In this glorious postmodern age, in which we enjoy more solutions than actual problems, we seem to be inventing problems just to keep ourselves entertained. It seems in the globalization of humanity we’ve collectively decided that life would be too dull without a few manufactured crises to spice things up.After all, what’s the point of enjoying a peaceful moment when you could be frantically Googling ways to “optimize” your breathing techniques or tracking down the latest life hack to fold a fitted sheet? (Pro tip: whatever you can’t hang up, just roll it up.)
We’re now trained from an early age to become professional problem-seekers in a world that doesn’t seem to know when to stop offering us fixes for things that never needed fixing in the first place. The absurdity of all this is almost charming, if it weren’t also so pathetically exhausting. Every trivial inconvenience now demands a revolutionary solution, as if failing to achieve a hyper-efficient, perfectly curated existence is some kind of moral failing.
Ironically, we’re all worn out by this strange obsession with seeking problems in search of solutions as a viable career path. So many of us are constantly teetering on the verge of burnout, downing three cups of overpriced cold brew and spending hours deciding which new apps might help us waste less time. Well, I have a real solution to this problem-seeking addiction; stop treating life like some kind of sick, twisted scavenger hunt!
Today, in these Chronicles of Absurdia, we’ll meander through cultural, philosophical, and even scientific discussions about how this ridiculous cycle came to be. So, buckle up for a ride through the land of unnecessary solutions and fabricated dilemmas. It’s likely we’ll conclude that the solution to all this nonsense isn’t a five-step plan, an app, or some inspirational quote.
The Problem-Solution Obsession in Everyday Life
The most obvious offender in this ongoing scavenger hunt lifestyle we seem to be all caught up in is the so-called “life hack.” We’ve all encountered them, those insidious little videos cluttering up your social media feed, promising to revolutionize your life in thirty seconds or less. Apparently, you’ve been peeling bananas wrong, slicing bread like an idiot, and don’t even get me started on how you’ve been pouring milk.But don’t worry! Some geniuses with too much time on their hands have solved it all for you! Itturns out that peeling a banana the “correct” way was the one thing standing between you and eternal bliss.
Of course, it doesn’t stop at bananas and bread. Every aspect of our daily existence has been infected by this feverish hunt for “solutions” to problems that weren’t even problems to begin with anyway.Take the tech industry, for example. Every year we’re told that our phones, which were perfectly fine yesterday, are now tragically outdated because, oh my, they can’t fold in half. What a nightmare! Who knew that to live a full and meaningful life, we needed devices that can bend like a yoga instructor?Don’t even get me started on smart refrigerators; apparently, the fridge is where humanity’s greatest inefficiencies have been lurking all along. Thank God we can now check if we’re out of eggs while we’re stuck in traffic. I’m sure that’s going to be a key to solving world hunger.
Exacerbating the problem-seeking psychosis is social media, where the obsession with problem-solving reaches truly laughable heights. It’s not enough to simply live anymore; you need to live better, faster, more optimized than anyone else. Got a cold? If you post about it, you’ll get bombarded with natural remedies that involve ingredients you’ve never heard of, likely only found in some hidden village atop the Himalayas. Suffering from insomnia? Don’t bother asking a doctor; just scroll through a series of posts about the healing power of lavender-scented pillows infused with moonlight and crystal energy.
At the top of this scavenger hunt food chain, of course, is the corporate world, where businesses excel at creating needs we didn’t know we had. They’re absolute masters at making us feel like we’re walking disasters unless we buy their latest product or service. Remember the days when soap was just for keeping clean? Now, if your soap doesn’t exfoliate, moisturize, and whisper affirmations while you lather up, you might as well resign yourself to living a subhuman existence. Clearly, nothing says “life well-lived” like being exfoliated to the point of no return by artisanal body wash infused with crushed diamonds and the essence of an endangered rainforest tree.
