Problem

Definition: As used herein, Problem refers to an Undesirable (or a less Desirable) Aspect of Reality that a Person Understands is humanly changeable to a Desirable (or a more Desirable) state. Commentary When a Person Understands an Aspect of Reality as a Problem that does not necessarily mean that the Solution is within his or her own power, only that the Solution is Understood by that Person as probably being within human power. The Person could turn out to be wrong in his or her Understanding - the so-called Problem actually is beyond human Solution - But that does not change the definition of Problem at the outset. Also, note that Problems are not necessarily Undesirable. Most people go to work to Solve Problems. The worker moves, you might say, a person, place, thing, or Action from a less Desirable state to a more Desirable State. The worker Solves Problems. He or she finds such Problems Desirable. Finally, note that a Problem is in contrast to a humanly-unchangeable Condition. For further commentary about both Problems and Conditions, see Condition. See: Ordinary Problem, Extraordinary Problem, Super Extraordinary Problem, and Common Problem. See: Solve See: Condition 1. Three categories of Problems For the sake of discussion, I break all Problems into three Categories. (1) - Ordinary Problems Ordinary Problems are ones members of a household are able to solve and so they do, whether the Problem at hand is an unsatisified Need or a Want. Note that Problems like Conditions can be Desirable. We draw pleasure from soaking-in some Conditions or solving some Ordinary Problems. Thus, the term “Problem” is not necessarily negative. If often is positive. (2) - Extraordinary Problems Extraordinary Problems are those Problems that may be a Need or a Want, Desirable or Undesirable, but in any event, the members of a household are unable to solve it Adequately. For example, a water main breaks so that water does not come out of the tap in the kitchen. This is Undesirable. While it is a humanly solvable Problem, it is an Extraordinary one that the members of this particular household cannot solve. To solve an Extraordinary Problem, whether a Need or a Want, Desirable or Undesirable, a household may, if it is able, purchase or otherwise obtain products and/or services from Organizations, i.e., all types and levels of businesses, unions, professions, governments, universities, foundations, nonprofits, voluntary associations, schools, libraries, churches and so on. Note - To be complete we need to bring to your attention that an Organization may be illegal, immoral, unhealthy and inefficient. For example, a person or a group that distributes street drugs, scalps World Series tickets or provides other products or services that are not legal, moral, healthy or efficient is still an “Organization” in my scheme of things. These Organizations exists. They are Aspects of Reality. They cause effects. Do not forget that Extraordinary Problems may be Desirable, for example, weddings. Depending on family circumstances, weddings may be highly complex undertakings and expensive. They are not Ordinary Problems like baking cookies in your kitchen. (3) - Super Extraordinary Problems Now we arrive at the focus of this book and series of CFUSA programs. I define “Super Extraordinary Problems” or “SEPs” as Extraordinary Problems having to do with unmet Needs that the totality of existing Organizations fails to solve Adequately. SEPs are important matters with many consequences that weave into the Complex I referred to in the beginning. 1. The example of scurvy Scurvy[1] is a very unpleasant disease, to say the least. Here is a quote from the cited Wikipedia article - “Scurvy often presents itself initially as symptoms of malaise and lethargy, followed by formation of spots on the skin, spongy gums, and bleeding from the mucous membranes. Spots are most abundant on the thighs and legs, and a person with the ailment looks pale, feels depressed, and is partially immobilized. As scurvy advances, there can be open, suppurating wounds, loss of teeth, jaundice, fever, neuropathy and death.” Scurvy has been around since ancient times. The ancients made the connection that by consuming fresh fruits and vegetables a person did not get scurvy. However, they did not understand the disease in a modern scientific sense. Neither did we until fairly recently. The question is – Why did we not understand? Let us continue with the Wikipedia article - “While today scurvy is known to be caused by a nutritional deficiency, until the isolation of vitamin C and direct evidence of its link to scurvy in 1932, numerous theories and treatments were proposed, often on little or no experimental data. This inconsistency is attributed to the lack of vitamin C as a distinct concept, an inability to reliably link different foods (notably present in fresh citrus, watercress, and organ meat) to scurvy. An additional concept required to understand scurvy was the degradation of vitamin C by exposure to air and copper and other transition metal salts such as those of iron, thus changing the links of foods to scurvy over time.” [Emphasis added] In short, there were certain concepts (or Categories of Reality, as we are saying) missing from people’s thinking and therefore they mistook the Undesirable Problem of scurvy for an Undesirable Condition of long sea voyages. Even when various Organizations – the British Royal Navy, for example – kept trying to come up with Solutions, they failed because they were missing from their thinking an entire Category of Reality – the “concepts” mentioned above. Thus, scurvy is an example of a Super Extraordinary Problem, the true nature of which was eventually understood, thus knocking what had been a SEP down to an Extraordinary Problem (the British Royal Navy finally could Solve the Problem) and to an Ordinary Problem level for people living at home eating an Adequate diet. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scurvy

Related terms: Aspect | Desirable, Undesirable | Person | Reality | Understand