The above concept of higher order thinking can be explained by considering the evolution of the essays written here. One day a very best friend of mine and I were discussing about problems and their solutions. His initial intention is about the discussion of interpersonal problems that may arise between two persons and how to solve them (you can say the question that needed to be answered). After discussing for a while our focus shifted from interpersonal problems to problems in general that cover a wide range of issues such as interpersonal problems, money problems, physical problems, psychological problems, philosophical problems, problems related to science and what not you can include any thing you consider a problem in the concept of problem. (Please observe the shift from linear thinking to point 1 of higher order thinking above.). To this present issue we found the only alternative is to first define what could be a problem in general. (Point 4 above) We had very hot discussion for some time during which we defined many times what could be a problem and found errors in it and revised it. Finally we ended up with the complete definition of problem that you read at the end of page 28. We tried in many ways to contradict our own definition but failed to do so and we both are very much impressed by our own efforts and decided to elaborate the concept of problem independently at a later time.
The unstoppable time passed and he became busy with his studies at IIT Madras and I also almost stopped considering the issue of elaborating the concept of problem. But after reading many books on philosophy and observing my own intellect has ripened and my mind is being flooded with ideas I wanted to try my hand at writing. I started writing on problem but found that since solving problem of any type is an activity I have to first focus on what is meant by activity and the principles involved in it. So I stopped writing on problem and started writing principles of activity. (Please observe point 2 above) Again after writing few pages I had to stop it for sometime because the activity that I am performing at that time, writing, requires rigorous thinking on part of the performing individual. A little observation showed that any activity performed by human beings involves thinking. So I had to start writing on thinking first. (Please observe the working of point 4 again) The result is the essay on developmental procedures. After this I completed the principles of activity and after that the concept of problem. The essays themselves deal with concepts abstractly independent of any specific issues (Generalization of concepts). Whenever we start doing something about which we don’t know anything then we will first try to do or define what we know or expect to be true and later on with new observations we will change our assertions and methods we follow accordingly. This is known as successive approximation. And again now I am attempting to modify the essays, written earlier as three discrete units into one, with the new ideas I got and also with the change in earlier concepts I had either in the way of presentation or content.
Definitely there would have been a difference in the essay as well as my own understanding of various issues if I concentrated only on writing the concept of problem. The concept of higher order thinking is not dealt exhaustively here but only an outline is given for the understanding of the reader.
The importance of thinking:
Essay on Developmental Procedures
Imagine a young man, say in his mid twenties; from a remote part of the country, from a village virtually no one has heard its name. Let his appearance be a little better than a beggar with no proper clothing, which is covered mostly with dirt, and with no proper attention paid to his hair and without any protection to his feet. For the reasons, which are unnecessary for our present purpose, further assume that for the first time in his life has come to a metropolitan city and he has not seen even a town before in search of a way to lead his life.
Then this man as he walks through the busy streets of the city, where life moves at an incredible pace which he cannot comprehend, observes keenly the magnificence of the lifestyle of the people there with their sky scrapers, the dressing of the people with their suits and ties, their means of transport cars, bikes, the etc., in one word he observes the life style of the people of that city. The description can go long but we cut it short here and end in one sentence that he is fascinated by everything in the city, which is like a big puzzle to him.
Now suppose that he wants to be a part of that society as a constructor of big buildings or as an owner of such a building or he wished to have a BMW car or simply he wants pleasures, of whatever sort in life that he can get in the city like money, power, to be his. Or even he may wish to become a scientist or innovator who understands scientific development and finds new scientific devices. Or even something else.
Let us assume he is illiterate and does not have at least a rupee in his pocket. Then what he should do in order to achieve his ambition? Let us not deprive the poor soul from everything but let us give him only one thing and let that be the intellectual capability, say 10 times, more than normal. Then what are the things he has to do in order to achieve his goal, assuming no luck on his side?
The present situation of this man is only an example; say a worst case that can happen. The reader can as well consider his own position at the present with respect to some big goal he set for himself, which is very difficult to achieve. (Persons with no specific objectives in life and spent considerable time on thinking on how to achieve them are requested to either set one and think about it before proceeding further or better stop reading) Before going to what this man should do, I will put the question more generally. Given any state of an individual regarding his intellectual, attitudinal, emotional and physical toughness, ability to resist and overcome, against adversaries, however poor it may be, and this individual in question have an objective to reach, however tough it may be and also in whatever field it may be, then what he should do in order to accomplish his objective? In short our attempt will be know how to achieve what someone wanted to achieve. This is my objective in writing these 3 essays.
Some other specific examples could be writing a book on any issue, finding solution to a problem, earning $100millions, gaining power or status in society, discovery of a law of science etc.,
Whether a person achieves his objective or not is mainly a problem related to his attitude towards it. If you ask the question anybody you know how to achieve something in life and also asked him to answer in general terms then he will, most likely, tell you that one should have determination, dedication, perseverance and the like. These words sound like telling that somebody is great but not telling what his greatness is. Rather than attitudinal and emotional aspects specified above our focus will be on the intellectual and analytical aspects of the subject under consideration.
Since we are dealing with the issue on a generalized way it is hard to tell any specific ways and are no readymade answers available for us. Readymade answers can only be given to specific questions under consideration. When you are dealing with general questions you can have only insights or guidelines in to the issue. It depends upon the individual to convert these insights into specific procedures depending upon the specific task before him. This requires a considerable effort on his part.
If we try to give a specific method to follow for our poor rustic mentioned earlier. The first thing he has to do is to try to fill his stomach. He has to find a job, even a very small one, to stay alive. Then he can think out what could be his next logical step to do. We will provide answers for him. The next thing he requires is education start with basic education to professional education. I have no intention to say that he should join in a primary school and start from there. How to get this education? Our hero does not know ‘how to’ but he knows ‘he has to’ so the best thing could be to ask others about the facilities available to him. The options available may not come to him easily and even if they come they may not be feasible for him. He has to be persistent in his efforts. The next thing is not to confine himself to a particular state of living. He has to pick up opportunities and utilize them. He has to under go constant mental, intellectual stirring to determine his next actions and the legitimacy of his present actions in moving him towards his objective. He has to simultaneously inquire others and find out the required components for achieving his objective (since he is basically ignorant about the procedures), Educate himself as per the requirement, undergo physical, mental, and intellectual hardships, and also try to improve the quality of his life. When all these combine he will have a fair chance of succeeding sometime in the future. Anyhow these things are better said than done.
From now let us focus our discussion on general terms rather specific terms. While stating the question I said, “Given any state of an individual …” one can easily infer from this that when any one starts an attempt or decides to achieve an objective that individual will have some level of intellectual capability to understand and solve the problems arising, mental integrity to face the situation, skill in the specific field, technical and moral support from other, attitude of the individual, physical fitness etc., you can include other traits as you like and as per your preferences. I am not interested in exact quantification of the levels of all the ingredients in question. But you can generally say them as low, medium, average, high, normal, ordinary, extra-ordinary, good, bad, positive, negative and the like. The point I am making is when you start to do something you will have these different specific components at varied levels at that instant.
Now focusing on the objective to achieve, in order to accomplish the objective we need specific procedures to be followed depending on the specific objective and also we require some state or varied levels of different specific components discussed above both in isolation and in combination to one another to achieve our objective that is a certain level of intellectual capability, physical fitness and the like. The large number of entrance tests and interviews that we are facing nowadays are, as you know, designed to attribute our capabilities in various aspects in doing the job or study the course that we will be eligible after passing that test. For the time being let us assume that these levels does not change before accomplishing the objective after initially determining them.
When we have the individual states of all components required to achieve the objective are above the required levels for accomplishing the objective then we say that the task is simple. The difficulty of the task increases with the gap between the required and existing levels of different required components of achieving it.
Our chief difficulties lie in raising our capabilities to the required levels so as to reach the goal. The process we follow in order to do this, that is increasing capabilities, is what I call following developmental procedures.
Then the question we face is how to determine developmental procedures? This in turn raises questions like what are the components involved? What are their present levels? What are the required levels? And how to increase the levels of components involved? We will examine these things in detail in following pages.
This necessitates analysis of the various components required to achieve an objective in general. I am here assuming that the objective is clear and well defined in the mind of the individual pursuing it. Let us try to classify the various components required into various categories.
They can be classified with respect to the individual as
1. Internal components.
a. Intellectual- Concentration, understanding capability, initial knowledge regarding the objective, vision, insight etc.,
b. Mental- emotional integrity that is no too much show of feelings like repugnance, temptations that will force you to deviate from your path etc., control over mind that is control over feelings, dreaming keeping them within tolerable limits, confidence, courage etc.,
c. Physical- health, stamina, stress resistance etc.,
d. Skill-related to various activities.
2. External components.
a. Accessories-we may require many accessories starting from a pen and paper to sophisticated equipment for doing various jobs as per our requirement. Nothing more can be said without knowing the specific objective.
b. Support-this comes from the interaction from others. This can be intellectual or emotional or both. Either supportive or uncooperative.
c. Environment-most of the times there will be more than one way of achieving the objective. Depending upon the environment that is around an individual an appropriate course will be taken. The nature of the environment surrounding an individual is not going to be discussed here since I don’t have a comprehensive understanding of it to deal in abstract terms yet although I myself can deal with it specifically.
d. Luck- if we have good luck irrespective of our amount of efforts we will achieve what we want. If we have bad luck irrespective of our efforts failure is inevitable.
