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Thursday, August 18, 2016
Episode 1: Problem
Join us for our Extreme Vocabulary inaugural episode as Abe and Aaron problematize today's word. Then, Efren drops by to discuss a passage from Oscar Zeta Acosta's The Revolt of the Cockroach People with Josh. John Lennon once sang "There are no problems, only solutions," but what if just the opposite is true? Tune in to find out.
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Hey guys! Always excited to talk vocab concepts with other enthusiasts.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I did not know of the ballista and am now fascinated with the etymology of "ballistic." Thanks for this.
Secondly, your discussion made me think about the point-of-view difference between "problem" as a single incongruous piece of an otherwise working whole (e.g. "The problem with your car was the timing belt") and "problem" as a group of disparate items demanding harmony (e.g. "Getting through the required daily curriculum with first-graders is a problem").
I like your synonym/analogy of a problem as a puzzle, and it works nicely with this viewpoint idea. If you have a 1,000 jigsaw puzzle pieces but one of the thousand is from a different set, it's tempting to feel as though that one different piece is "the problem." The real problem, though, is that your puzzle cannot be completed in the way that you had anticipated and gotten attached to -- a shift which is ultimately aggravating you.
Just as Abraham said of the supposedly binary train dilemma, "where are the breaks on this thing?" Sure, finding that one missing piece might soothe the aggravation -- but so would lowering your expectations of completion by cutting out your own blank piece of cardboard to fit the space, or even just accepting and embracing the empty spot.
This is why I really like the NASA expression "working the problem." It captures the idea that every puzzle has any number of solutions, and that one should actively try to uncover as many as possible instead of getting obsessed with one singular perceived and/or desired fix. It also detracts from the notion that “solving problems leads to more problems,” which again is singular thinking instead of an acknowledgment that all variables affect each another as you experiment your way toward a goal.
What I find really weird in light of all this is the culturally understood given that riddles have one correct answer, but one which usually involves out-of-the-box thinking to an extreme.
Thirdly, Aaron, here is a song about Tesla, because They Might Be Giants haven't forgotten about him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVMIVSiHxsg
Thanks for the comment, keyglyph! We at Extreme Vocabulary always appreciate insightful feedback as an illuminating addition to the slipshod conversation that we cobbled together. Thanks for the TMBG link--definitely one I haven't heard before. I think I was mesmerized by David Bowie's performance of Tesla in The Prestige, hence my fawning praise, that and because he dabbled in all things energy and brought humankind forward by leaps and bounds.
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