A mistaken belief that the parts of systems and the relations between the parts have an underlying nature which is the same everywhere and at all times.
Basing action on science girded by false beliefs in universals, in unchanging parts and relations, continually results in 'unforeseen' changes in social and environmental systems. Thus the unsustainability of past development has an epistemological explanation.
Problems, once the principles are known, are not complex or difficult to solve. Furthermore, since these principles are universally true, explanations can be determined and solutions devised from afar. Thus universalism, or a belief in universalism, promotes large-scale, factory-like operations with many laborers and few who monitor, think, and manage.