Social Question

rojo's avatar

Is there a solution to every problem?

Asked by rojo (24179points) October 9th, 2016

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21 Answers

SQUEEKY2's avatar

One would like to think or even hope so.

Coloma's avatar

Maybe, given enough time and resources but for some problems like terminal cancer a nice cup of Oleander tea or bullet between the eyes might be the best option.

kritiper's avatar

No friggin’ way. Johnston’s Law so states.

Earthbound_Misfit's avatar

No. Sometimes you have to find the best compromise. You can’t ‘solve’ the problem, but you manage it as best you can.

zenvelo's avatar

Yes, but they may not be fair, or desirable, or even ethical.

MrGrimm888's avatar

‘What man can contemplate, man can achieve. ’

In other words, it’s a mater of time,not the complexity of the problem.

Given ample opportunity to study the problem, hypothesize and test solutions, scientific method, or an aloof uneducated person, or many generations of people can,and will find a solution.

As stated above, it may not be the desired result, but an answer will emerge if time alots.

CWOTUS's avatar

Okay, @kritiper, I’ll bite. What is Johnston’s Law?

kritiper's avatar

Johnston’s Law says that Murphy’s Law is ALWAYS in effect, and it can affect YOU. It is for those people who seem to think that Murphy’s Law only applies to others, and/or doesn’t apply at all times.

zenvelo's avatar

@kritiper That isn’t Johnston’s Law.

Johnston’s Law states: “Everything that can be decentralized, will be decentralized.”

And, even if it did say “Murphy’s Law is always in effect”, that has nothing to do with the question. Your corollary would be, “there is no solution to anything.”

rojo's avatar

It is only a problem from the personal perspective and as such there is always a solution of some kind no matter how unpalatable it may be to the person?

Could it be argued that something has to have a solution to be a problem?

MrGrimm888's avatar

^So. Is that the motivation for the thread?

Hmm….

Your thinking seems logical, but not abstract enough.

I think you can always ask a question, but an answer may be impossible (as far as feasibility anyways. )

i.e.

‘Could you survive jumping into a volcano? ’

Pretty much impossible. But with proper research and development, a suit, or vessel could be constructed to tolerate the conditions.

If given a week, won’t happen.

If given eternity,and generations of people researching the same thing,I think humans can figure anything out. Eventually….

Except how to make Trump sound sane….

In my estimation, a question, or problem does not require a answer to be a question. Most cancer is a problem, without a solution.

But I really like the concept. It’s intriguing. GQ….

Hypocrisy_Central's avatar

Depends on what one sees as a problem, either somethings do not have solutions or the solutions have not been discovered or developed.

kritiper's avatar

Great godly gonads! There are TWO of them! @zenvelo How will people tell them apart??

Mariah's avatar

Of course not. See: incurable diseases.

rojo's avatar

@Mariah

Could you not conclude that death was the cure for said disease and that just because the solution was not the outcome of choice for the individual in question does not mean it was not A solution or even the ONLY solution?

rojo's avatar

If we looked at it as a math problem, something along the lines of

Solution = Knowledge + Intuition + Energy(working toward understanding) + Time

could you not say that a disease is only incurable because we have not found the right combination of variables yet? I.E. not enough time has been expended or not enough Energy has been put forth or we just don’t know enough yet?

Mariah's avatar

Not all diseases kill you. I mean, one could say that when I eventually die, hopefully when I’m old, that my Crohn’s disease has been “solved” because I’m dead now and don’t have it anymore. That seems like that’s really stretching the definition of “solution” though.

If the disease gets cured eventually, but not in time to help me, then my problem is still unsolvable.

Seems like we’re just arguing over the semantics of what “solution” means now though.

MrGrimm888's avatar

Jellies arguing over semantics?~~

Never!~

kritiper's avatar

There could be a solution to every problem but the solution might be worse than the problem.

LogicHead's avatar

A good question and in political philosophy it forms the most basic division I’ve seen:
There is a best answer, an optimal answer but often no perfect answer. Those who are always arguing the perfect answer are often history’s greatest murderers. I always point to Stalin’s statement to workers he sent to his concentration camps: You are a worker and you will be severely punished for criticizing the Workers Paradise”

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