Solved Problems

[Ego]

"When you buy furniture you tell yourself, "That's it. That's the last sofa I'm gonna need. Whatever else happens, I've got that sofa problem handled."

Money? Solved.
Housing? Solved.
Family? Solved.
Significant other relationship? Solved.
Insurance? Solved.
Transportation? Solved.
Friends? Solved.
Everything? Solved.

Umarell?

What are the consequences of having a life full of solved problems? '
Are partially-unsolved problems better than solved problems?

https://youtu.be/CWRTqMGvdpc

[Ego]

In my experience, those who are true problems solvers who have run out of problems to solve tend to create problems for themselves when they have none.

[daylen]

Let's create some problems together.

First off, I see your point and wonder if there exist a problem that once solved will eliminate all other problems. It would seem that problems arise when there is a pull towards resolution or certainty, and thus the meta-solution could be something like a deep appreciation and openness to ambiguity in the face of pending death. Immortality syndrome would appear to be correlated with a need to push and pull others towards problems that cannot be solved from their current view of the underlying polarities. Or something like that.

Though, it would seem that no matter how enlightened you become there are still others who cannot help themselves to escape polarities emerging from their fear of narrative disruption. Putting our heads in the sand and not showing up for others in their own moments of reckoning seems a bit selfish. Although, as you say, doing this without cleaning up your own household is likely to further complications.

[matchewed]

I was just speaking about this with a co-worker. The individuals in my industry who retire tend to go straight into private consulting for obscene amounts of money. Those who don't follow this pattern tend to end up mowing their lawn twice a day in an attempt to find that problem that cannot be truly solved but must be constantly maintained.

I think that having solved problems or unsolved problems are mostly within the degree of how you define an acceptable solution. Some people will see using twine to bind somethings together as unsightly and not a good solution. Others will want those same things bound in a way which is maybe considered more pleasing.

I also think that our society has given us so many solutions that we're wired to see problems around us that don't really exist, or maybe they do exist they just don't matter.

[7Wannabe5]

In my experience, those who are true problems solvers who have run out of problems to solve tend to create problems for themselves when they have none.

True, but humans also do this in order to avoid more difficult problems. Thus the expression “Charity begins at home.” Easy example which I have often seen (and occasionally teetered towards becoming) would be the woman who is clearly not caring very well for her health, wealth and appearance, but spending all her life energy working with disabled children or fostered pit bulls or FITB.

IOW, I think it’s a boundary problem. Some people take on too much. Other people take on too little.

[Ego]

First off, I see your point and wonder if there exist a problem that once solved will eliminate all other problems. It would seem that problems arise when there is a pull towards resolution or certainty, and thus the meta-solution could be something like a deep appreciation and openness to ambiguity in the face of pending death.

Would a growth mindset be the thing? Or perhaps a very minimal fixed mindset? I feel like a growth mindset turns problems into puzzles that are fun to solve.

Those who don't follow this pattern tend to end up mowing their lawn twice a day in an attempt to find that problem that cannot be truly solved but must be constantly maintained.

What a great observation!

I wonder if this is something we should avoid doing in retirement.... searching for an unsolvable Sisyphean problem (global warming, death, homelessness...) and busying ourselves with trying to solve them in the same way we should avoid what 7w mentions above.

[daylen]

This gets at an underlying paradox: the desire to grow can stagnate you by fixating your identity/shadow, and the desire for conservation can grow you by running you into a brick wall. In other words, both hyper-attachment and hyper-detachment work in mysterious ways. Not sure I'll ever solve that one. Though, it would seem that an AND-AND mindset works better than an OR-OR mindset (i.e. for anti-fragility, let's say.. of what I cannot say).

[Bankai]

Would a growth mindset be the thing? Or perhaps a very minimal fixed mindset? I feel like a growth mindset turns problems into puzzles that are fun to solve.

It does, but it also 'creates' new problems as you grow.