So, how did we get to be living in this world where we create problems to justify the solutions being sold back to us? It’s all gloriously ridiculous, but why do we keep buying into it? The alternative seems pretty clear: we just need to admit that, just maybe, we don’t need a folding phone, a smart fridge, or a nine-step routine to peel a banana. But then, where would the fun be in that?
The Quest for Perfection
The grand delusion that drives so much of this nonsense is far from novel. It’s the long-held human belief that perfection is not only attainable but necessary. Somewhere along the line, we collectively decided that our lives, in their messy, chaotic glory, were simply unacceptable unless we could optimize every waking moment. It’s like we’ve turned our existence into a malfunctioning software program that needs constant updates. (Looking right at you, Microsoft Windows!)But, hey, there’s no bug to fix. Life has been getting along for countless centuries now, and we’re still here. Yet we keep hitting refresh, convinced that if we just try hard enough, we’ll unlock the cheat code to life. But what even is that life we’re chasing? What is even the perfection we desire?
Philosophers have been laughing at us for centuries, though not in so many words. The great existentialists—Sartre and Camus, in particular—probably looked at humanity’s quest for meaning and thought, “Oh, honey, you’re adorable.” We can’t just exist, can we? We must invent grand, convoluted problems because apparently, the void of the universe isn’t enough of a challenge.We need to make it personal. So, we’ve tricked ourselves into thinking that the perfect body, the perfect job, or the perfect Instagram filter will finally make everything click. Well, guess what? It won’t. You’re just going to end up hungry, stressed, and wondering why the lighting in your kitchen still sucks no matter how many tutorials you watch.
Enter the myth of optimization; it’s the philosophical version of the snake oil salesman. We’re told that every single part of our lives can and should be improved, honed, and sharpened to a fine point of perfection so needle-thin that it’s meaningless. Even something as dynamic as human relationships are supposed to be optimized, too. Why have a simple conversation when you can schedule a relationship “check-in” and evaluate each other’s emotional growth using a spreadsheet? Come on, nothing says romance like a color-coded pivot table tracking how many times you forgot to take out the trash!
Oh, and don’t even think about relaxing. There’s a whole cottage industry built around optimizing your leisure time. What’s that, you just want to watch Netflix? Wrong answer! You should be doing yoga while listening to a podcast about self-improvement, all while perfecting your bullet journal.
This perfectionism fetish goes deeper, though. Existentialists would call it our desperation to give life meaning in an absurd, indifferent universe. That’s fair enough, but we as a culture have taken it to new heights. It’s no longer enough to search for personal meaning; we’re now fabricating existential crises out of trivial annoyances just to feel like we’re doing something important.
So, you’re not able to find the remote to find another streaming series to binge? Clearly, that’s a metaphor for your entire life being out of control. Don’t finish your to-do list today? It’s yet another sign that you’re failing at the art of being a successful human. The quest for purpose has converged into the scavenger hunt of searching for problems in search of solutions. But in this case, you’re really not even sure what you’re looking for—just that there’s something wrong and you better fix it.
What’s truly absurd is our obsession with control over things we really can’t. So, it seems we only fabricate problems because, deep down, we know we have no control over the big things—mortality, time, and the general dumpster fire that is the human condition. So, instead of accepting reality, we create our own little corner of manageable madness. We can’t stop the relentless march of time, so we invent problems that we can solve because it distracts us from the actual absurdity of existence.
Fact is, life is messy and unpredictable. It doesn’t matter how well you’ve bullet listed everything out and flow charted all the contingencies you can think of right now. No amount of optimization is going to change that life is going to always surprise you, often not for the better.
Really, this philosophical absurdity isn’t just laughable—it’s tragic. We’re so busy chasing perfection that we miss the point entirely of living at all. Life’s absurdity isn’t a problem to be solved, it’s a state to be explored. But, of course, exploring the depths of the absurd doesn’t come with a five-step guide or a fancy gadget to help us along. So, here we are—obsessively seeking problems in search of solutions, and wondering why we’re still unsatisfied.