The above classification and components is in no way an exhaustive one and there can be some others ways of classification and many more components to be added in the above-mentioned list.
I refrain from explaining the components comprehensively because one there has been considerable research done on each of the components and many books also have been written on internal components and external components to a large extent depend on the specific objective at hand and things such as the community we are in two this essay will turn out into a book in which I am not interested at present.
After identifying the components required for achieving the objective and their present status the next thing to do is to decide the required status of each of them vis-à-vis the objective.
When this is done the next thing will be to decide how the levels of the individual components to be raised to required levels? This has to be done differently to each component as considered appropriate. It will not be hard to find out the solution for this when you really focus your attention on these things and start thinking. I will not elaborate this any further. There is no single answer or a single way to suggest to you. The only suggestion to you is to observe each component and how they operate. This will lead you towards your answer and most probably you will find your way of doing things.
I wish to lay emphasis on the working of the mind in determining all the requirements in our analysis and in decision-making. The state of mind at the instant of working is the single most important characteristic that will decide our success or failure. If our mind is in a receptive mood then we can understand, analyze, decide very quickly and we can feel that state of excitement for our selves. Or else we feel disturbed and will not be able to focus on our objective. As we try to focus on the problem at hand our mind, which is mainly influenced by the feeling with which we start, have the escaping tendency to wander away and around the topic in the form of fear, over-excitation, day dreaming etc., without focusing on the objective. Right now I am not going to the nature and working of mind, since it is in itself a big separate topic. I briefly conclude that when we have a well-defined and clear objective and we know our preferences that will be a great help for us, as it narrows down the scope of wandering of the mind, to decide what to do and also the focusing capability of mind can be achieved in general by acquiring the habits of solving mathematical and logical problems and puzzles and meditation can be of great use. I am not going into details of these not because they are not important but because I wish that the reader himself tries and understand them.
I wish to point out a few errors that most people commit in their analysis in order to determine the required levels of components.
1. They tend to see the things in isolation. They fail to recognize the effect of one on the other. It is an interdependent world out there we are working in. I don’t suggest that everything is related to every other thing but the dependence on one or more components.
2. They fail to recognize that there is more than one way of doing a single thing. Recognizing this will help both in drawing inferences and decision-making. Often they stick to a single way of achieving the objective with suffering even when they know that they are drifting away.
3. They perceive things as static rather than dynamic. For example a person once a bad man is a bad man forever in their minds, a thing considered doing impossible is impossible forever. Everything, which we perceive as nature and fixed situation, except the knowledge and feeling that we exist is susceptible to change. They fail to recognize that a situation they see now is an effect, a result of many causes that culminated in that effect. If we wish to change this situation then we have to produce the events or activities that cause to produce an opposite effect. When we reach the required level in our efforts the situation will change by itself.
4. People tend to see a one-one relation between different entities. In other words, they tend to think a single effect is caused by only a single cause. I can give one important example for this and that is the root cause for misunderstanding between people. When a person behaves in a way we don’t like we associate a cause, which we think is right and also we don’t like the cause we assumed, to this activity (or you can say effect). And our behavior with that individual changes from good one to bad one. This will lead to deterioration of the relationship between the individuals. The thinking opposite to the above stated thinking is called positive thinking and developing positive thinking is a great asset to the character of any individual.
5. People rationalize their deeds and mainly observed in ordinary or common people. People with a strong determination are less susceptible to this kind of rationalization. How ever they can make different kind of errors as explained in second point below.
Speaking abstractly a person can make errors in decision or judgment because of three reasons. One, the data, factual or inferred, is not available or wrong or insufficient. Two, when there are errors in the base gauge with reference to which our data is valued. This base gauge is the set of our opinions or preferences we formed earlier as a result of experience, emotional attachment, thinking and reasoning etc. In comparison with this we say that a particular data is important or useless or unnecessary etc. Three, when there is error in the logic or process we employed to infer the data then we make false decisions or judgments.
To summarize, in order to achieve any chosen objective we identified the essential components involved and also observed the difference between initial status of components and required status and the necessity to follow the developmental procedures to achieve the objective and some of the possible pitfalls.
Till now we considered developmental procedures with respect to a known objective but things in life are not like that always (knowing what to do before hand) most of the times we face situations which requires more intelligence and character integrity than we have at that instant and no time to prepare. Then what we have to do? All we can do is to try our level best with confidence, commonsense* and courage rather than giving up. There is one more thing we can do in order to make ourselves more effective when we face situations we cannot handle. It is to take developmental procedures as a habit or in other words we involve in a process of on going development of our capabilities visualize physical, mental, and intellectual capabilities. To do this if one looks for means necessary he will find like a gym, running, reading books on positive thinking, public speaking, stress control, time management (you can say personality development related topics), making a habit to solve puzzles and problems particularly mathematical and logical, there are number of good books available in the market on these things, meditation for improving concentration etc., One particular aid I wish to tell about is acquiring the habit of abstract thinking. This is one thing when acquired will diminish the number of difficulties we face at any instant. Abstract thinking can grossly mean trying to find out what is happening underneath what is seen and why it is happening.
This is not the whole story there is a next logical step to this. First from virtual ignorance we raise to a situation where we know how to and can achieve what we wish to achieve. We have developed ourselves from a position of unawareness to a position of considerable authority. Now we have to rise from this position of knowing how to achieve to a position of knowing why to achieve something. In the process described above we focused only on achieving the objective. But I ask you the question, why this should be your objective rather than something other than this? What is the validity of our objective that it is necessary to achieve it? Is it righteous to pursue this objective? Then comes the question what is righteousness? What is reality? And you go on asking why this rather than another to everything you confront. Can you get any answers for such questions? If you are like many people living on earth your answer will be no. They ascribe this question as related to morality and to socially accepted norms. They say you have to believe in something and do the things. Are they right in their attribution? It is true that this process seems to be an infinite process and there is no way you can find answers to all the questions. The difficulty of answering increases as we climb up the ladder of questions. But we can try to find them. We may not be able to find answers to all the questions we confront nevertheless we can find answers to some of the questions that immediately confront us to some extent. But apart from common people there are men, few in number, who not only wished to know the answers but also tried to find the solutions and showed us a direction to travel. They include philosophers, saints, scientists in physical sciences, social workers, politicians etc.; the list is enormous with a number of people from diverse fields. Only such kind of people guided mankind towards progress in the past, doing that at present and can do in the future although their success is limited to some specific fields. Whenever you see a person who has achieved a high amount of success in the fields of art, social service and science. You will find such people contemplating these questions.
Although this latter part, that is why we should do something, is my major field of working in developmental procedures than the former part, that is how to achieve something, considered in this essay I request the reader to go according to his conscience in this matter. The answers for the latter part of the developmental procedures, that is why we should do something, are hard to come. When you try to find answers you will not be able to find answers for many questions that arise at the first instant. You have to undergo a thorough and intense intellectual stirring to get the answers. The problems arise mainly due to the uncertainties it invokes and the inconsistencies that we observe in our own decision-making process and as per my observation people are very poor at handling uncertainties and inconsistencies and it is a privilege enjoyed by only a few in the world to handle such things. But for the earlier part of the developmental procedures, that is to find how to achieve our objective, we can find solutions for many of the difficulties we face.
Whatever part of the developmental procedure be it is we have one main aid to help and that is developing the process of thinking effectively. If we observe, when we indulge in any activity we also undergo active mental activity. And the brain will always be working. We will be thinking all the time about this or that at any instant. Depending upon what we are thinking our success or failure is decided. If our thinking is constructive, what I call effective thinking, we will move towards our objective or else if our thinking is destructive we will move away from our objective. Constructive thinking is; Destructive thinking is; These thinking processes do not exist in isolation and much is dependent on our emotions and feelings at that instant and our attitude towards what we are thinking about. We must sub-ordinate our emotions and attitudes to our determination, to accomplish what we wish to achieve, and actively involve in the activity we pursue to achieve the objective coupled with effective thinking processes rather than actively involving in emotions of the type that obstructs positive action.
My stress is on the thinking process that takes place within. To control our ways of thinking so that we find the ways and also achieve what we want in our lives even including the second part of developmental procedures. How to do this? The answers will not come easy. We have to indulge ourselves in a long and torturous struggle against our own selves, against our own dogmas, against our own perceptions, against our own beliefs. Here the hero and villain are one. When the hero starts winning then the answers will start coming. No great man, mostly with a reputation for having very good knowledge, was ever made without this internal struggle.
It is good to hear that we have to do a battle with ourselves. But the question is what will be the result? The answer is that we will increase the horizons of our physical, mental, and intellectual capabilities and diminish the existing limitations that we have at present to become a stronger, powerful, and self-dependent all rounded persons. As long as we try to escape we find ourselves sinking deep into the ditch of ignorance and the only thing it can offer is suffering.
