Because the "forces" in a social system are not omnipotent or deterministic, they are best thought of as "influences" or "tendencies" (cf. p. 4.6:18, including "Details" box). They may not always have the stated effects if counter-forces are present—for instance, if the authorities counter the wage-price spiral with a significant deflation of the money supply. The diagrams remain useful, however, because they explain what happens in the absence of effective counter-forces.

The strength of each diagrammed feedback loop depends upon several factors:

The strength of the component "forces" represented by the arrows.
The degree to which the arrows reinforce each other. For example, in our first bus-system graph, the effect labeled "bus X tends to run even earlier" arises, not from just one factor, but from three simultaneous factors (bottom of p. 5.4:6).
The presence or absence of counter-forces.

If multiple positive-feedback loops overlap one another, of course, then their effects become still more pronounced. In our full analysis of a mixed-economy society, a large number of such loops, represented in a series of four large graphs, will reinforce one another in this manner. Consequently, the tendencies they generate are especially powerful.

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