The Problem-Solution Trap in Human Behavior
Now, if you’re thinking that our obsession with finding problems must be some kind of evolutionary glitch, congratulations—you’re right. Our brains, over their millions of years of evolution, have wired us for this ridiculous behavior, like some kind of cosmic prank. The human mind is a beautiful, complex machine—but really, it’s also kind of a mess. In many ways, our brains are still wired to deal with the daily problems of our ancestors. They had to constantly be on the lookout for real problems, like, “Is that rustling in the bushes a tiger?” or, “Did I just eat a poisonous berry?” These were important problems that needed solutions—or else you or someone you cared about became lunch or a corpse.
Fast forward to today, and our brains are still desperately searching for tigers, except now the tigers have morphed into non-issues like, “Am I drinking enough kombucha?” and “Why didn’t my last Instagram post get any likes?” (Even I struggle with the latter one.) Evolution didn’t prepare us for a world where our biggest daily threat is a lack of Wi-Fi signal. So, thanks to good ole negativity bias, we’re still hardwired to see every potential inconvenience as a full-blown disaster. What used to be a defense mechanism has become not only obsolete, but a hindrance. Our brains still naturally latch onto problems, no matter how trivial, because they’re trying to save us from something. We’re just not sure what anymore.
Let’s also not forget about confirmation bias, another delightful feature our neurotic little minds have installed by default. This is when we start to believe that every minor inconvenience is proof that we’re surrounded by problems.Ever notice how once you think something’s wrong, you suddenly find evidence of it everywhere? Lose your keys once, and the next thing you know, you’re convinced your entire life is falling apart, and clearly, you’re destined to become the poster child for absent-minded disaster.But, it’s actually your brain working overtime to confirm the narrative that everything’s a mess; therefore, you’re naturally convinced that you need to spend the rest of the day “fixing” yourself with self-help books and meditation apps. While these things are not in themselves bad things—at least they mean well—many times there’s nothing actually wrong with you. It’s just that mistakes are made and we have to just move on with our lives.
Of course, we also can’t forget the role of dopamine in this problem-solution circus. Our brains give us a little hit of dopamine every time we solve something—even if it’s a problem we invented just to get that dopamine fix. It’s the idea of enjoying small victories, but taken to ridiculous extremes. It’s like we’re all trapped in a Pavlovian loop where we keep ringing the bell just to get a treat. We create these imaginary crises – like when you couldn’t find the cumin—so you solved it by reorganizing your entire spice rack alphabetically. Really, you did it just to get that dopamine rush! Now that you’ve tasted that sweet satisfaction, why not invent a few more problems? Maybe your mugs should be color-coded, too. Before you know it, you’ve given into the fridgescaping trend, and all you’re left with is the hollow victory of knowing where your organic salsa is.
The scientific method, too, is partly to blame for our obsession with solutions. Don’t get me wrong—the scientific method is great when you’re out discovering antibiotics or mapping the human genome. But it also reinforces this mentality that everything in life is a problem just waiting for a solution, as if life itself is some giant experiment and we’re all subjects in a never-ending trial.We’ve become addicted to this methodical way of thinking—define the problem, test the solution, and repeat ad nauseam.The irony, of course, is that real life is rarely so conveniently solvable. Still, that doesn’t stop us from trying, and when the solutions don’t work out, well, maybe the problem just wasn’t big enough to bother with in the first place. Therefore, we must go find another one to solve.
Of course, all this constant problem-seeking comes at a cost. Mainly, such cost is in the form of both our personal and collective sanity. Psychologists have pointed out how our fixation on problems can lead to anxiety, stress, and the overwhelming sense that we’re always falling short. Instead of accepting that life comes with a little chaos and a few unsolvable mysteries, we’re out here playing whack-a-mole with every little thing that dares to interrupt our perfectly curated existence.We’re no longer satisfied with just getting by. Instead, we’re needing to solve every perceived problem, no matter how insignificant, to feel like we’re in control of our lives. But really, control is just an illusion we cling to like the last slice of pizza at a party.