I agree that every one us wish that the solutions to our problems should come to us easily but whenever you get them easily without effort you will most probably fail in converting them into action to produce the desired effects because at the most you can understand how to implement them. Under favorable situations this might work but whenever you face an unfavorable situation it is most likely that you will fail. And the reason being that you lack the in-depth understanding of the procedures and methods that you are following that comes from self-discovery. Even if you succeeded in achieving the objective with such solutions you will end up there. At sometime in future when another problem arises you again start looking for getting solutions easily if you don’t get them you get frustrated and may give up. That is why it is necessary to start the thinking process within our selves and try to find out the solutions all by our selves. I have to stress that not mere thinking but effective thinking is necessary. When you progress in this you will grow in confidence, internal capability, and become less dependant on answers for your problems.
In this essay I attempted to bring the attention of the reader on one of the major issues concerning every individual. Although a very brief one if I could make the reader start to think what is going on out there in life, make him appreciate the importance of developmental procedures, make him understand the importance of necessity for thinking effectively and start this thinking process in him rather than living blindly, living in frustration without knowing what to do, how to do, or doing the wrong things and being a slave to emotions, and suffering in a prison of ignorance even when there is a way out then I feel my objective is achieved.
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* Common sense is not what all people think it is that all should possess this particular quality and ironically most of them don’t possess but it is defined, as I define, as “ bringing common things into sense”. Whenever we say that someone has applied common sense or it is a common sense answer we mean that there are things that are commonly prevailing around us, which we observe quite often, but we fail to recognize their significance or importance in the problem or question we are confronted with. When we recognize them or bring them into our senses we say we applied common sense.
It is extremely difficult to give reasons for validity especially when we confront a complex issue and there are many possible pitfalls that can lead us to false beliefs or assertions.
There is a particular tendency or you can say capability that philosophers possess. That is when they are dealing with any specific topic, which contains sub-topics to explain the main topic; one can go into explaining the sub-topics and again into their sub-topics and never reach the end of the main topic. This is mainly because they feel, which I also feel, that sub topics are to be unambiguous before going into the main topic so they can fall into endless loop. In the essays already described I limited my explanation an analysis of sub-topics as concise as possible so as to avoid the possible bewilderment in the mind of the reader. A trained philosopher may find some inconsistencies or contradictions or ambiguity in the essays, which I believe can be answered and proved. In case of the opposite I am ready to modify what I have written and make them more adaptable. Because I believe that man progresses from ignorance to knowledge, from inferior assertion about truth in which there is less validity and more absurdity to superior assertion about truth in which there is more validity and less absurdity.
I wish to give the status of an introduction for what I have written so far because too many questions are raised and only few of them are answered and often vaguely, too many things are asserted without offering proper explanation and validation. One more reason is that in all these essays when we considered an activity or a problem we considered it in isolation or you can say it as in simple terms. We have not taken into account that any activity can be consist of many activities and can also be a part of a bigger activity and also their mutual influence. In the concept of problem we have not take into account the consequences that will be produced as a result of problem elimination. By eliminating a small problem we may fall into a bigger problem. These kinds of issues are not dealt in these essays.
PRINCIPLES OF ACTIVITY
Preface
The following essays are an attempt to understand the concept of activity in general in which we involve ourselves every moment of our lives in one way or the other. For example at present I am writing this preface this itself an activity in which I am involved. Like this we are involved, at any given instant of time, in an activity whatever it may be. I will try to clarify this more in the introduction.
Before we go into the subject I think one should have scientific attitude and follow scientific method in attempting to understand topics such as this in general.
By having scientific attitude I mean, briefly, a desire and attempt to find out the reality and not confining oneself, in trying, to any fixed dogmas of the kind that prevent an disinterested investigation in finding out the truth.
By scientific method I mean grossly an attempt to find out basic characteristics of different constituents that are involved in causing a particular occurrence. Take for example the famous fable of observing an apple falling on the ground that led
One has to start his enquiry at first by keen observation of events happening around him and try to interpret them. During my observations I found that, given that there are different kinds of occurrences happening and that we wish to happen, some occurrences have some common characteristics involved in their occurrence. Take a simple example of getting good marks in an examination and getting a promotion in a job or in general having success in any field, almost everybody you meet will tell you and it is true that hard work is essential in achieving success. Hence we can say that hard work is a (not the only) basic characteristics involved in the occurrence of success in any field (or at least in some cases). For success in specific fields may involve many characteristics peculiar to the specified field nevertheless there are general or basic characteristics involved in them. These general characteristics are involved both in explicit and implicit forms in an activity. For example hard work and skill are implicit general characteristics in the sense that they are accredited in terms of constituents in the domain of the specific activity and open-mindedness can be said to be an explicit general characteristic. This led me to discover what I wrote above as scientific method. This discovery forced me to acquiring a habit of trying to find out basic characteristics involved in the occurrence of many diverse events. And I am sure that any other person when acquires this habit will see that the world is not as diverse as it is seen.
For most us, although we involve in various activities, our understanding of activity in general and in abstract sense is very much vague and obscure. Confronted with the problem of understanding activity I set out to find out what lies within.
Before ending this preface I wish to say that I will try to make my points clear to the reader in the following essays without probing deeply into psychological and philosophical issues where ever they occur even when a wider and deeper analysis is possible. Since my objective is not to make a voluminous book that explains every single detail in the subject but to provide a basic foundation for better understanding of a thing in which we involve whole of our lives and only to show the probable direction one has to travel. So you will read phrases like “let us confine our discussion to …” in the essay since here I tried to write the essays as concise as possible.
My objective is not only to understand the concept of activity but also to find out better means of doing any kind of activity in general as a set of rules or suggestions.
The result is what you are going to read in further pages.
Introduction
In this introduction I wish to elucidate to you the process of activity and why it is necessary to probe into the present topic.
My way of understanding is to first define the main expression(s) of the topic I am dealing with and then try to validate or test the legitimacy of the definition(s) and try to analyze the scope of the definition. Even though our primary understanding may be crude when subjected to scrutiny our understanding will be refined and reach a certain level of sophistication. For I believe without a clear understanding of the basic constituents of a topic we will not be able to go too far or end up in bewilderment.
Activity can be defined as “a time consuming process, having definite starting and end points, involving something and or someone”.
Let us try to test the legitimacy of our definition. In any activity there should always be something and or someone involved in the process for activity to take place. Every process is time consuming in the sense that between starting and ending of a process some amount of time has elapsed. Since we define activity as a process the same will be applied to activity also. Regarding starting and end points in time if at all there lies any difficulty in knowing them then the difficulty wholly lies within us, in our capability of knowing them. The moment an activity starts is considered as the starting point and the moment that activity ceases to exist is considered the end point. In both these cases it is immaterial whether we know them or not. Because something cannot come into existence all by itself and also coming into existence as a result or from something else cannot happen in no time. Hence the legitimacy of our definition is proved.
Now let us look at the scope of our word activity. Grossly activity can be classified into physical and mental activities.
Physical activity can be anything that contains physical objects. It can be involving only non-cognizant physical objects. For example consider an object freely from a certain height onto earth, which fits our definition. This kind of activities comes under physics. Because our essay is mainly concerned with psychological aspects and to some extent philosophical aspects we are not concerned here with this kind of activities. Physical activity can also involve both cognizant and non-cognizant objects and only cognizant entities. Let us restrict our analysis to physical activities to this kind of activities. Some of the different types of activities of this type are talking, walking, seeing, reading if you take in general and some specific other activities depend upon the participating individuals (from now on we replace humans for cognizant entities for simplicity) and the environment surrounding them. There are two main points I would like to make here. One is whatever we do every moment comes under the category of activity since it is a time bound process and have definite start and end points in time. Second one is that in every kind of physical activity of the present type there is always a mental activity that is taking place within human beings.
Mental activity is any activity that is taking place within any individual as feelings such as love, affection, hatred, anger, and thought processes such as contemplating a future course of action, trying to understand something and decision-making etc., this involves both conscious and sub-conscious processes that are going within an individual. Mental activity can also be sub divided into two groups. One that involves active physical activity such as, the examples already stated above, of talking in which you involve in thinking or feeling while you talk, reading in which you try to understand while you read. Second one is that involving passive physical activity such as spending time contemplating a future course of action, daydreaming and others in which there is little physical activity on the part of the individual.
There are activities such as deep sleep, being unconscious and others in which both physical and mental activity are very little or not at all involved on the part of an individual. Nevertheless they are also activities. I explicitly state this to the reader that neither the above classification nor the examples discussed are exhaustive and there is much scope for many questions to arise, which I am neither stating here nor trying to explain in detail. If I am able to make the reader recognize what is an activity and the intricacies in an activity then I consider my job is done. The reader may try and think of activities that are familiar to him and I must add that writing this essay itself an activity involving both physical and mental activities.
Few specific examples for an activity are the activities of a scientist who intends to find an order or principle behind various phenomenon that occur around him and the activities of a social reformer who intends to bring about the changes in a society which he feels that are required and the activities of an artist who struggles to produce a fine piece of art.
To summarize what is discussed hitherto, activity is defined and validated. An attempt is made to show that we involve every moment of our lives in activity of one type or the other. It is also possible that at the same time we may involve in multiple activities. And also an activity itself may involve many other activities.
Now I try to answer the question that why it is necessary to probe into this concept? One strong reason is that we involve in many activities many times without knowing what we are doing, mostly under the influence of strong feelings of fascination, anger, love etc., even if we know why we are involved in any kind of activity we may not be able to find a way of action that produces desired results and we follow what we think is right which may not be true. I believe when we try to understand what an activity actually is? In an abstract sense then some of our problems or difficulties will be solved and this shows us a direction in which we should move. Since the probability of making errors decreases as our level of abstraction in understanding increases.
