They Say More Money, More Problems

Let’s think together about a problem. Any problem that comes to mind when you read the word “problem”.

A rock climber might think of a route that she has been trying to master for weeks at the local gym.

A parent might think about a situation at school where their child is having difficulty with kids at lunch.

Maybe you thought of a coworker? Maybe you thought about homelessness. Maybe you have pain in your wrist that is giving you problems.

Now that you have a problem in mind, ask yourself if there is a solution.

Some solutions are immediately apparent and within a short amount of time, they can be resolved. Others solutions to problems seem too costly and take more than a lifetime to see resolved.

Now ask yourself if the problem in your mind is solvable at all. Is there evidence of it being solved in another location or time?

I only think about solutions. I can’t help it. It’s a problem:) Nothing I experience is an unsolvable problem. My mind is addicted to thinking my way out of things. I often have to not only think but also act, but I’m addicted to making problems go away. I can also make problems have little to no negative context.

Human beings seem to be evolving faster than other species because we find fault in our existence. We see problems and we see solutions to these problems.

The beaver behind my house in the river seems to have very few problems, but I really don’t know. I’m just guessing that the beaver isn’t overdue on tax payments. Beaver doesn’t need to make fire. Beaver just makes a little dam, because maybe Beaver was just another river otter 30 million years ago. Then one day a special otter with big teeth left the tribe with her girlfriends because the small-toothed otters made fun of her. She started gnawing on trees and branches with those massive teeth that others teased her about. At first, it was out of anger but then she and her girlfriends started using the sticks.

The special otter made a nice home for her girlfriends and then all the boy otters wanted to hang in her nice shelter. Its 30m B.C. and big teeth on otters became the equivalent of big titties in Homo Sapiens. So now big-toothed otter was all the rage some 30m years ago. Evolution does its thing, and we have a new species, Beaver, in little log huts on the river behind my house.

So, wtf was I talking about again? Oh Yes, problems. We all got them. Just like big tooth otter. Let’s use the power of evolution and solve all of them that we know of. And maybe we have to find new problems to solve once we solve all the known problems.

What problems are you working on? We could be like most animals and not worry about problems and just exist with them until we don’t. But we are different than the species around us. We are super evolutionary and we can see it happening in a mere generation.

I also think problems are awesome. If you come to me with your problems I’m gonna give you a little mindfuck when I don’t respond the way you want me to. I think we are a super species that goes around the universe solving problems. We are about to go interplanetary in the next 200 years!

Are you working on a problem or are you making a problem? If you want to work on problems, there are many to tackle and many places to start.

My plane is landing and I’m off to the wilderness to make a fire with sticks if I can remember how from my days working at Anasazi in 2002.

The next few posts are from guests. Happy Sunday!

SP