“A ‘problem’ is something which gives rise to human thought—such as a conflict between two theories, a paradox or anomaly. It does not only refer to ‘bad problems’—conflicts between people, problems that seem to make people miserable, things we would rather avoid. Anything sparking thinking, including enormously enjoyable thinking, like when you notice something and wonder about it, following your curiosity wherever it leads, is a ‘problem’ in this wide sense used here.”
– Sarah Fitz-Claridge
“You seem to use the word ‘problem’ differently from how most people think of it. What do you mean by ‘problem’?”
A problem is something which gives rise to human thought—such as a conflict between two theories, a paradox or anomaly. It does not only refer to ‘bad problems’—conflicts between people, problems that seem to make people miserable, things we would rather avoid. Anything sparking thinking, including enormously enjoyable thinking, like when you notice something and wonder about it, following your curiosity wherever it leads, is a ‘problem’ in this wide sense used here.
In a deeper sense, problems can be exciting, wonderful, interesting, perplexing issues such as scientists wrestle with in trying to explain and understand the universe.
This usage of the word ‘problem’ is the sense used by the critical rationalist philosopher Karl Popper, whose epistemology (theory of knowledge) informs Taking Children Seriously.
From a Taking Children Seriously perspective, every bit of progress in the world is a problem solved. Cultural progress, political progress, technological progress, scientific progress, progress in our society’s moral theories, the growth of knowledge in any sphere—all implies problems solved. And every bit of learning, growth and development in an individual mind is a problem solved too.
All improvement of any kind logically implies a problem solved, even if no one could articulate what the problem was or how it was solved. A problem can be explicitly stated, like a conflict between scientific theories, or it can be inexplicit, like when a very young child is learning their first language, they do not yet have explicit language in which to think, yet they are nevertheless solving the problems needed to be able to be learning the language. Human beings are born thinkers—explanation-creating problem-solvers. That is how we create brand new ideas that transform the world—and it is also how an individual child learns the meaning of the word “no”.
Why is it worth thinking about progress and learning as being problem-solving, as we do? Because it explains so much that is otherwise unexplainable.
Once you start thinking of human progress and growth of knowledge and learning this way, it has implications for … well… everything. But especially for how we view children. Instead of viewing children as passive buckets into which we pour knowledge, or viewing them as lumps of clay waiting to be moulded by us into the shape we adults think they should be, we view children as natural problem-solving knowledge creators just like we adults are. This view of children has profound implications for how we think it right to treat children.
Young children especially are amazingly brilliant problem-solvers. How many adults manage to learn language as fast as very young children do?
How many adults are as able as young children to stay in the moment and solve the problem they face in the moment instead of for ever being stuck in old unsolved painful problems?
Once you view everything through the lens of problems and solutions and the growth of knowledge, so much more looks possible than before.
In the old way of viewing problems, they were misery-inducing and unlikely to be solved. But in this new view, as David Deutsch explained in The Beginning of Infinity, problems are inevitable, and problems are soluble too.
Problems are soluble! And we can solve them!
Not infallibly. Not inevitably. And certainly not always instantly right in the moment we would like to solve them. But they are actually soluble.
The idea that problems are soluble is life-altering. It changes everything. EVERYTHING! It transforms pessimistic worldviews and sad cynical fatalism into actively can-do optimistic ones in which seemingly impossible to solve problems get solved, and bring us to a whole new and better problem to have fun solving. Just think of how this idea could affect all your relationships, your work, whatever matters to you in life!
To get a really deep understanding of the idea that problems are soluble, read the books of David Deutsch. In the meantime, this might help.
See also:
- Are problems really solvable?! All of them?! Really??
- How do you solve problems where there is a conflict of interest?
- How do people learn? Viewing learning as problem-solving
Sarah Fitz-Claridge, 2023, Taking Children Seriously FAQ: ‘What do you mean by “problem”?’, https://takingchildrenseriously.com/what-do-you-mean-by-problem