurring technological and organizational innovation, the mental phase is also marked by the increasing power of ideas to change social life.
However broadly speaking, the essential features of the physical, vital and mental stages of development are strikingly similar and therefore quite recognizable even in societies separated by great distance and having little direct contact with one another.
The natural development of democracy in Europe over the past few centuries can be contrasted with the conscious effort to introduce democratic forms of government in former colonial nations after World War II.
[citation needed] Planned development is also largely unconscious: the goals may be conscious, but the most effective means for achieving them may remain poorly understood.
[citation needed] Over centuries, democracy’s organic growth has been experienced while Europe stands in contrast to the purposeful Post-World War II, which attempts in colonial countries to establish democratic rules.