So, while our brains might be powerful, they’re also incredibly needy. They crave solutions like a toddler craves attention. They’re perfectly happy to invent problems if that’s what it takes to keep themselves entertained. Keeping this in mind, the next time you find yourself stressing whether you’re “living your best life,” just remember: it’s not you, it’s your brain. It’s quite possible that you don’t need a solution at all—except, of course, for the problem of how to stop seeking problems. Good luck with that one.
The Ripple Effects of Problem-Seeking
So, what happens when an entire species of hairless apes, equipped with anxiety-ridden brains, spends all its time manufacturing problems just to justify their beloved solutions? Well, the effects ripple out in glorious absurdity—like dropping a stone in a pond full of neurotic ducks. Let’s examine the fallout of our collective obsession with problem-seeking, from the individual meltdown over lost AirPods to society’s full-blown panic over whether oat milk is actually eco-friendly.
On an Individual Level: You, the Architect of Your Own Crises
By constantly inventing problems to fix, we’ve successfully turned everyday existence into a high-stakes episode of a reality TV show. Who needs external threats when you can sabotage yourself with questions like, “Am I meditating correctly?” or “Did I use the wrong tone in that email?” Our quest for self-improvement has morphed into a masochistic sport where no achievement is ever quite enough, and failure lurks around every corner. Even brushing your teeth has become a high-performance activity requiring the latest gadgets—because why wouldn’t you want Bluetooth-enabled bristles to monitor your plaque in real-time?
The personal toll of this madness is obvious: burnout, dissatisfaction, and the gnawing feeling that you’ll never quite measure up to the imaginary version of yourself that always seems to have it together. You know, the version that wakes up at 5 AM, drinks green juice, and does yoga with perfect form. Meanwhile, the actual you is hitting the snooze button for the fourth time and wondering if cereal even counts as a meal. By constantly seeking problems to fix, you’re ensuring that the bar of success is always just out of reach.
On a Societal Level: Collective Anxiety, Courtesy of Problem Inflation
Let’s zoom out and look at society overall, where our collective obsession with solutions has morphed into a never-ending anxiety spiral. Every little issue—no matter how trivial—gets inflated into a full-blown crisis. Your phone battery dying mid-conversation is a personal tragedy, but society at large is dealing with its own absurdities. Take our global health craze, for example. Are you even living if you’re not tracking your steps, counting your macros (that is carbs, fat, and sugar), and testing your blood sugar with a finger prick every three hours? Society has turned basic human needs into a logistical nightmare that requires apps, gadgets, and enough data to launch a moon mission. For some things, it might get us a manned mission to Mars.
But let’s not underestimate the joy that can come out of performative problem-solving. This is why so many people in our society will scramble to prove they care more about every issue than anyone else. Climate change? Don’t worry, people will fix it by cutting out plastic straws. Systemic injustice? No need for real action when you can slap a hashtag on it. We’ve collectively decided that quick, visible solutions—no matter how superficial—are the answer to every massive, complex problem. If that’s not absurd, I don’t know what is. Meanwhile, the underlying issues remain as unsolved as ever, but hey, at least we all feel like we’re doing something.
On a Global Level: The Problem-Industrial Complex
Globally, the stakes for problem-solving get even higher, and the absurdity goes into overdrive. Our obsession with solutions doesn’t just affect our personal lives or societal structures; it’s also warping the world on a much larger scale. Somehow, modern (or postmodern, if you prefer) society has generated the Problem-Industrial Complex, where businesses, governments, and entire economies thrive on creating problems just so they can sell us the solutions.
The tech industry is perhaps the most egregious example of such a complex. It’s basically one giant treadmill of invented problems. Every year, we’re told that last year’s technology is practically prehistoric—your smartphone might as well be a rotary dial, so you simply must upgrade to the latest model if you want to remain a functional member of society. Planned obsolescence has become a feature, not a bug, as companies deliberately create problems to justify their next wave of unnecessary products.
