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Nested problems, nested solutions (1): what’s your problem?

I’ve posted about nested problems before as The Wrapper, and The Onion (1), (2), (3), (4).

It helps to begin by defining “problem”. A problem isn’t necessarily big or important and doesn’t necessarily require action: it’s simply anything that you want to change. We face hundreds of problems every day:

  • My morning alarm is disturbing me – how can I make it stop?
  • I need to get up but I’m really tired – what will help?
  • I’m hungry.
  • These dishes need doing before I can cook.
  • The bathroom needs cleaning.
  • I need to remember something for later.
  • My pen is out of ink.
  • I wish I knew what happened next in Les Miserables.
  • I want to understand more deeply how electricity works.
  • Millions of people around the world are suffering badly from the effects of poverty.
  • Mankind is in the early stages of an environmental crisis.
  • Watch out for that pandemic!

Many – perhaps the majority – of our problems are either easily solved or unimportant enough to be ignored or put on hold. All but the simplest problems (for example, a non-recurring case of “my nose is itchy”) set off a chain of new problems for us to solve.

More tomorrow.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and recommended resources...

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