In view of the changing relationship between science, technology, and the quality of life, future efforts need to be devoted to the use of new knowledge for social objectives rather than for economics and defense. The mass of problems facing society today, which to some extent are direct side effects of technological growth, appear to have three interactive and inextricable causes: (1) the increase in world population and accumulation of population in urban areas, (2) an increase in level of affluence, and (3) the unmanaged upsurge of technology which has been the agent for producing affluence and urbanization. These problems appear to have three features in common. They are global and seem to appear in any kind of society at a certain level of development irrespective of the social or political system. Second, they are extremely complex and multi-variant in economic, social, political, and psychological aspects that are difficult to disentangle. Third, they are enormously interactive. Pessimistic projections from the world model developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are not merely an experiment in futurology; they are an analysis of trends that indicate what is likely to happen if present growth and policy persist. The human species approaches a moment of findamental crisis. There are ways out, but little time is left to initiate the basic changes in human objectives, motivation, and behavior that are necessary if man is to survive. (LH)