What about the global obsession with productivity? We’re told that unless we’re squeezing every drop of efficiency from our lives, we’re wasting precious time. This is despite the very provable facts that most of this “productivity” just leads to more consumption and environmental devastation. But hey, at least we’re solving something, right? Looking at you California with your absurdly over-the-top, and actually environmentally-unconscious, laws about vehicle emissions. Or perhaps just about anything else relating to the environment or people’s wellbeing for that matter.
Then there’s the ultimate irony: our frantic search for solutions is contributing to the very problems we’re trying to solve. All those “must-have” solutions are driving the very overconsumption we supposedly loathe. It also turns out that over-engineered tech products aren’t exactly eco-friendly and are only speeding up the environmental collapse we’re supposedly trying to prevent. Want to know why we’re experiencing such global instability? Well, when entire industries are built around selling us solutions to problems that didn’t exist, it’s no wonder the world feels like it’s coming unhinged.
As we zoom out on a macro level, it becomes clear that problem-seeking behavior is like the basis for a bad horror movie—just when you think it’s over, the monster comes back for one last jump scare. Except in this case, the monster is us, and we keep resurrecting it with every unnecessary solution we chase after. How comforting.
Actionable Advice: Breaking Free from the Problem-Solution Cycle
Now that we’ve successfully deconstructed the tragicomedy of humanity’s obsession with finding problems where none exist, it’s time to offer some practical advice on how to escape this ridiculous cycle. Seriously, if we don’t do something soon, we’ll all end up over-analyzing whether our choice of toothpaste is holding us back from true enlightenment. (No, it’s not.)
Practice Contentment (Yes, That’s Still a Thing)
Believe it or not, it’s actually okay to be satisfied with what you have. This may be a statement that shocks you to your core, I know. In a world where we’re constantly bombarded with reminders that you could be living a better, shinier version of your life if only you bought this product or tried that self-improvement regimen, the idea of contentment feels practically revolutionary. But here’s a secret I’m willing to give you for free: you don’t need a $500 gadget to remind you to breathe or an app to tell you how to organize your refrigerator. Take a moment to not improve something for once. Imagine the horror of just being fine with things as they are.
What’s the best way to rebel against the relentless tide of problem-seeking? Start by appreciating the absurdity of your life as it is—flaws, imperfections, and all. Be at peace with the fact that you’re not going to fold that fitted sheet, and let it live in its natural state of wrinkled glory. Every time you resist the urge to “fix” something that doesn’t need fixing, you take a small but glorious step toward sanity.
Reframe Daily Challenges (Without Turning Them into Existential Crises)
Not every hiccup in your day needs to be treated like the sinking of the Titanic. Missing your alarm isn’t a moral failing; it’s a sign that maybe you’re not a robot, and that’s okay. OK, you burnt your toast. Congratulations, you’ve discovered that bread has a self-destruct feature. The next time you find yourself spiraling into despair because something went slightly wrong, try laughing at it instead. Everything is absurd anyway, so why not embrace the comedy of your tiny daily disasters?
Instead of treating life like an endless to-do list where every unchecked box is a tragedy, reframe it as a series of mildly annoying but ultimately hilarious moments. The universe isn’t conspiring against you; it’s just indifferent. Once you realize this, it’s actually freeing. Plus, laughing at your own misfortune is way more fun than stressing over it. Consider it an act of defiance against the Problem-Industrial Complex.
Detach Yourself from the Validation Cycles (Because No One Actually Cares That Much)
One of the sneakiest reasons we constantly seek problems is that we’ve been conditioned to perform our lives for an audience that doesn’t actually exist. We post every tiny accomplishment and every minor inconvenience, as if the world is holding its breath, waiting for our next update. Well, sorry to rain on your parade, it’s not. Most people who scroll past your social media posts are too busy worrying about their own fabricated problems to care about yours.
