For the past month, on and off, I’ve been thinking about problem-solving – there’s too much of it. Everyone’s a problem solver, but since when did you hear someone openly say that they create problems? I think the relationship between a problem and solution is cyclical – a problem is a consequence of a solution, and a solution is a consequence of a problem. The relationship is symbiotic, they cannot exist without each other.

When did problems become… a problem? How did the word carry such a negative connotation? I’ve thought of problem-making as a form of opportunity – because the problem exists or is created, there will more-than-likely be someone devoted to finding the solution. Without the problem, the need for a solution wouldn’t exist.

The entire thought about problems came to me one day when I was thinking about outrageous ideas for a novel (which I would never write due to my lack of ability to properly describe scenarios). I thought about having a villain as the main character. Following that, I thought about the cruelest and evilest villain possible, and came up with a person who had the ability to solve any kind of problem without regard to the possible consequences of the solution.

At first, the reader would have the impression that this was a wonderful gift to have – solving any kind of problem, and that the main character is this righteous person who wants to help the world. However, as the main character begins to solve every kind of problem, s/he fails to realize the consequences of the act – people begin to lose meaning within their lives because the problems they lived and existed to solve, were no longer available.

What happens is the world sees an increase in suicide rates. I know someone will call plot hole because those people can find other problems to work with. No. The main character is out to solve EVERYTHING, and is able to do it with extreme ease. The world populace deems the main character as a threat to humanity, and the story ends with his him solving this problem with his own death. I never decided what happened to the world after that, but I’d imagine anarchy as if the idea is to promote problem generation as a ‘solution’, then the world would have to turn onto itself for people to strive to find solutions.

But that brings me to the question, why would a problem have to be chaotic, negative, so consequential?

That’s why I’m inclined to say that I’m a problem creator. There’s too many problem solvers out there already. I want to be the one that creates problems so opportunity lends itself to another’s future.

Or, I could be wrong completely. I recall situations where I have to solve a problem, and after solving that problem, there is no additional problems generated from the resolution. Maybe its kind of like division and multiplication:

Problem x Solution = Problem_New

Solution / Problem = undefined (in certain cases)