We all know that problems exist. A problem is something that hinders life and seems difficult to resolve. If a solution exists, then it’s not a problem. But if it is a problem, then neither you nor the people around you have a solution for it. There is no experience with it. Why? Because all the obvious ways to solve the problem have failed. This only means one thing: the solution to the problem must be sought outside of the obvious methods. The most beautiful and complete solution to any problem is always counterintuitive.
Flip through historical facts in your mind, and you’ll find confirmation of these words. Just make sure to flip carefully, as for us moderns, the counterintuitive solutions discovered by our ancestors now seem obvious and rational, or we may not even remember that such a problem ever existed. This doesn’t mean that you should always “do the opposite” of what seems right, although that is often the solution. It means that by doing something non-obvious or even seemingly unrelated to the problem, you at least increase your chances of finding a solution.
There are many problems in society that are, in essence, paradoxical consequences of attempts to solve them. Crime, illegal weapons, drug trafficking, election manipulation, the fight against corruption, xenophobia and discrimination, budget deficits, and unemployment. There are individual problems: excess weight, difficulties with children, conflicts at work or with neighbors, running out of money before payday, bad habits, insomnia, stress, and sex. There are also problems of a universal scale: globalization, personal freedom, climate change, the “last frontier” issue, bureaucracy, resistance to change and new technologies, dictatorial regimes, and singularity.
Some of the problems mentioned above already have counterintuitive solutions that are dismissed simply because they are “unappealing,” or seem “silly and abnormal,” or are “completely contrary to what we strive for,” or are “just unpleasant.” For some problems, no solutions have been found, but they do exist. Of course, they are not obvious – one must look in the non-obvious. In the paradoxical, in what seems idiotic, in what is rejected on an emotional level, in what will be laughed at, and the proposer will be labeled a madman.
And, no matter how silly and unreasonable it may seem, we must remember this every second and share it with everyone around us, especially our children: The most beautiful and complete solution to any problem is always counterintuitive.