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Other People’s Problems

seths.blog

11–20 of 154 posts

Re: Other People’s Problems

#11
He forgot one of the most obvious reasons:

we, as a third party, don't have the extra stress associated with having the problem (or having to deal with the consequences of any potential solution). So we can think without those anxieties and more impartially.

Re: Other People’s Problems

#12

My general experience is often people think problems are easy to solve from the outside because they just don't understand the problem. Thus you can often find communities of people with disabilities who understand the problems and the people from the outside who offer insulting and simple solutions to the problems. As soon as someone falls from group B into group A the problems stop becoming simple and easily solubl…

I agree with you, although his first point is a subset of this, I think.

In reality, it's something like "they don't understand the problem space", which includes not just not understanding the problem itself, but also understanding the history, context, and realistic daily details of the problem, and the real or imagined blocks that are created by personal philosophy, mindset, and psychology, plus the impact of relationships, biases, etc...

Re: Other People’s Problems

#13

My general experience is often people think problems are easy to solve from the outside because they just don't understand the problem. Thus you can often find communities of people with disabilities who understand the problems and the people from the outside who offer insulting and simple solutions to the problems. As soon as someone falls from group B into group A the problems stop becoming simple and easily solubl…

It goes both ways. And some times it is simple that the insider cannot see for a host of reasons. Outsider can spot a simple solution because they dont have self imposed constraints that come from being on the inside for long.

Re: Other People’s Problems

#14
post #2

Tip: when your solution contains "just (do something)", it's never that simple.

As a person with problems: “just do the thing” would solve about 90% of them. Unfortunately I’m spending all my time on other priorities/problems that I also have.

Just do the thing is a lot more powerful than people realize. That doesn’t mean it’s easy. But it is often simple.

Re: Other People’s Problems

#16
post #11

He forgot one of the most obvious reasons: we, as a third party, don't have the extra stress associated with having the problem (or having to deal with the consequences of any potential solution). So we can think without those anxieties and more impartially.

Nailed it. That's why imagining what you'd say if someone else had the same problem - or what they would suggest if you explained your problem - are effective problem-solbing techniques.

Re: Other People’s Problems

#17

My general experience is often people think problems are easy to solve from the outside because they just don't understand the problem. Thus you can often find communities of people with disabilities who understand the problems and the people from the outside who offer insulting and simple solutions to the problems. As soon as someone falls from group B into group A the problems stop becoming simple and easily solubl…

>Thus you can often find communities of people with disabilities

I find it odd to immediately distill this down to "group A with disabilities" and "group B without". Both groups have problems, maybe just different ones. I also don't see what is insulting about making a sincere attempt to help, whether it ends up being helpful or not.

Re: Other People’s Problems

#18

My general experience is often people think problems are easy to solve from the outside because they just don't understand the problem. Thus you can often find communities of people with disabilities who understand the problems and the people from the outside who offer insulting and simple solutions to the problems. As soon as someone falls from group B into group A the problems stop becoming simple and easily solubl…

This is my thought as well. The author means well but doesn't know what he doesn't know. Simple answers look good from the outside because it's hard to explain (and understand) all the constraints on a good solution.

Re: Other People’s Problems

#19

My general experience is often people think problems are easy to solve from the outside because they just don't understand the problem. Thus you can often find communities of people with disabilities who understand the problems and the people from the outside who offer insulting and simple solutions to the problems. As soon as someone falls from group B into group A the problems stop becoming simple and easily solubl…

It goes both ways. And some times it is simple that the insider cannot see for a host of reasons. Outsider can spot a simple solution because they dont have self imposed constraints that come from being on the inside for long.

The insider constraints are real, though. Sometimes they're self-imposed, and that can be for good reasons (value system, long-term goals) or bad reasons (emotionally stuck, a disproportionate fear of small risks, etc.).

Re: Other People’s Problems

#20
This is amazing. It starts with rightly understanding that problems aren't actually as simple as they might seem from outside. But then it bizarrely seems to take that to conclude that our friends aren't trying for inertia or fear or something else, and so they just need to get unstuck.

It seems to me that the far more reasonable and understandable conclusion is that our friends are much like us. Things aren't as easy as they may seem from the outside.

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