Are we actually solving problems with our solutions?

One thing that seems to separate humans from animals is 1) our desire to solve problems and 2) our reasoning to think that things are problems in the first place.

This combo tends to lead us to create solutions that lead to more problems.

Ex. Somebody gets sick so let’s create a drug that makes them “un-sick” which leads to the suppression of their immune system which leads them to get more sick and/or be more susceptible to sickness in the future.

There are three main issues with our method of problem-solving:

1. We tend to only look at A to B and not the chain reaction that ultimately leads to Z.

2. Our expectation for a solution relative to time is near immediate, close to zero, yet we live in an infinite world.

3. Our perception of the problem/solution is linear or two-dimensional yet we exist in a nonlinear, multidimensional reality (think a line compared to ripples in a water that spreads 360 degrees and up and down).

Because of this, our solutions tend to lead to more problems within the chain reaction both in near and, definitely, in far terms, and the chain reaction is not a linear one but rather a multidimensional one.

Ex. Medical drug

• Solution (A to B) → virus is killed
• Short-term (B to C) → symptoms from medicine
• Medium term (B to M) → suppressed immune system from future virus/ailment
• Long term (B to Z) → weakened immune system in the evolutionary process from generation to generation

Then as we solve A which leads to B which leads to the problem that exists in C, rather than going to the root cause (which is oftentimes our attempt to solve A in the first place), we isolate problem C as its own issue leading to its own chain reaction of more problems… and the vicious cycle continues.

Are you with me?

Btw this is not advice but rather my attempt to philosophically understand why we do the things we do, how we got to the way we are, and if there is a better way for us (at least me) to follow… so take it as you please.

I don’t want to send a complaint about the way we do things as a society without suggesting an alternative, but then again, is my suggestion just me now doing the same thing → problem-solving C leads to D and beyond haha.

Maybe not, because what I am about to share is more root-cause thinking. And the lack of root cause thinking and understanding or at least acknowledgment of the chain reaction that occurs is, in my opinion, part of the problem.

So my ultimate reasoning and the way to problem solve that I suggest below is within this understanding. 👇

We think we are capable of solving problems because we think we are intelligent beings.

I am not here to tell you that we are not (although sometimes I question if we are… we definitely seem to lack intuitive intelligence compared to our animal/plants/fungi counterparts), but rather I am here to ask the question:

If we are intelligent and that intelligence enables us to create things like the “solutions” to our “problems,” and we consider the creation/problem solving as intelligent, then by using this same intelligence and reasoning we should be able to ask ourselves, “what created us and the rest of the world?” and since we certainly know we didn’t, is it reasonable to conclude that the creator of us is more intelligent than us since it can create us which is already more than we can create?

This brings up an interesting debate about humans creating AI, but I digress.

Acknowledging this intelligence, wouldn’t it be more intelligent of us to trust the design of the greater intelligence than for us to intervene ourselves? And wouldn’t anything that directly contradicts this intelligent design be inherently less intelligent?

Maybe, unlike us, this greater intelligence did consider the 1) chain reaction of events, 2) infinite nature of reality, and 3) multi-dimensionality of all things.

One could argue that we, self-proclaimed problem solvers of this world, are part of the intelligent design that enables our problem-solving nature.

To an extent, this must be true otherwise why would it exist in the design?

But it is also true that a body can have healthy and harmful components to it at the same time. It’s just that one leads to its demise and the other it suffices. More specifically, one organ can function great while the other is loaded with cancer.

Cancer occurs when cells lose connection to source (oxygen, neural connections, etc.) and start to solve their own problems to survive so they replicate, aggregate (like a city), and spread ultimately forming tumors.

Does a healthy cell consciously know what it is doing or is it just following its destined path determined by the information passed to it from a greater source of the body? Most would say the latter. If the former, that’s a whole other conversation that I’m 100% open to the possibilities of being true (As above so below).

So when we lose connection to the source (creator, the greater intelligence, God, whatever you want to refer to it as) and deviate from our path, what happens to us?

Does our problem-solving actually create solutions or lead to more problems like the tumors in the body?

Cities are the most classic example of human attempts to solve one problem leading to another ultimately leading to a city which in my mind is most similar to a tumor (aggregation of problems) which creates all sorts of other imbalances throughout the rest of the body.

So my personal attempt to problem solve is increasingly becoming to not do so at all but rather surrender to the greater intelligence. I see this intelligence most physically in nature and feel it most metaphysically when I am fully present in the moment.

So my problem-solving approach has been to look towards the solutions already presented in nature and be present with them.

I am not perfect in this, but I am getting closer. If I achieve it, I probably won’t be using this modern-day tool of Substack or anything to share with you but instead just live it by example. So clearly I’m not there yet. If you no longer receive these, maybe I have gotten that much closer…?

With Truth 🍯 & Love 🥛,

Shaughnessy