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’s life self-organizes in such a way that, without realizing it, he lives the myth of the Greek hero Hercules. Remember Hercules making a stand against the monstrous Hydra, chopping off its ‘heads’ only to be surprised by more problem ‘heads’ growing at other locations on the body. The actions of Hercules and the problem solver merely generate more problems – somewhere. Life in the round is not enhanced in any way.
Our world divides itself into various ‘levels’. There is a predictable ‘level’ to which the laws of science apply and which we are exploiting to provide all the items of technology. This is the realm of the problem solver, where, unfortunately, his solutions often become new problems. He thus keeps himself in business indefinitely. However, there is also an inherently surprising ‘level’ of the world. This encompasses the daily interactions of people and, because this ‘level’ self-organizes in an inherently surprising way, it is magical. Within this everyday ‘level’ of reality it is practical to abandon the folly of problem solving and simply choose the life you would prefer. Although you must first choose a goal, it would have to emerge as a surprise. For this reason it would be necessary to live creatively using a STRATEGY FOR GETTING NICE SURPRISES. If an advanced and friendly race of people from another planet were to contact us here on earth, the first thing they would divulge is this magical method. You can also find it revealed in various esoteric texts like the New Testament Gospels and in works on Taoism.
About the Author
For information on a
Strategy for Getting Nice Surprises
visit Tom Horn's website at:
http://www.angelfire.com/ab4/goldenflower/