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Problem Solving By Richard Kieninger The progression of the high
school or college graduate from the theoretical speculations of academe into
the demanding practicalities and responsibilities of the worlds of commerce
and marriage has always been fraught with his apprehension and anxiety. The
transition from being a student to becoming an active participant in the
social, business and political circles in which we are all expected to share
is a period where fear of making embarrassing errors and suffering feelings
of inadequacy and unpreparedness are to be expected. It is unavoidably a
period of testing and growing up. The recent proliferation of widely
publicized, potential world disasters which people must immediately face and
effectively solve has certainly complicated the prospects of today’s young
graduate. There is no doubt but that the problems of drug use, ecological
pollution, racial inequality, political corruption, urban decay, moral
degeneration, organized crime, and international conflict, all added to the
constant possibility of nuclear annihilation, will not go away by themselves.
Hard work, clear thinking, personal sacrifice, and much soul searching is the
lot of all of us. A mere two generations ago
the graduate had little else to challenge him beyond learning how to earn a
living and conforming to the dictates of his elders. Today, however, the
bewildering array of staggering problems which he is expected to feel
personally responsible for helping to solve makes him realize that his
schooling has given him almost no information for dealing with such problems.
He is understandably frustrated with the irrelevance of his school courses in
meeting the urgent pressures against his very survival. Like other people of
all generations, he feels these problems have been unfairly imposed upon him
by others; and like everyone else, he resents having to clean up the mess at
great expense while he persuades himself of his own innocence. It is unfortunate that most
of the great problems are almost insoluble, and some actually have no
practical answer. It takes a mature mind to tolerate an interminable
situation which defies remedy in one’s own lifetime. The mental and emotional
processes of most people break down under such unremitting pressure. Some
people will deal with situations of extreme complexity in terms of
simplistic, radical cure-alls—revolutionaries might claim that mere overthrow
of whatever regime is currently struggling with the problems will solve the
problems, whereas reactionaries might claim that return to the old ways and
crushing those who are dissatisfied will return the world to a pre-problem
era—both alternatives have their emotional appeal but are essentially
irrational. Another reaction of a man of immature mind is to ignore the
facts and continue doing whatever he has done before and console himself that
the world has always survived and the current problems will solve themselves
and go away. This is a mild form of breakdown akin to the mindless,
repetitive motions seen among survivors of great disasters—for instance, the
man who endlessly transfers bricks from one pile to another amongst the
rubble of his earthquake-leveled home; the dazed and aimless wanderings of
the man searching for loved ones whom he already saw die in his
hurricane-ravaged town. Still another reaction of an overwhelmed mind is to
retreat into a view wherein one rationalizes the much-publicized problems of
the world as some sort of fabricated propaganda. Then there are those who see
the great problems of the world as the forerunners of an Apocalyptic doom of
mankind which should not be interfered with or be prepared against. These
people are delighted at the prospect of their neighbors and enemies being
destroyed by God, and it promises to put an end to their own intolerable
hatred and fear. There are also those who refuse to have any part of this
society, and they choose to withdraw from involvement in it and even refuse
to recognize it as being relevant to their own life style. A common thread runs
through all these people’s reactions to the pressing problems of the world—
the constant bombardment of problems; the demands of evaluating conflicting
remedies; the inexorable changes in every facet of life which these problems
impose; the irretrievable loss of old security patterns—all combine to
produce a sense of inability to cope with the world as it really is; so these
people essentially do nothing or else react in some other inappropriate,
non-useful manner. It constitutes a withdrawal from reality not unlike the
schizophrenic’s response to the challenges of life. The inoperativeness and
despair of the disaster victim is only a few shades removed from the
bewildered ineffectiveness of vast numbers of the populace in dealing with
vital issues. I feel that if this country were to suffer any major disaster
or a situation calling for super effort it would instead produce apathy,
hysteria, and panic. Indeed, many people subconsciously seek some sort of end
soon in order to get it over with and thereby relieve their anxiety. The angry old men who stump
for an all-out atomic war now and the angry young men who court death-like experiences
in drugs both seek to disarm their anxiety over death by tempting it and thus
habituating themselves to it until it becomes a more comfortable and familiar
companion. Both old and young try to recapture the less-troubled time of
yore—the old by threats of force to make all conform; the young by adopting
the clothing and beards of the mid-Victorian era and the American pioneers.
They both petulantly demand simplicity in times of overwhelming complexity.
When change is too rapid and human adaptability becomes too strained, then
man’s psychology intervenes to resist and reject further change. I believe we
are witnessing the beginning of a mass reversion to simplicity in America at
a time when the rest of the world is imposing increasing changes upon us.
This is, of course, an emotional reaction which will override rationality
even though it could lead to our own destruction. Those who have a positive, practical plan can retain their hope and their full sanity. It is they who can preserve their mature ability to effectively cope with life while all around them are losing their heads. |
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