The unintended consequences of industrialisation in the form of social problems are a matter of growing concern. An even more challenging task is to industrialise the pre-industrial societies without creating similar problems. The authors contend that this requires a viewpoint which integrates the material and the meaning levels of human reality ('psucho-material worldview'). It also requires a fresh look at the continuity of human rationality from pre-scientific to scientific stages of development. These revisions in social-scientific perspective on human affairs suggest a set of propositions which link up human aspirations, rationality, technology, and adaptation of innovations. The paper concludes that a bolder approach of ethical social-experimentation would be needed to achieve praxis in societal development.