The nebulous, shadowy nature of problems discussed earlier suggests the value of trying to understand them through metaphors. Not only can valuable insights be obtained, but this helps to comprehend how people acknowledging problems as understood through one metaphor have difficulty in attaching significance to problems as understood through another metaphor. The favoured metaphor may render some problems even more evanescent. Atoms, molecules Problems may be considered as discrete entities, like atoms, having relationships to one another, like molecular bonds. The structure of the information in this volume is effectively based on this metaphor.
Problems also have non-discrete characteristics which can better be understood as field effects.
In the light of this metaphor, the editorial process can be thought of as an attempt to discover the detailed structure of the macro-molecular complex which so strongly orders the life processes of society. It thus bears some resemblance to efforts to discover the structure of DNA or to the current Human Genome Project. It is useful to compare problems using the metaphor of the different states of matter. In the light of this metaphor, the editorial process can be thought of as an attempt to collect and relate information concerning the different states in order to be able to plot out a phase diagram showing their relationship. Topography and surveying Problems are often described in terms of topographical features or geological processes.