Caltrops - Tansin A. Darcos's Alter Ego - No, you do have problems. You just don't recognize them.

Forum Overview :: Tansin A. Darcos's Alter Ego

by Commander Tansin A. Darcos 09/19/2022, 9:25am PDT

In this thread "I am a man with zero problems again." on Jolt Country, the following conversation occurred:

Ice Cream Jonsey: Zero. Problems. Again.
Tdarcos: Don't worry, that won't last long.
Ice Cream Jonsey: No, I think I'm good, man. For like a year.
Tdarcos: Famous. Last. Words.

Jonsey then criticized my opinion:

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:

People say that, and it doesn't surprise me that you're one of them.

The GOAL is to have no problems. The GOAL is to have a manageable life.

With all the words you have written about logic, how can you believe in this superstition, where if you say you have no problems then HURR DURR you will soon? Are you not a man of LOGIC and REASON?

I decided to explain my reasoning.
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Yes, I am a person of reason. Because I understand where we are, and how we got here. The following is important to understand what I said.

For most of about the last 10,000 years, the living conditions are terrible for human beings, what with tribal wars, famine, migration, disaster, and disease, human lifespan generally averaged about 45, and "middle age" was around 25. Life basically existed as bare survival for most (about 90%), and life could be described as "harsh, brutal, and short." Over about the last 500 years, this began to change, probably staring in 1472 with the onvention of the printing press, the eventual weakening of churches and reductuin in religious superstition. It improved still further in 1752, when Ben Franklin (allegedly) flew a kite in the rain and discovered electricity. After that, things started to get much better.

Improved farming techniques allowed more people to be fed per acre of land. Improved farming equipment required fewer people to operate farms. Development of industrial technology such as the steam engine meant that all those people who would have remained poor crop hands or unemployed as the amount of work needed to operate farms decreased, could now make more money working in factories. As cities became more populated, you now have secondary industries to support the primary ones. Automobiles replaced horses. Trucks replaced wagons. This allowed tertiary industries, or "white colar" employment: insurance, bookkeeping, personnel management, banking, and so on. With reduced time devoted to survival needs (food, clothing, and shelter) there could be more time to be involved in leisure activites: travel, education, entertainment, and so on.

I went through all this history in order to point something out: the way technological society exists today is not natural. It is there because of a lot of developments make it possible for someone to survice: to make a living doing something other than growing food.

Technology has immeasurably raised the standard of living of 70% or more of the world's population. Civilization and the establishment of rule of law has made living around (or with) other people much easier and less dangerous.

What it means is that what would have been serious crises just became mere problems that have to be solved. Hungry? Fix something from food you have. Out of food? Go to the store and buy it. Need money? Perform some work for money. The stores have empty shelves (or closed), or there's no paying work available? Now, you have a different problem which may turn back into a crisis.

Our lives are supported by technology, by civilized society, and by economic competition. This has changed crises into problems to solve. For a lot of these problems, we have so overcome nature that they don't even look like problems, they just become tasks we have to do.

Your ability to live a relatively peaceful and comfortable life is because technology "props up" your life, and when it fails, you have problems. Actually, first, you have a crisis. What is a crisis? There are two definitions:

a time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger.
a time when a difficult or important decision must be made

When you live on the edge of starvation and one mistake can prematurely end your woefully short life, almost everything is a crisis. A crisis that cannot be solved either becomes a disaster (if you live through it) or fatal (if you don't). If a crisis can be fixed, it stops being a crisis, and becomes a problem. Now, problems come in two kinds: soluble and insoluble. Insoluble problems mean the underlying crisis cannot be mitigated, and most likely will have unpleasant consequences ranging from inconvenience, discomfort, to drastic changes in your lifestyle, or, in worse cases, to death.

Now, if there is a problem, and the problem has a solution, if the solution is just to allocate resources (money, time, property, etc.) then the problem is no longer a problem, it's now an expense. If you can't afford or won't pay the expense, the problem remains until the underlying condition causing the problem has ended on its own, has been abated, someone else expends the resources to fix the problem, or you die.

If the problem can be solved by allocation of resources (such as paying money), and you can do so, then you pay the price, the expense has been covered, and the problem has been solved.

So don't say you have no problems. Sooner or later something is going to happen (probably outside of basic needs), that creates a crisis requiring a solution, or an unpleasant failure, that you decide you can or must solve, and you determine that allocating resources to it will do so. You pay the cost, this eliminates the problem (or in some cases, prevents it) and you move on. But saying you have no problems and won't have any (for as long as a year) is wishful thinking.

No, you do have problems. You just don't recognize them. by Commander Tansin A. Darcos 09/19/2022, 9:25am PDT NEW

Re: No, you do have problems. You just don't recognize them. by Gaige Grosskreutz 09/19/2022, 10:17am PDT NEW

If it makes you feel any better, Commander, I've got 99 problems. by Tomb of the Unknown Poster 09/19/2022, 11:04am PDT NEW

Re: No, you do have problems. You just don't recognize them. by Commander Tansin A. Darcos 09/23/2022, 10:12pm PDT NEW