Now after understanding what an activity is we have to look at the basic constituents that are involved in an activity.
Basic Constituents
In the world around us whatever thing you consider it is a complex composed of many different constituents. It is these constituents that when combined make up the thing in question. For example take a molecule it consists of atoms and again atoms consists of electrons, protons, neutrons, etc., what are the constituents that make up electrons, protons etc., is still not known may be we will find someday. This is in regards to the external world. When we consider the mental plane if we take any feeling such as love then there is a subject, which shows love, and there is an object towards which this feeling is directed and the feeling called love itself. At least till now as per modern science none has reached basic constituents on whom the world is based that cannot be divided further except may be through mysticism. Similarly the same can be asserted to the subjects such as principles and conceptual themes.
It is very hard to specify the basic constituents of an activity in general. They change depending upon the type of activity. In our definition of an activity the terms ‘ something or someone’ corresponds to the constituents of the activity. Anyhow I think it is not very hard to find out the basic constituents of an activity and our description of an activity itself gives us necessary cues regarding this. The basic constituents can be derived by a little analysis of the activity. Another important aspect is these constituents have properties depending upon their nature. I wish to emphasize my point by taking the example of a freely falling body from a certain height on to the ground. In this there are two basic constituents they are the falling body and the earth on which it is falling. Some properties of the constituents are mass and gravitational forces. The same can be said about any kind of activity.
When we take an activity involving human beings we can classify it with respect to the individuals involved in the activity as
1. External constituents i.e. the constituents that are outside to him.
2. Internal constituents i.e. the constituents that are within him such as intellect, mind, preferences etc.,
Principles of activity
So far we dealt with questions such as what is an activity and what are its constituents. Let us now look at the principles of activity. With a little introspection of what has been said hitherto we can say that the following are the principles of activity.
1. Objectivity.
2. Time.
3. Constraints.
4. Decision making-if activity involves human beings.
Let us look at each principle individually.
Objectivity
Every activity involves an objective implicit or explicit, known or unknown. An objective, in this case, can be defined as the end product of the activity. Whether it is desired or not is another question. In most of the cases in the activities we involve we wish that a particular favorable situation to come into existence as a result of our activity. This we can call as desired objective. And we struggle to achieve it.
When we have an objective (a desired one mostly) our success of achieving it depends on how well defined is our objective is. Clarity in the objective is essential. Clarity, which most people never think about, will show a direction for us to move. I can explain this with the example of a most basic phenomenon in life. Everyone wanted to be happy. Let our objective be ‘being happy’. This statement itself does not make any sense and opens an infinite number of options before us to act and causes bewilderment. We can modify and state it more clearly as feeling happy by earning, say, $100 million then we look for ways to earn big money or if we say our objective is to feel happy by social service then we look for ways or available options before us for social service. This later statement makes more sense than the former and also more useful for us. As clarity in objective increases our confidence in accomplishing and understanding of the objective and the realization of the number of functional ways of accomplishing it increases and as result our probability of success also increases. The clarity in objective has a very strong connection with another principle of activity namely ‘constraints’. Indeed the clarity in our objective is directly related to the degree of realization of the concept of constraints.
Objectives are not always clear to the individual or we can say explicit sometimes we may feel that we require something but we may not be able to express it. In these cases we should follow the method of successive approximation. At first we state something very close to our objective and try to find out what properties we wish does it have and does not have. Then we make a modified statement and repeat the above process. In this way we go on until we reach a satisfactory level of clarity in our objective. People usually tend to think explicitly about objectives and clarity when they have an objective something of which they give considerable importance. I say it is a bad practice to think this way only in certain instances rather than in almost all our activities.
Constraints
Whenever we involve in any activity there are always some restrictions and limitations regarding the functioning of various constituents involved in that particular activity. These are called constraints on constituents in an activity. These are not necessarily good or bad. But in order to accomplish the objective some constraints (positive constraints) are necessary to show proper direction to travel along. And some constraints (negative constraints) will be an obstruction in achieving our objective. What is required of us is to identify these constraints and increase the positive constraints and diminish the negative constraints as possible. Before going further into this let us classify the constraints with respect to the individual involved in general.
a. External positive constraints.
b. External negative constraints.
c. Internal positive constraints.
d. Internal negative constraints.
External constraints are those constraints, which are present as a result of prevailing external conditions apart from the individual involved.
Internal constraints are those constraints, which we impose on our selves regarding our behavior externally and also on the ways of thinking internally. These are mainly attitudinal in nature. There are some constraints that we impose consciously and some are inherent in our personality of which we may not be conscious. We impose constraints consciously thinking they will help in accomplishing our desired objective that actually may or may not be helpful.
Since the constraints depend completely on specific objective at hand we cannot say much about external constraints but can only say a few words about internal constraints. Internal constraints are mainly seen in the form of our code of ethics, order of preference of one to another, and expectations. Internal constraints can be judged positive or negative only when compared with their capability of helping us in accomplishing the objective. People are in general weak at realizing the internal negative constraints.
Our success mainly depends on the degree of awareness of these constraints I try to emphasize the significance of constraints by taking an example. Let us assume our objective is learning a computer language say ‘C++’. Then the external constraints can be the vicinity of a teaching institute far or near, quality of teaching, mode of transportation, computer accessibility etc., these constraints are to be followed in order to accomplish our objective. Each constraint can be either positive or negative depending upon the type of influence they exerts on the process of effectively accomplishing the desired objective. Regarding external situation we have a variety of choices that can be made to accomplish the same objective. We have to adopt the best choice with minimum negative constraints and maximum positive constraints in order to accomplish our objective. This comes under decision-making. The internal constraints can be our degree of concentration, understanding capability, level of our confidence that we can accomplish our objective etc., Each constraint can be either positive or negative depending upon the type of influence they exerts on the process of effectively accomplishing the desired objective. Time period within which a person should accomplish his objective is also a constraint. Our effectiveness lies in achieving our objective within in specified time period.
Time
As we have already seen in earlier essays that any activity will have a starting point and an end point. We may not be able to determine exactly either starting point or end point or both. But it does not affect our arguments or reality. Whenever we see an activity we can safely assume that it started at some point in past and will end at some point in the future. Since any activity takes place only within space-time continuum.
As I already stated earlier my focus is on activities involving human beings specifically. Regarding this constituent related human activities I can say one thing when ever we are involving in an activity in pursuit of an objective then we can predict, with sufficient experience and insight or even crudely based on impulse, a time period for accomplishing it. All our efforts should be focused on accomplishing the objective within the predicted time. There is nothing much to emphasize on this constituent.
Decision-making
In all the activities we involve we constantly have to make a decision regarding the course to follow to accomplish the objective. Decision-making is one of the difficult things that a person does. Because our future depends upon the decisions we make and there is too much at stake. One has to make good decisions in order to be successful. Many people have done much research about this concept and great many useful books are published. I will not go in detail into this concept but try to have general outlook at the process of decision-making.
The difficulty in decision-making is that we have to decide how to act now in order attain an uncertain objective. Clarity in our objective and understanding of the constraints helps us make better judgments. The present essay itself can be said to be an aid to make better decisions although it is not explicitly stated.
Aids for effective activity
Till now we have considered what activity is. What are the basic constituents involved in an activity. Involving in an activity in order to attain an objective does not guarantee the accomplishment of it. We have to perform our activities effectively. Now we will focus our attention on different aids that help us to perform an activity better than usual.
The various aids that are helpful are
I. Principle of no Confinement.
II. Dynamic approach rather than static approach.
III. Theory of Working on assumptions
IV. Process of observation, correlation and revising.
V. Visualization.
VI. Focus on effectiveness.
VII. Object oriented approach.
Let us look at these aids individually.
Principle of no Confinement
One more point is that if you observe this higher order thinking is a direct derivative of principle of no confinement stated in principles of activity.
The principle of no confinement states that “one should not impose undue constraints as a set of beliefs or self imposed limitations or both while pursuing an objective regarding both the objective under consideration and the processes involved in accomplishing the objective apart from the given or involved or required minimum set of constraints”.
This principle is based on the assumption that all human ills or you can say weaknesses are born out of ignorance. Ignorance regarding truth and reality in general or to be specific regarding science, psychology, management, art or any other field you can take. We cannot say that we have either no knowledge at all or complete knowledge but we have limited knowledge regarding various entities and we wish to increase the boundaries of our ken. Due to ignorance we face two fundamental obstacles in our progress. One is in the form of limitation we impose upon ourselves regarding the process we involve that is in choosing one way rather than another and believe that will yield results without finding the possible ways and choosing the best way. Second one is in the form of assumptions we make regarding the objective itself we wish to achieve. Based on our feelings and emotions we may assume something as our objective but in reality the recognized objective may be different or forms only a part of our preferences. Psychologically the whole phenomenon can be attributed to the ‘ego’ of the individual. Due to this ego we think what we believe to be true is true and our assertions are infallible but the reality is the other way around. What this principle tries to do is to put an end to the false ego we posses.
This principle has very significant effects, when understood, on individuals over a wide range of aspects from philosophy to daily activities such as ways of thinking, attitude, and way of action. This principle is mainly attitudinal one. One has to make it a part of his character, personality or attitude in order to yield successful results from this principle.