To break free, start by asking yourself, “Am I solving this problem for me, or am I just putting on a show for an audience of imaginary critics?” Detaching from the need for external validation is like unplugging from the Matrix—suddenly, you see the world for what it really is: a place where nobody really cares about the brand of green tea you’re drinking. Embrace that freedom. Solve problems that matter to you—not because you think someone else will give you a digital pat on the back for it.
Simplify Your Decision-Making Process
Decision fatigue is real, and nothing fuels problem-seeking behavior like being overwhelmed by a million tiny choices. Should you go to the gym, or should you try that new time management class? Should you buy the organic avocados or are regular ones fine? Should you read a self-help book, or listen to a podcast about maximizing your potential? It’s exhausting.
How about this? Stop making decisions that don’t matter. Simplify your life by automating trivial stuff. Buy the regular avocados, even if the organic ones might taste better. Wear whatever clothes don’t smell. You don’t need a pros-and-cons list for everything, especially when half of these decisions aren’t improving your life. In reality, they’re just adding to the pile of unnecessary “problems” to solve.
Practice the Art of Doing Absolutely Nothing
Remember doing nothing? I don’t mean “mindfully relaxing” or scheduling downtime into your productivity-optimized calendar. I’m referring to the actual art of being unproductive, the glorious sensation of sitting around and letting time pass without a single ounce of guilt. We’ve forgotten how to just exist without constantly trying to fix, improve, or optimize. That’s the peak postmodern tragedy.
Doing nothing is the ultimate rebellion against problem-seeking. It’s becoming a radical act of self-care in a world that demands constant improvement. When you stop filling every minute with “solutions,” you’ll find that the world keeps turning, and guess what? You don’t need to fix it. So go ahead, stare out the window, let your mind wander, and enjoy the absurdity of just being alive—no solutions required.
By adopting these simple strategies, we can each begin to break free from the problem-solution trap, or at least stop turning every minor inconvenience into an existential crisis. Life is inherently messy and full of absurdities. Let’s accept them for what they are and even embrace them for what they are.
Closing Thoughts
Finally, we’re at the end of this wild ride through the land of invented problems and unnecessary solutions. If you’ve stuck with me this far, congratulations! You’ve officially solved the biggest problem of all: getting through an essay that shamelessly mocks every aspect of modern life while still offering a few nuggets of wisdom. More likely, you just skimmed to the end, looking for the TL;DR. Either way, you made it here, and that’s all that matters.
So, let’s circle back to where we started. Remember that absurd little anecdote about people obsessing over life hacks? Maybe you’ve realized by now that the true hack to life isn’t finding faster ways to fold laundry or optimizing your morning routine to within an inch of its life. The real trick is recognizing that the laundry will never stay folded, and your morning routine will always be a little chaotic. At its core, life is messy, unpredictable, and absolutely absurd.
The constant search for problems to solve is simply a distraction from the fact that we don’t control much in this world, aside from our reactions to it. That’s the punchline to this cosmic joke: we spend so much time trying to “fix” everything that we forget to just live. Instead of trying to impose order on the disorder, maybe it’s time we embraced it. After all, the beauty of life lies in its unpredictability—not in some perfectly executed solution to a problem that never needed solving in the first place.
What’s the takeaway here? Stop seeking out problems like they’re prizes in some cosmic game show.Most of the things we obsess over don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. No one’s going to remember whether you used organic quinoa in that salad or if your notebook for that evening productivity course was color-coded.What people will remember is whether you spent your life agonizing over trivialities or if you just let go and enjoyed the disarray.
Life is short and most of what we worry about is utterly insignificant. So, next time you find yourself overthinking the right way to do something or spiraling into a quest for unnecessary solutions, take a step back, and pour yourself a cup of tea (or wine). Sit down and remember this: life is all one big, ridiculous joke. What’s the best way to win at it? Stop playing everyone else’s game and make your own way.
~ Amelia Desertsong