How about accepting everything that happens and having no desires? Eckhart Tolle-like state? Acceptance=no (current) problems, no grow=no new problems. Probably not for INTJs...

[Stahlmann]

Unexpected, fast progressing cancer? :-DDD

[Jean]

I solved thé absence of problèm to solve problèm with vidéo games. But it's weird to Pay for people to create problèms for you.

[EdithKeeler]

I think some of us are always looking for problems to solve. We’re wired that way, or maybe trained that way. I see that in myself: “problem solved. Where’s the next one?” Too bad it’s not a cure for cancer and moving on to global warming…..

It’s a characteristic I have that both complements my DBF and drives him crazy. He’s a former lawyer, so I think he’s had his fill of problem solving and is mostly content to “just be.” If left to him, we’d never go on vacation, never choose a restaurant, never decide what to cook for dinner, we’d just sort of aimlessly wander along and whatever food appears we’d just eat it.

Personally, not looking for problems to solve strikes me as complete apathy. Problems can be big “what are we going to do about ocean pollution?” Or they can be small “What should I wear today?” Or “I need a haircut.”

And who buys a sofa for life? You’ve solved the sofa problem FOR NOW. And it’s created more problems anyway: where to put the sofa? What to cover it with? How to clean it? The cushions are getting mushy….

“Fight Club” is one of my all-time favorite movies. Which is probably weird because I’m a woman.

[matchewed]

It may be that just viewing the world around you as a series of problems to be solved as a limiting perspective.

Apathy and acceptance aren't the same thing. Good enough exists as well.

[unemployable]

And who buys a sofa for life? You’ve solved the sofa problem FOR NOW. And it’s created more problems anyway: where to put the sofa? What to cover it with? How to clean it? The cushions are getting mushy….

With the right amount of social capital, the price of home furnishings reduces to zero. That's what I consider the problem "solved".

Then, like crude oil going negative, the opposite occurs and you have more crap than you know what to do with and need a vehicle and people to help you haul it away and a place to haul it to.

Money is a solved problem when you can accommodate every possible contingency that doesn't involve "everybody being screwed anyway" -- political upheval, mass extinction event and the like.

[Ego]

It may be that just viewing the world around you as a series of problems to be solved as a limiting perspective.

Apathy and acceptance aren't the same thing. Good enough exists as well.

Language is a funny thing. I really like the story about how people cannot distinguish between green and blue cards if their language does not have a world for blue.

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/ra ... -isnt-blue

Anyway, the phrase "solved-problem", as in money is a solved problem, is a phrase that is rarely used in the real world but is one we encounter here on the forum frequently. I believe it is more than just a thought. It is a way of thinking.

In the same way that it is impossible to not distinguish the one blue card from a stack of green cards, it becomes impossible to not (double negative) consider certain situations from the perspective of unsolved vs solved problem.

I agree that it may be a limiting perspective. On the whole, I am not sure if it is bad or good limit.

[EdithKeeler]

With the right amount of social capital, the price of home furnishings reduces to zero. That's what I consider the problem "solved"


It may be that just viewing the world around you as a series of problems to be solved as a limiting perspective

.

I suppose. Maybe it’s “potato, po-tah-to.”

If you need a sofa, there are a lot of ways to solve the problem—buy one from Ethan Allen, buy one from Wal-mart, buy one off Craigslist, call around to your friends, pick one up off the street. It’s still a “problem” to be solved. Or the bigger problem is “I need a place to sit. Chair, sofa, milk crate, floor.

I’m not sure that seeing life as a series of problems to be solved is such a bad thing. Perhaps just call them puzzles or simply choices. You can solve the problem—or make the choice—to use money or not.