One has to have sufficient understanding of objectivity and the concept of constraints before implementing this principle. As already stated what ever be the activity, in which we are involved in any particular time period, we operate under certain constraints and implicit or explicit we wish to accomplish an objective
This principle fosters creativity; bring out the hidden talents in an individual. Let us look at how this principle is useful to an individual and its effect on us.
Effect on thinking: our problems with thinking mainly arise from the self-imposed unnecessary constraints we impose on ourselves on the process of thinking. While thinking we unnecessarily without sufficient validity assume this or that is inappropriate or not necessary when the truth is the opposite. By applying this principle and keeping all our options open we can get rid of such thinking process.
The application of this principle can be explained by considering origin of the topic ‘principle of activity’, which we are now discussing. At first I started writing about a set of working rules I should employ in order to accomplish any given objective. While writing them, by having the attitude of no confinement, I got the idea of necessity of understanding and writing the principles of activity in general.
Effect on feelings and emotions: feelings and emotions such as hatred, fear, anger etc., can be overcome. Consider hatred and anger towards others, these are generated within us when someone does things that we don’t like. What is the reason to say that others should see the world as we do and also sometimes, in case of decision based on indirect information, you should ask what is the proof that someone has behaved the way as you believed to be? There exists none because this is an unnecessary self-imposed constraint on our selves for which we are paying dearly with mental agony in the form of hatred and anger. By the application of principle of no confinement you will not say that a person should do this or that as per your liking. There can be situations in which a person can be proved that he is wrong but even that can’t be a reason for us to be angry or hate. By incorporating this principle you will not either be angry or hate but try to sort out the matter in a right way. Because the former causes more distress to us than the latter does. Consider fear, this is generated within us because we are so much attached to a thing we consider precious and do not wish to lose it. Whenever you imagine or feel something, which is beyond your control, is going to happen that will deprive you from the thing you are attached will generate fear within you. Again you can see that because of our induced confinement that something should happen or should not happen that this feeling arises. By application of principle of no confinement we does not restrict our thinking by saying that or this should or should not occur. Whenever such situation occurs we focus our attention to eliminate that situation rather lie in fear and lose the things we like altogether.
The principle of no confinement focuses on objective rather than the process itself. It is also helpful in analogical thinking that is application of principles involved in one activity or process for achieving an objective to a fundamentally similar activity or process for achieving another different objective.
This principle removes unnecessary blocks in ones thinking and thereby his actions and can be applied to any type of activity in life and to life as a whole.
If I take up this principle alone and try to explain it in detail with regard many aspects it will become a separate bulky topic in itself. May be I will do that sometime in future.
Dynamic approach
This is mainly a concept regarding the perception of an individual regarding an existing situation. Generally people perceive things as static rather than dynamic. For example a person once a bad man is a bad man forever in their minds, a thing considered doing impossible is impossible forever. Everything, which we perceive as nature and fixed situation, except the knowledge and feeling that we exist is susceptible to change. They fail to recognize that a situation they see now is an effect, a result of many causes that culminated in to that effect. If we wish to change this situation then we have to produce the events or activities that cause to produce an opposite effect. When we reach the required level in our efforts the situation will change by itself.
Theory of Working on assumptions
Whenever we involve in decision-making we base our decisions on certain beliefs and opinions regarding various things, which we consider are true. When we fail in accomplishing an objective the failure can be broadly attributed to two reasons one is due to bad performance in an activity and the second is taking a bad decision. Again bad decision can be taken due to two reasons one is the wrong interpretation of our beliefs, opinions and data we have and the second is the fault in our beliefs or opinions that we consider as true. Most people fail to recognize the latter and make excuses for their actions.
In every decision-making situation we always have to take decision based on data and our beliefs regarding the situation. Since there is a possibility of fallibility in our judgments and beliefs regarding any situation we should therefore work based on assumptions rather than belief. An assumption is any belief or opinion that has a logical base that is the assumption is inferred from the data available, past experience and logical skills as a most likely true criterion for basing decision-making. The use of introducing assumption in place of belief (mostly rigid in nature) is that it provides flexibility in attitude and also coerces active observation and thinking on the part of the individual and makes him ready to make changes as required in assumptions that are otherwise impossible to even perceive. One interesting problem is that most people are not ready to accept their beliefs as personal beliefs, which may not be true representation of reality, and consider them as true and right representation of the affairs of the world that are existing in some cases even in the presence of evidence of the opposite.
Process of observation, correlation and revising
Every person in his life forms different opinions regarding different things that he confronts such as forming opinions regarding aims requirements of life, nature of society, religion or god, different people he meets, different aspects of life etc., whether do all of them are true is a question to be answered. Some of them may be true and some of them may be false. Then how do we know what are true and what are false? The answer lies in adopting scientific attitude to validate a theory of science. Regarding almost every opinion you make you can predict that if your opinion is true this or that should occur in future. Then you should observe whether what you predicted occurs or not. When the phenomenon occurs you try to correlate the facts about that occurrence with your opinion. If your prediction occurs then you can say with reasonable confidence that your opinion is true. If your prediction does not occur then you have to revise your opinion based on the new date and new insights available from the present experience. This process should go on continually for a long time and many predictions based on your opinions should be true you cannot validate based on the occurrence of a single phenomenon. This should be done with every opinion you have hitherto formed. Only those opinions that have passed the test can be considered valid. But not all the opinions you have formed and you have strong attachment and attached considerable strong feeling or emotion with them. One has to have sufficient experience and expertise to really validate his opinions. And the experience and expertise only comes after actively following the above scientific procedure for considerable amount time.
Visualization
Visualization is a strong aid in perceiving relations between different things. Although this is a process I use extensively, at present, I don’t have sufficient understanding of this process to tell you about it. If any material is available on the development of visualization and its utilization the reader is requested to go through it.
Focus on effectiveness
In attempting to accomplish an objective we involve in many activities. Our success depends on how efficiently and effectively we involve in those activities. Usually people focus more on efficiency of activities rather than their effective ness. The following example will illustrate the need for effectiveness more than efficiency.
Suppose you have an objective to achieve. In achieving that we use many resources. Here we are interpreting in terms of objective so we are using the word resources, if we interpret in terms of activity we use the word constituents. For example take learning ‘C++’
Objective:
Here our objective is to learn ‘C++’ to the extent that we can write difficult programs and/or being able to teach others, etc., First we have to make this clear to ourselves because I believe we definitely do not want to be a walking encyclopedia of ‘C++’ (even this can be our objective)
What I want to tell is to set the limit up to which we wish to accomplish a thing in which there are many possible levels that can be achieved.
Resources:
In this the resources are 'the book we follow, a computer, a friend/guide to help us learn it, notebook-pen, mind, brain etc.,
Constraints:
The amount of availability of each resource is a constraint.
Efficiency:
Efficiency is the amount of utilization of each resource. By this time u might have remembered if you know it as a part of your studies in college the word efficiency and its definition as a ratio of amount used to amount available. I am talking of the same thing but increasing its scope/domain.
As per our definition,
Zero efficiency means not utilizing the resource at all.
Now I will take up what complete efficiency could mean.
Using the book you follow with complete efficiency can be said to involve by hearting the whole book.
Using notebook with complete efficiency can be said to write down the whole book.
Using a guide with complete efficiency is to ask him everything even unnecessary things.
Using mind with complete efficiency could mean thinking every moment about ‘C++’.
Like this we can define for every other resource involved.
By this time you might have observed that in any task we don't utilize the resource to its maximum extent but varies between 0-100 % differently for different resources.
We neither wish to have low efficiency nor complete efficiency.
What we require is effective efficiency.
Optimum efficiency:
Optimum efficiency for any resource can be defined as the efficiency that contributes in reaching the objective.
Now I believe u understood what I wish to say above. But this is not the whole story. Even when you achieve optimum efficiency in some resources you may not achieve your objective because of ill performance in other resources or even if you are able to get optimum efficiency in all the resources sometimes you may not achieve your objective because of two reasons. One is that the individual efficiencies may not lead you to your objective when they are considered as a whole and second is because of constraints and events that are beyond your control.
Then we come to effectiveness.
Effectiveness:
Effectiveness can be defined as the usefulness of efficient utilization of a resource in achieving an objective setting aside the constraints that are beyond control.
When you wish to achieve an objective all your individual resource efficiencies must move you towards your objective individually and as a whole then only they can be said to be effective or else ineffective however high their individual efficiencies may be.
To put this in simple terms efficiency is with respect to resources and effectiveness is with respect your objective.
I don’t wish to undermine the value of high efficiency the only point I wish to make is that in pursuit of efficiency in individual resources we should not hamper the effectiveness. Most people unnecessarily concentrate too much on efficiencies rather than effectiveness. In my experience I have seen many people who do this (including myself). One classic example is that when preparing for exams people try to prepare notes at length leaving the effectiveness or trying to understand a single concept completely which is out of scope or unnecessary.
I reiterate my position that I don't wish to undermine anything. But I only advocate that they should be effective. In trying to achieve our objective I say that our activities should be streamlined.
Streamlined activity:
Streamlined activity is that effective activity which will lead us our objective.
This is hard to achieve and involves clarity in objective, determination, understanding, planning, courage, skill etc.,
One last remark I would like to make is that this analysis fits in any objective.
