The Folly of Problem Solving

THE FOLLY OF PROBLEM SOLVING Hello, my name is Tom. In this short article I want to convince you that a strategy for getting nice surprises is more realistic than a strategy leading to a predictable outcome. We are already familiar with strategies of predictability and have called them science, technology and logic. These have been used to solve our problems. Each of us has to solve the problems of providing ourselves with food, clothing, shelter, warmth, health and friendship. And then there are the wider problems of balancing the economy, environmental degradation, disposal of waste, helping the poor, fighting diseases and keeping the peace. There is no shortage of problems in this world. Small wonder then that we are trained from an early age in the skills of problem solving. But even if we could solve all our problems, would we then be living in a world we would have chosen had there been no problems to begin with. The answer, surprisingly, is no. So what is wrong with problem solving using strategies of predictability? Well, firstly, have you noticed how the problem solver does not wind up in an ideal world of his own choosing. Far from it because his solutions to problems often become the new problems. For example: We need food, so we get a meal and our continued existence contributes to the overpopulation of the earth. We need shelter, so we buy a house and then have the problem of maintenance and mortgage repayments. We need to travel, so we buy a car and wind up living in a vast car park with exhaust fumes choking us to death. We need to communicate, so we invent the Internet and now terrorists can learn to make bombs, crooks can steal money without leaving home and children can access pornography. I invite you to spot your own solutions, which are now new problems. The second problem with problem solving is that the problem solver