Introduction

“Life is a mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved.”

Gandhi

Defining the human condition…

We live amid a multitude of problems – that is, situations to be solved, addressed, and considered, each with its own unique challenges and consequences. Some have been with us as long as human beings have existed: living and dying, feeding ourselves, protecting ourselves, finding a place to live, interacting with others… Building on these, many further developments have arisen – such as relationships of power and authority, migration, social relations, ethnic or religious affiliations, the implementation of educational systems, the expansion of cities, and the pursuit of scientific progress… And as these have developed, other problems – broader and more collective in nature – have emerged, ranging from wars and conflicts to socioeconomic inequalities, discrimination, fundamentalism, violence, political crises, and technological upheavals… “Where is the problem?” ” Here is an abyss opening up before us, ready to engulf us with its all-consuming totality, leaving little room for comprehensive thinking – assuming we even desire it. Yet this is precisely the central question that concerns us here. Yes: “Where is the problem, particularly the human one?” Moreover, shouldn’t our first priority be to define – or leave undefined – this term?…

Problem - Indefinition :

A problem is a situation, an issue, a relationship, or a reality that demands our attention and whose nature, implications, and possibilities we seek to understand – especially when addressing or resolving it involves the pursuit of an individual or collective activity. It may be a difficulty to be resolved, but it can also be a question to which we have not yet found an answer, a contradiction between different ways of seeing or living, a difference that surprises us, a situation that raises questions for us, a possibility we wish to explore, or even a reality that we do not yet fully know how to make sense of. While it may therefore be individual or collective, it also varies depending on whether it is old or new, local or global, visible or invisible, immediate, or rooted in a long history. However, a problem is never entirely independent of the way we view it. To name it is already to choose what we consider worthy of inquiry. To situate it is to discover that it changes depending on place, time, the people involved, the available knowledge, or the power dynamics surrounding it. This is undoubtedly why seeking to understand it often leads to the emergence of other questions, other problems that we had not necessarily considered at the outset.

Some problems have one solution, others have several, and still others have none – at least none that we can conceive of at the time the problem is identified. Some require an urgent response that will determine the activities associated with them, while others allow – or even demand – that we take the time to pose them, let alone examine them. A problem is thus, ultimately, less a thing that can be isolated than a relationship between a reality and the way we perceive it, understand it, question it, or seek to transform it.

As a reminder, any indefinition is open to other proposals that may supplement or modify it…