Object oriented approach
Whatever has been said hitherto can be said simply as ‘object oriented approach’. The deviation from this approach can be attributed to the feelings and emotions that we have when we start an activity or that are developed during an activity. Although every one when they start an activity with an objective in mind as the time passes they will be attached to a single way, which they are very much attracted to, and even though the path they are following is not yielding results and not likely that they will succeed that they achieve their target they still stick to their paths suffering mentally and physically and forgetting why they started following that particular path. This is due to the feelings and emotions evolved during an activity. Another possible deviation from object-oriented approach is due to the feelings and emotions with which we start an activity. That is after starting an activity in order to achieve the objective we, sometimes, are more absorbed in and affected by the emotion or feeling that we have within us when we started the activity that we are completely deviated from our objective. I can explain this with two most common examples we are familiar with. First, we see many people, may include our selves, when preparing for an examination they sit in front of books reading for long hours of time yet at the end they end up almost as ignorant about the subject as when they started reading. This is due to the fact, as I believe, that they are too much obsessed by the feelings they have about the subject or themselves or something other like how tough the subject is, how difficult is the examination is going to be, how irritating the way the teacher taught the subject, how poor their intellectual capabilities are, how well the other person performs, how the results of examination are going to effect them, the reasons for all the already mentioned queries etc., at the end they end up in day dreaming the various possibilities and showering sympathy or hatred on themselves or others rather than focusing their attention on the job at hand that is to study and try to understand the subject. This will subsequently lead to their failure or partial success below their potential. The secret of concentration is nothing but the opposite of above. Second, when we don’t find anything we need in our houses such as a pen we search desperately all over the house and yet we don’t find it and after sometime we find it at a place where we already searched before or sometimes at a place where we thought it will not be there. This is because when we are searching they are too much absorbed in their feelings and emotions such as how much frustration and irritation or fear of the consequences the lack of that missing object creates. This will block their effectiveness in their search and they cannot see even the objective is present before them. These are simple every day phenomenon. The reasons stated here can be applied to any complex situation.
That is why it is necessary to have attitude of object-oriented approach in mind. All your efforts should move you towards your goal. The present path you are following is one of many possible routes that you thought best suitable for you. When it is found that following that path is not yielding the requisite results then it is better to abandon or change the direction of the path.
When we try to achieve an objective it is possible to achieve after 30 years from starting time where it is possible to achieve in 10 years with a little more understanding and skill. When talking about achieving an objective I mean effectively achieving it. Depending upon the objective and our preferences this effectiveness can be considered with respect to money or time or minimum stress etc., individually or as in combination with one another. Not achieving an objective but effectively achieving an objective is more important.
Since I am more a trouble shooter than a blind follower of paths I always aim at what is going on behind what is seen and observed and why they are occurring. I have written this for a person with big ambitions as I am in life and help him avoid any possible pitfalls of which he might not be aware. The reader should determine for himself to what extent I have succeeded in doing so.
UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT OF PROBLEM
OUTLINE
Ø INTRODUCTION
Ø PART-I
§ PROBLEM DEFINITION
§ NATURE
§ CAUSES & REASONS
§ SCOPE
Ø PART-II
§ ATTITUDE
§ SOLUTION SET
§ SOLVING
§ ANALYSIS
§ OBJECT-ORIENTED APPROACH
§ DECISION MAKING
§ IMPLEMENTATION
§ PROBLEM ELIMINATION
Ø FINAL WORDS
INTRODUCTION
Dear reader,
In our lives everyday we come face to face with many problems each one of a different kind in nature. For example we have to find employment, find solution to a problem at work area, maintaining good health, passing an examination, or even trying to correct a misunderstanding between two persons and a lot more. They range from problems requiring only some physical hard work to problems requiring highly emotional or spiritual integrity. We try to solve them by following a method, which we think is capable of solving our problem or else we simply give up and suffer leaving the choice to fate.
Then what is a problem? What are the characteristics that govern a problem? I believe that understanding of the concept of problem, in general or abstract sense, will be able to show the direction to travel to find solution(s) to eliminate any given problem. Therefore I started exploring the concept of problem. At that time I thought it is going to be an easy task and can be quickly completed in a couple of pages but it turned out to be a much lengthier one.
My aim is to find out an abstract general solution that fits in any problem. To make it more clear to you consider the proposition “ a problem ‘A’ evolved due to ‘B’ and requires ‘C’ to eliminate that problem”. This is a statement in which A, B and C signifies variables that can be replaced with different entities to get a meaning full statement. Although this is a raw attempt to define the objective under consideration it is intended only to give you a general idea about the topic.
Is it really possible to find such a solution? Every problem is a different one in nature owing to the factors involved in their incidence and restrictions involved in solving them. Even then I believe any particular problem is not a completely different one in nature, it is a combination of problem specific and general characteristics.
General characteristics are those which are independent of the nature of situation but involve in the problem in the form of constituents which possess these characteristics.
Problem specific characteristics are those that are peculiar to the situation and mainly depend on the nature of situation.
We in this essay discuss the problem in abstract terms and mainly concerned with general characteristics of a problem. Now let us look ahead and try to analyze the concept of problem.
PART-I
PROBLEM DEFINITION
In order to achieve our objective we must first start by defining what a problem could be. Without knowing what a problem is we can go nowhere. A little observation will show us that when we say a problem we mean that it is a problem to a particular individual (maybe to ourselves) or a group of individuals facing it and for the individuals who are not concerned and or not effected with it cannot be said to have the problem and for the individual/group who desires that a problem should occur to those facing it may even feel happy on account of this. Thus we can find it to be a relative entity and should be dealt in that way. Let us try to define it.
Since problem is a relative entity it can be defined as
“A problem is either the Non-Existence of a desired situation or the existence of an undesired situation for someone with respect to something”.
Now let us do a critical analysis of our definition and try to validate it. Let us consider various terms involved in the definition individually and as a whole to meet our present objective.
What is a situation? A situation can be defined as a state of affairs that exist, as result of interaction between different entities, at any instant and at any point in space in a space-time continuum. If the reader faces any difficulty in understanding this definition I recommend him to leave this here and go as per his notion about situation. Such notions are acceptable and will have no effect on our discussion that follows. I am not pursuing any further in this matter. Since it will lead to philosophical discussion, which is beyond the scope of our topic.
For any situation to be considered as a problem we must have an individual (we can discuss in more general form as cognizant entity but it is not so important and will not have any effect on our discussion) to consider it as a problem. To be more precise an individual or a group of individuals are required. So our usage as someone is legitimate.
The individual in turn desires a favorable situation to exist or a particular situation not to exist due to many reasons. Which may exist or may not exist. If it exists then nothing further can be said about it. If this does not exist then the non-existence of this situation or the existence of an undesired situation is considered as a problem and the individual wishes to eliminate the problem.
A problem can arise due to two reasons. One in which we feel that a desired situation is non-existing, in this case there can be anyone of the many possible undesired situations to be existing with respect to a single desired situation, and the other when we feel that an undesired situation is existing, in this case we are not always sure what kind of a situation do we desire to have but nevertheless we feel that the existing situation should be changed and also there can be many desired situations for any particular undesired situation. So it is appropriate to use both the non-existence of a desired situation and existence of an undesired situation as a problem in our definition.
The problem in general is always specific in nature, even like our discussion about it abstractly. It can be argued that our discussion comes under philosophical problem. A problem is always in one of the forms such as psychological problem, philosophical problem, mathematical problem, social problem etc., So it is necessary to use “… with respect to something” in our definition where these final words corresponds to the specific nature of problem.
This proves that our definition is legitimate.
NATURE OF PROBLEM
Whenever we talk about a problem there are two important basic constituents to be considered in any problem. To understand the nature of problem we have to focus our attention on these two constituents.
First one is the constituent that feels the existence of a problem. Without which we cannot say that a problem exists. Let us restrict ourselves to human beings for the first constituent even though a deeper and wider consideration is possible.
In our day-to-day lives we indulge in many activities anticipating a result or we simply wish a particular situation to exist in order to feel happiness, pleasure, or satisfaction. When this does not happen or in other words when a desired situation does not exist (the same argument can be extended to the existence of undesired situations also) we may feel frustration, anger, depression, unhappy etc., and consider the non-existence of the desired situation as a problem.
Second one is the situation itself. As already defined a situation at any particular instant is the resultant state of affairs that exist. When we are talking about a situation we have to keep the following things in mind.
1. A single situation can be achieved in different ways and due to different factors. As we can clearly see that different paths exist to reach our work center’s from our homes or if you are a mathematics student then you know that there can be many methods to solve a particular mathematical problem or even consider psychological problems such as being angry, angriness is a situation that is caused when something happens or someone does the things that we don’t like. Again the reasons for our anger can be many. For example, it may be caused because someone didn’t obey you or someone insults you and the like. Clearly we can see that for a situation to come into existence there are many ways and also can be due to different factors. There may not be always many ways for a situation to exist but we can be sure of at least one. Therefore we can say there is at least one way resulting in a particular situation. In many real life situations we think that the cause for a problem is one thing and it soon turns out to be something else. One has to be careful in his assertion of causes to a problem because our remedial measures, which we take up, depend on our assessment of the causes of the problem. The question is how to find out all the possible different ways of a problem coming into existence and also the different factors in combination with each other result in the problem? The answer comes from the effectiveness of our analysis, which we shall discuss later, taking all factors into account.