[oldbeyond]

I’ve been designating areas of my life as solved when I’ve found a local maximum and decided that marginal returns in other areas were higher. For example, focusing on exercise instead once I had a decent grasp on nutrition and had settled on a diet. Basically jumping to another S-curve. I use a strong word like ”solved” to force myself to move on to new challenges, but it’s of course really more like ”solved for now”. It seems to me that the antidote to the risk of complacency and mediocrity is to widen your perspective. It seems unlikely that you would ever solve all problems relevant to human flourishing.

I think you need a problem but can’t see how you would run out of new ones. Accepting routine in some areas might be necessary to secure the energy needed for growth in others.

[johnsmith84730]

I have a very similar system to @oldbeyond, and I think many on the forum probably do as well, even if they don't realize it.

I have a literal spreadsheet called 'Solved Problems' that has problems I consider effectively 'solved'... at least for me personally. These are aspects of life that I've done a lot of experimentation/research and have come to a conclusion that I have found the best solution possible - essentially a point quite high on the S-curve, without wasting too many more units of my short life squeezing out further optimization.

Some of the things on there:
- diet/nutrition (a varied WFPB diet with small amounts of healthy animal products and minimal added salt/sugar/fat and processed foods)
- fitness (exercises I enjoy, as integrated into normal life as possible)
- politics (ignore, it's a complete waste of time)
- religion (they're made up, I'm a materialist)
- FIRE (don't fuck it up, spend as little time maintaining/tinkering as possible)...

For things that haven't made it to the 'Solved Problems' list yet, I have a separate spreadsheet which I use to list ways to improve these aspects of life, how to integrate them into my web-of-goals, where I think I am on the S-curve (how optimized are they right now) etc.

[Frita]

How does ignoring root causes and focusing on symptoms contribute to this?

e.g.
Don’t get enough exercise—ignore
Eat the SAD—ignore
Drink excessive alcohol—ignore
Get diabetes—take a pill
Be overweight—do the diet of the month, buy special foods, have surgery

It seems one can zoom into hyper fix-it mode with a rolling avalanche of problems to solve.

[WFJ]

One of the Unabomber's critiques of modern society is that there are three kinds of problems: 1. Simple Problems most brains can solve 2. Difficult problems only the top 0.000001% can solve and 3. Problems beyond the ability for humans to solve. Our brains have evolved to constantly solve simple problems to survive and with the advent of the printing press, mail and then digital communication, there would be much psychological damage to those whose brains were not able to even understand the last two kind of problems. Modern technological society has solved all of the problems in group 1, leaving only the upper 0.000001% with the ability to even begin to define the other two problems and use this major part of our evolved brain. His methods to counteract this hypothesis were probably not as well thought out, but his other predictions have come true (made up psychological disorders only present in the most developed countries and increase with the acceleration of solved problems being available to the masses).

If true problems of food, shelter and health are mostly solved, most people's brains are left with nothing to solve and invent 'problems' their less developed brains can solve. I remember speaking to someone who had lived in a very poor and struggling 3rd world country where problems of food, shelter and health were a constant daily struggle for 99% of the population who had spent time in a developed country. She was struck by how many psychological issues were present in the population of developed countries (this was 15 years ago and only worse now). her mother was a doctor and had exposure to mental disorders in both countries with a stark difference in frequency, variance and severity.

Currently, even the language and structure of communication is accelerating far beyond all but the top 10% of the population (try explaining the difference between EFFICACY and EFFECTIVENESS to a vaccine zealot to get a simple example), leaving a massive portion of the population ignorant, basically watching a moving with only 1/3 of the screen visible in an opaque and strange language. Watching these people protest and cause civil unrest is sadly predicable. An interested sociologist could probably do a study linking farming to mental health and inner city living to psychological disorders (although this would undermine the "Everyone should go to college" delusion and be impossible to get funding or find a reliable publication outlet controlled by the education monopoly).

[unemployable]

One of the Unabomber's critiques of modern society is that there are three kinds of problems

I feel like the Unabomber is not the guy we should be looking to regarding identifying societal problems and executing solutions thereto.