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