2. As already stated earlier the existence of a situation is the resultant of influences of different factors involved on one another. If you take a particular factor, in the process of making a situation, it influenced other factors and also in turn influenced by them. I am not saying that every factor influences every other factor but some factors influence some other factors and resultant of all the factors considered as a whole culminate in a particular situation. Or else you can say for every result (existence of a present situation) there involves internal stimuli and external stimuli with respect to every factor involved in producing the outcome and the mutual influence of one on another produces the final outcome. Any factor can be said to have three attributes – characteristics that constitute the factor, resistance index and influence index. Consider a simple situation in which two factors interact with each other then they both have their specific characteristics and one of them will exert influence on the other during the interaction but the reaction of the other factor depend upon the inner strength or resistance of that factor against the influence of the first factor. Here I would like introduce the term ‘significance level’ which means a level or a certain quantity of strength of a factor in influencing other factors below which no significant outcome can be observed or a level or a certain quantity of resistance in resisting the influence of other factors above which no significant outcome can be observed in the process of interaction. When two factors interact it is not always possible to quantify the effect on one another, visualize influence index and resistance index, except in exact sciences like physics and chemistry so it is appropriate to use significance level. When two factors interact one of the factors will try to influence the other but it will be able to influence the other significantly only if it has influence index above the significant level and on other hand the factor under influence produces significant effect only if its resistance index is below the significance level. In reality to produce a significant effect it is required that both the influence index of influencing factor and the resistance index of the influenced factor should be above and below their significance levels respectively. For example take a physical situation, say, of playing in a cricket match in which you are required to hit the ball to get runs. Consider the instant when the bat hits the ball. In this instant the bat exerts influence on the ball and determines the direction of the ball to travel. Since our objective is to get runs depending upon the path of the ball whether it has gone straight to a fielder or to a boundary we can say the influence of bat is below or above significant level implying we are successful at getting runs. Similarly at the same instant when the ball is influenced if the strength of the ball is below a minimum level then the ball may be broken into pieces or follow the path directed by bat depending upon its resistance index is above or below the significant level. Again at the same instant the ball exerts influence on the bat as spin of the ball or impact on the bat. The bat in turn if it is weak is influenced by the ball and may break or the direction of the ball is changed to other than expected or intended direction. This process again depends upon the influence index of the ball and the resistant index of the bat. Whatever be the outcome it really depends on the two factors and the influence of one on another at the same time and how both of them interact. This is a simple situation and the argument can be extended to complex situations depending upon the number of factors involved and also to all kinds of situations.
3. A situation is not static, that is it is not that once it came into existence it cannot be changed or you can say not rigid, but dynamic. Generally people perceive things as static rather than dynamic. For example they consider a person once a bad man is a bad man forever in their minds, if you cannot run 10 kilometers without a break today then you cannot do that in future, in other words a thing considered doing impossible is impossible forever. However the truth is that everything, which we perceive as nature and a fixed situation, except the knowledge and feeling that we exist is susceptible to change. The people with average intelligence fail to recognize that a situation they see now is an effect, a result of many causes that culminated in to that effect. If we wish to change this situation then we have to produce the events or activities that cause to produce an opposite effect. When we reach the required level in our efforts the situation will change by itself.
The problem can be of any specific nature depending upon the individual and external environment.
CAUSES and REASONS
The first and foremost thing is the recognition by the individual that he wishes a particular situation to exist which is non-existent at present or that a particular existing situation is undesired by him. If this happens then there is nothing to say about it under this sub-heading except that they arise due to the individual’s desires. The causes for his desires are beyond the scope of the present topic.
If the individual recognizes that a particular situation is undesired and that situation continues to exist then its existence can be attributed to inability on the part of the individual to alter the situation he does not desire. The reason can be said to be the lack of resources to the individual or the individual is still engaged in activity to solve the problem and he will eliminate the situation at some instant in future. These resources can be intellectual capability, mental integrity, required physical objects like machines, computers, screw drivers etc., required man power and the like. In short it can be said that lack of a solution or proper procedure to implement the solution or both is causing the undesired situation to exist.
Now we are in a position to define what a problem could be in a more comprehensive way that is “A problem is either the Non-Existence of a desired situation or the existence of an undesired situation for someone with respect to something arising due to the inability on part of someone facing that problem and continues to exist due to lack of required resources to them to eliminate that problem”.
SCOPE
After writing this far I still have some inkling about the definition of problem. My doubt is that whether my definition of problem is really the definition of problem or not. Is it necessary to consider either the existence of an undesired situation or the nonexistence of a desired situation to be a problem? In reality whatever be the definition of problem still then our arguments so far and also forth coming are valid because fundamentally a problem is something that is undesired. Even if there is some definition to problem other than what we concluded above it should be a subset to our definition and its scope is limited than what we are discussing here. Since we are dealing here with undesired situations in general.
PART-II
ATTITUDE
Whenever someone is set to solve a problem a lot depends on what kind of an attitude with which he is starting. The difficulty level, whether easy or hard, of the problem lies mostly with in the mind of the individual. That is his state of mind, his beliefs regarding the possibility of solving or on his capabilities etc., mainly mental or psychological in nature.
A right kind of attitude with open mind, enthusiasm, positive thinking, confidence, and courage is a great asset where as an attitude with narrow mindedness that is refusal to think or accept certain aspects that we don’t like, ennui, negative thinking that is thinking that the task cannot be done, disbelief on his own capabilities, and fear is a big drawback. Sometimes we start with a low probability of success but if you have the right attitude and you persist the position may turn around and this happens most of the time.
SOLUTION SET
To solve a problem or you can also say to remove an undesired situation or to bring a desired situation into existence there are always different ways of doing it. Each way we call a different solution and all such solutions combined form a solution set for a particular problem. Finding the solutions to a problem and deciding which solution to follow depend on analysis and on comparison with our priorities that we formed as a set of belief, by experience or feelings we have, or forced by the problem itself.
SOLVING
Problem solving is the process in which we involve in finding out the possible solutions to our problem. For this we do analysis of the problem.
ANALYSIS
There is a sharp distinction between ordinary people and intelligent people with respect to analysis and decision-making. An ordinary person make more decisions without analysis and does little of analysis regarding any issue. Where as an intelligent person does more analysis rather than making quick and blind decision based on impulse and emotions. In short ordinary people make more decisions than analysis where as analyzing capability before making a decision is the hallmark of an intelligent person. To be precise we should replace effective analysis for analysis because the analysis that does not give helpful results is of little use to us. Then what is meant by analysis? How to do an effective analysis? The answers to these questions are our subject matter at present.
We now have to define what is meant by analysis. Analysis is in general as per my dictionary defined as “the study or examining something in detail, in order to discover more about it” I don’t like this definition because I feel the terms study, examining are ambiguous and need further explanation so I define it as “the process in which a person indulges in order to discover something (objective) about something (object)”. Even this definition is only a refinement of the former definition and offers us no practical utility. So let us change the definition in concise form to a more extensive and utility oriented form.
Analysis is the process, in which a person indulges with an objective in mind with respect to an object, on which his attention is focused, of classification and sub-classification of available data, in the form of constraints involved, preferences, and actions needed to taken etc., that is information and statistical data available regarding the object under consideration, and finding relations and influences on one another among themselves and also their combined effect regarding the objective to find a set of possible solutions to achieve the objective and also to determine the best solution.
This kind of definition will show us a direction to travel to make our analysis effective. The explanation of the above definition forms the answer of how to do an effective analysis. Before going to that we will consider some important requirements for analysis.
The requirements for an analysis can be divided into two categories with respect to the individual. First, personal requirements such as analytical skills, experience, depth of knowledge of issue at hand, positive attitude etc., Second, external requirements such as statistical data, clear objective, identification of factors involved, mechanical aids, technical support etc., it is not imperative that you should have all of them and to the fullest extent. You should have as many as possible and as much as possible the remaining will be identified and even some of them are determined during the analysis.
The analysis can be done for two purposes
1. To determine the possible solution(s) for a particular objective.
2. To determine the best feasible alternative to follow.
Analysis to determine the possible solution(s) for a particular objective:
Let us proceed as if we are in real environment and we have to do analysis regarding something but we deal with things abstractly.
You are sitting in your office room and your client comes to you with a problem or you can say with a requirement, which requires analysis. The first thing you have to do is to identify the objective and the preferences the client have. It is to identify the objective compared to identifying the preferences the client have because he may not be sure about his own preferences. But it is important on our part to probe and identify the preferences because after identifying the preferences we may find that the objective is not compatible with the preferences the client have then we may either change the objective or the preferences. Usually this incompatibility if exists will be recognized as the analysis progresses. What comes under preferences will change with specific issue at hand I will try to explain some preferences regarding a business situation nevertheless preferences for other fields can be identified. In a business situation the preferences could be the amount of investment, expected employee satisfaction, the kind or class of people the product is aimed at etc.,
The next thing to do is to look for the statistical data or information available, gather all the information that has a relation to the objective and also we feel relevant to achieve our objective. Then we should try to organize the information in such a way that it will be easy for us to understand what the data is saying something or making some sense to us else the data will only become extra burden for us.
