Problems and Solutions

PURPOSE OF DIAGNOSIS

Problems are multi-dimensional, as opposed to being endless. [Axiomatiq]

ENDLESS PROBLEMS: usually meant as in "If it's not one thing, it's another!... Yesterday the migraine, today the pram fell apart, last week Saddam Hussein, the other morning the trains wouldn't turn up, now we're waiting for the Budget-what next?..."

PROBLEMS are of a kind, rather than a matter of quantity. They come in all shapes & sizes, but that doesn't make it many. In fact, one may be stuck with a problem of a kind year in-year out... [PHAEDRA]

Problems evolve so that the same predicament appears as novelty. If "Nothing is new under the sun" it's that we keep rehearsing old habits, rather than because "something wasn't there, before—and now we've got this on our hands!..." [ENDLESS ILLUSIONS]

Problems come in all shapes & sizes: they can be physical, psychoemotional, natural, national, international... Then, they vary in intensity, acute, moderate, dramatic, etc. It all seems endless, and unclassifiable. But note this:
(1) All predicaments have a physical outlet—and a personal effect, though we may not be involved at all.
(2) They are either PERSONAL, SOCIAL, NATURAL or COSMIC.
We are affected by things other people do, because we are social creatures. Problems are personal in that individual volition takes precedence over guilt, culprits or circumstances. Existence is difficult, because survival is a moral struggle, a philosophical headache...

Then we have natural calamities. Ordinary rain can be a nuisance, if you find it outside the movies...

Finally, a problem can be cosmic, because we don't quite know what we are doing in this whole immensity...

The above explains how we came to refer to problems as multi-dimensional, rather than endless. In other words, a problem may arise at any level of existence—including immateriality.

OBJECT OF A DIAGNOSIS
(1) locate the source of a problem, (2) in order to facilitate application of remedy.
There are many other ways of saying all this, depending on whether one is dealing with a mechanical failure, a social crisis, a medical condition, a divorce, etc—and especially depending on who is performing the operation.

TREATMENT
This matters above all, insofar as you may know what's killing your horse—but what good is it if you're in the middle of nowhere?... Knowledge would be irrelevant if the only cure were to walk home. If you don't have wings you'll be arguing with yourself, "I should've known—I saw the signs, didn't I, before me & my horse set out!"

In general, remedies, repairs & solutions may be applied all the more effectively following accurate diagnosis. [Axiomatiq]

RECOGNISING A PROBLEM
Identifying a problem is as easy today as it was when people had to deal with the bubonic plague... This could be construed as sarcastic, were it not for the wide range of defective situations in our society.

In all evidence, spotting a problem, calling it the right name, is a human weakness, rather than something to rush over...

It was none of our ancestors' business to franchise reality. Nor should we feel obliged to repeat this tradition as though respect were beyond jurisdiction. Futurism is intelligence now fraying a path through yesterday's customs—as opposed to plucking new ideas from a clean table. Virginity is an ideal. Ancient heroes knew better than try & be purer than those before them.

(1) Calling things any name at all is what definitions are about.
(2) What we make of any word at all is what life-descriptions are all about.
(3) Description of reality is what a standpoint is based on, actually. Same applies to belief, outlook on life, opinion, etc—save that an opinion is a viewing of a situation, whereas creed is a system devised for the purpose of answering every possible human situation.

HOW TO ASSESS anything at all is exceedingly more difficult than fulfilling a wish. You can make a dream real easier & sooner than learn how to read signs & symptoms! [Axiomatiq]

MIRACLES & REMEDIES
We know the meaning of health best when it breaks down. Is anything more annoying, and defeating, than a cold? It isn't lethal as a rule, though millions of people each day live in hope of a remedy.

Plain running water would come as miracle, in some parts of the world. As for drought as for famine, remedy would consist in bringing water & food. But, International Relief Workers have been doing just that—so what's the name of that problem?... It can't be a shortage of essentials, it's that water doesn't keep on flowing through town! Millions of caring citizens worldwide contribute monthly and also daily, so it can't be a shortage of altruism.

To be continued...

Club version sample

More Sapienz links:

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How to write and spell Cliche

Initial Concept of the Web

Anatomy of a Depression

Meaning of National Flag Symbols

Cynics and Lesser Mortals

Witnessing Reality

Witnessing History

Myth & Mythomania

Facts & Fallacies

Taboos & Platitudes