Based on an exercise outlined in the book "Thinkertoys"
Thus far I've pondered a great number of problems relating to my life or obstacles I'd like to overcome, ranging from important to trivial. I haven't really thought about theoretical issues, though; that is, something larger than my life that I would not normally think about. Right now, the only larger problem I'm actively thinking about is global warming, mostly because it is hellishly hot in Philadelphia right now.
My problem is thus: "How can we solve global warming?" I will be following the 'what if' method here, wherein I slap down a number of 'what if' scenarios ranging from the plausible to the absurd and then pick one to further investigate. I take no responsibility if some of these resemble solutions from Futurama, because I can't help but think of those immediately when I consider this global issue.
- What if we dump a giant amount of ice in the ocean each year?
- What if we cover the Earth with a sun-blocking veil?
- What if we alter the Earth's orbit to place it farther from the Sun?
- What if we move to a cooler planet?
- What if we "go green" on a global scale?
- What if we all blow on the ground simultaneously to cool the Earth off?
- What if we pollute the atmosphere enough to block out the Sun?
- What if we wait for nature to balance things out with some sort of cataclysm?
- What if we lock every scientist into a room without air conditioning until they think up a solution?
Looking at this list, the one solution that I think could be built upon is the last one listed, regarding the unfortunate scientists. I would probably clean the 'what if' scenario up a bit, though, to make it more of a contest than an internment.
What are the characteristics of a contest? There's often a screening process for entrants; the winners usually receive some sort of reward; no cheating is allowed; participants are encouraged to find creative solutions.
There is a screening process: Each participating government could put out a call to the nation at large, and select applicants based on practicality of proposed theories, actual demonstrated work, and commitment.
Winners receive a reward: Beyond the obvious Nobel and general good regard of the populace, the first person or persons to develop an effective solution could be rewarded with a professorship and lab at some prestigious university to conduct research of their choice.
No cheating is allowed: Any solution yielding dubious results should be disregarded, rather than continue to sink time and money into it.
Find creative solutions: Opening the field up to anyone with a bright idea would help with this; people should be encouraged to brainstorm inventive solutions, beyond just engineering things to be more environmentally-friendly, etc.
Perhaps these are just stating the obvious, but it wouldn't be a world-wide problem if a single brainstorming session by someone with only passing interest in the subject yielded immediate genius. Better to think of ways to encourage those actually interested to pursue said interest, I think.
Closing thoughts on this exercise:
It seems like most of the problems I think up don't ever line up as neatly as the issues presented in the Thinkertoys book; but, then, they wouldn't be examples if they didn't flow perfectly, I suppose. I feel like I wasted this exercise a bit, but I suppose there's nothing stopping me from trying it with a more personal subject down the line. I did get it done in record time, though.
A short note about my creative environment:
I got out and about and actually decided to do some work in the campus library, for a change. It's late afternoon and I'm hungry, since I've only had a yogurt today. I'm sitting in a comfortable armchair, and it is dead silent as everyone around me is studying something. I have my headphones in and am listening to music on Shuffle. There is a lot of light in the room from myriad lights hanging overhead, as well as large windows letting in daylight.
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