Since achieving an objective always involves some factors our next step is to identify the factors involved in accomplishing the objective. Since every specific analysis will have its own factors it is hard to speak in general about them we may not be able to identify all the factors at first. Some of the important factors will be identified during analysis. There are two things that will help us in this matter. One is the knowledge we already posses regarding the objective as a result of previous experience and intelligence or due to some external support such as books and information on the subject and support from others etc., Second one is the observation of the data we have will throw some light on the factors involved. Here the organization of the information comes handy.
Apart from the fact that achieving any objective involves factors there another important thing we have to consider namely constraints. Constraint regarding any factor is the limitation or restriction on the availability of the factor for exploitation or utilization. We have to work within these constraints to find a solution set for our problem. Some people might feel that constraints are bad but they are the reality and they also help us in greatly restrict the possible solutions for a given problem. There are two things that will happen if there are no constraints. One is that there will be infinite number of solutions to any problem and will lead us to bewilderment regarding which option to exercise. Second one is that doing anything in the world, however complex it is, will be easy. Such thinking indicates our desire to get everything easily in life.
Once you identified the factors and constraints on factors next thing to do is to try different combinations of factors by considering their influence on one another and also with regard to our objective and try to see whether logically this combination will yield our required result. We will discord all possibilities that are logically inconsistent with regard to the objective and consider the remaining possibilities. Now we further eliminate the possibilities on the basis of feasibility of a possibility in real world although logically it can produce the result required. There are many ways and methods to do these trying different combinations of factors in analysis. Since here we are dealing with analysis as a sub-topic. The reader is suggested to read any available books on how to do an analysis. But I would like to bring one particular thing to the notice of the reader and that is when you have a clear objective, you have clear preferences, identified the factors based on data and experience, and identified the constraints to work within then a person develops what is known as ‘insight’. Insight is nothing but the ability to see the different constituents as they are and how they interact with one another in the light of information knowledge and information acquired so far combined with logical and analytical skills and experience. This would automatically lead you how to do the process described in the present paragraph. If we find during analysis that there is deficiency or defects in any aspect such as the objective, preferences, factors and constraints so that they obstruct the achievement of the objective then they will be modified, manipulated, deleted or added as necessary as per the feasibility during the analysis.
All the solutions thus found will form the solution set for any problem or objective.
Analysis to determine the best feasible alternative to follow:
Among the different solutions available to us we are confronted with a dilemma of choosing the best alternative.
We decide this based on the following criterion:
- The ease with which it can be implemented.
- The economy of the resources it utilizes.
- The constraints imposed by external conditions such as time, money, available technology etc.,
Often it is not possible to find an ideal solution that satisfies all our needs. At those times we sacrifice some requirements for others based on our hierarchy of preferences.
At times the final solution is not obtained by doing the analysis for a single time. As our knowledge and understanding increases and new factors and constraints are discovered we have to continue the process of analysis from the start, as in a loop, all again until we obtain satisfactory solution(s).
It is always advisable to give some room for contingencies and also workout back-up plan(s), which is in similar lines to the present solution, just in case if we recognize, while implementation, the present path being followed is not going to yield required results.
Object-Oriented Approach
For this refer to ‘Focus on Effectiveness’ and ‘Object-oriented approach’ of ‘principles of activity’.
DECISION MAKING
This concept is dealt in depth in both ‘principles of activity’ and ‘an essay on developmental procedures’ directly and indirectly by indicating possible pitfalls and the things required to make better decisions so please refer to them and here I am refraining in explaining this sub-topic in detail. Even this essay is written to help us make better decisions by increasing our understanding of what is meant by problem.
IMPLEMENTATION
Once you have determined what to do or you can say the way or path you have to follow to achieve your objective or a feasible solution to your problem the next thing is to implement it. One must know that knowing and doing are two different things although how much we know greatly influences how we do. I am not discussing this in detail for two reasons. One is at present I myself does not have in depth understanding, although I have a limited understanding at this moment, of the intricacies involved in implementing a chosen course of action. Second one is even if I know to the full this escapes intended scope of the present essay and forms a separate topic of its own such is the complexity involved. One has to account for both psychological effects and situational effects and the mutual impact of one on another. I ca say one thing regarding implementation and that is it is advisable to split our implementation process into different phases and parts that can be done concurrently and also one after another depending on specific activities involved and the practical possibility of implementing. For the question how this should be done? There is much research done in this field such as PERT (program evaluation and review technique) and CPM (critical path method) and useful books are also available.
PROBLEM ELIMINATION
When the undesired situation is eliminated or the desired situation is brought into existence then we say our problem is eliminated but not after finding a solution to the problem.
Finally, It has been relatively easy for me to explain the topic in plain theory but to prove the validity and relevance of the this essay I strongly wished to explain from starting to end how to eliminate a problem with specific examples one from management field, one from human relations filed, one from philosophy, one from science etc., and how our discussion is relevant in real time problem solving situations. Unfortunately I could not do that because such an attempt requires a lot of explanation how the theory is relevant to practical situations that is how theory can be transformed into utilizable form and how the different entities in real situations form a reflection of the theory apart from the theory itself. This is only a starting attempt may be in future I will do that.
End Note
The three essays “An essay on developmental procedures”, “the principles of activity” and “understanding the concept of problem” will form the synchronized foundation of philosophical and logical portions of the ideas I have in mind. Although I have written these three essays under different headings there is much in common to all these essays and I strongly believe and feel that all the three are reflection of others. You can observe that objective, situation, constraints and object-oriented approach in all the three essays. By taking any one essay one can derive the other two by manipulating and extending what is said in that essay. May be sometime in future I will modify these essays and write them under one heading namely ‘principles of activity’. This however requires considerable effort and a lot of explanation to write on my part so let us keep these three distinct for the time being. I believe that by understanding the three essays one can derive all knowledge that logic and human comprehension can arrive at. And also that whatever phenomenon occurred or occurring in the world the present essays can explain them. Any principle is not considered good because it accounts for the already happened phenomenon but it’s worth lies in its ability predict or show direction towards a possible future outcome in an experiment or real life event. I believe my principle(s) stands for that test. Take a situation or a problem of any kind the principles discussed in these essays will show us a direction.
The biggest problem that confronts us is that although everybody knows some of the concepts we have discussed hitherto. They either treat them in isolation that is independent of another or limit their understanding to specific fields they can be applied or fail to understand their significance and in using them when required.
As I already stated my first developments came from my observations of the events of the world. One main thing I observed is that people look for reasons to support their acts rather than looking for reasons to validate their acts. This is one of the chief causes for their limited success or failure. So I started the exact opposite that is to think of reasons to validate my acts rather than to look for reasons supporting it. This kind of attitude and thinking is bound to lead one to become a philosopher because it is extremely difficult to give reasons for validity especially when we confront a complex issue and there are many possible pitfalls which will lead us to false beliefs or assertions.
There is a particular tendency or you can say capability that philosophers possess. That is when they are dealing with any specific topic, which contains sub-topics to explain the main topic; one can go into explaining the sub-topics and again into their sub-topics and never reach the end of the main topic. This is mainly because they feel, which I also feel, that sub topics are to be unambiguous before going into the main topic so they can fall into endless loop. In the essays already described I limited my explanation an analysis of sub-topics as concise as possible so as to avoid the possible bewilderment in the mind of the reader. A trained philosopher may find some inconsistencies or contradictions or ambiguity in the essays, which I believe can be answered and proved. In case of the opposite I am ready to modify what I have written and make them more adaptable. Because I believe that man progresses from ignorance to knowledge, from inferior assertion about truth in which there is less validity and more absurdity to superior assertion about truth in which there is more validity and less absurdity.
I wish to give the status of an introduction for what I have written so far because too many questions are raised and only few of them are answered and often vaguely, too many things are asserted without offering proper explanation and validation. One more reason is that in all these essays when we considered an activity or a problem we considered it in isolation or you can say it as in simple terms. We have not taken into account that any activity can be consist of many activities and can also be a part of a bigger activity and also their mutual influence. In the concept of problem we have not take into account the consequences that will be produced as a result of problem elimination. By eliminating a small problem we may fall into a bigger problem. These kinds of issues are not dealt in these essays.
Moreover I consider myself, as a sculptor who wishes to create the most beautiful sculptures from stone and what you have read so far is a result of few strokes on hard rock to give a basic structure. I don’t claim what I have written is correct in every aspect. As my understanding increases I may change a few things but the basic structure remains as it is, I don’t mind changing even that what I consider the basic structure if proved false, to add beauty and elegance to my sculptures. To be precise I consider myself, as a juvenile sculptor who recently learned how to hold the chisel and hammer in hands and this is my first work undertaken. Any person when tries to accomplish something, I cannot say anything about people who tries expecting failure, may fail or succeed depending on the net effort he produced and its sufficiency to succeed. Here success is valued with respect to any thing depending on the objective such as discovery of new theories, money acquired, social service done, power acquired and anything you can take except the difference in what he is before? And what he is after? Even if failure comes no one remains the same person as before he is a transformed man now. He learns many things and acquires new kinds of experiences that make him a more powerful and competent personality than before, his capabilities are increased, and he works more effectively now. If he tries again to achieve the same objective again it is more likely he succeeds now. Anyhow what I am saying is that there comes a change in every person, who tries to expand his capabilities and tries to achieve some big goals that will transform him into a more matured personality irrespective of his success or failure.
