Discussing Difficult Problem
The world is filled with problems and issues that are unlikely to be solved with simplistic and uncomplicated solutions. Being able to have a dispassionate conversation that involves a nuanced perspective is among the principal components of the transition one makes from being a child into being an adult.
In this section we will talk about many complicated problems and their potential solutions from a variety of perspectives: technological, cultural, legal, and personal. Ever implicit in the background of these conversations will be the idea that it is unlikely any solution we find is optimal. There is probably a better solution totally unknown and undiscovered awaiting the right bright minds and persistent enthusiasm to uncover it!
I also start from the premise that most problems are addressable. Even if the problem seems insurmountable in our eyes today or seems rooted in behavior, choices, or decisions, I would like you to reflect on the following anecdote.
Doctors during the bubonic plague faced an utterly hopeless battle. Often, they commend their outcomes into the hands of god and just do whatever they could to make their patients comfortable. They would say, “It is beyond my ability or capacity.” But the truth is the situation is deeper: they did not understand the germ theory of disease. Plague bacterium is prevalent even today. The bubonic plague is even moderately common in the southwestern United States today. Plague bacteria is susceptible to most antibiotic treatments though and is easily cured once identified provided it has not advanced too far (though even in advanced states it is curable with access to proper medical treatment today)
What I want to point out about this story is that we only approximately 100 years in advance of the medical science of the 16th and 17th centuries in most areas. This is especially true in terms of the germ theory which was first well structured in the 1890s. Sterile techniques date from near the same time and modern antibiotics don’t come about till the 1930s. At any point during the bubonic plague, doctors and scientists were only 2 discoveries a few years away from completely curing it- the solution was there; even common place AT THAT TIME if they knew where to look. It also was not an impossible leap. Doctors in ancient cultures had realized that they extract or make tinctures of naturally growing fungi and plants with antibiotic properties from a purely experimental and practical standpoint. One of the biggest impediments to the advancement of progress fighting disease was widespread belief in two very outmoded theories: 1. diseases were mostly purveyed by miasmas or animal bites and 2. diseases were the work of a just God to punish the wicked.
Scientific Fact: Diseases are the product of the life cycle of microorganisms that interfere with the normal metabolism of their hosts or malfunctions in the normal metabolism of an organism.
Mathematical Fact: Diseases are, in general, treatable and infection with a pathological microorganism is largely random owing to factors like resistance, exposure, and mode of infection.
These facts here are used to demonstrate the two above conjectures cannot be the case. As soon as we change perspective and assume that diseases are a problem that we can overcome with sufficient understanding, care, and resources then the world changes. With most complex problems facing the world today, we would be wise to remember that our theories of psychology, sociology, economics, and ect. are probably no more advanced than those of the 16th century plague doctors. This doesn’t mean we should abandon those disciplines; we should redouble our intellectual commitment in them. It does mean that we should be intellectually honest though.
I’ve often heard the refrain that you can’t save everyone [from disease, famine, mental illness, ect.]. Fundamentally, this is true, however, I prefer to believe that it is not because this is an impossible endeavor, but rather that the solutions will just arrive too late. Let’s commit to work hard and bring about those solutions a tiny bit sooner if we can.