Chapter 2 – Causes of World´s Problems
Anobis
While pondering the problems humanity faces, it occurs to me that many are anthropogenic – a direct result of our own actions. On the other hand, others clearly have causes we’re not responsible for. Yet others are somewhere in between, perhaps naturally caused, but exacerbated by human activity.
I searched for a word that would describe a problem with definite anthropogenic causes, but found none. We have plenty of words for “problem” (e.g. dilemma, issue, obstacle, hitch, predicament, quandary, dire straits), but none that distinguish between a problem directly caused by us and one that is not.
That seems strange to me living in the modern world, where we are now confronted with huge problems, many of which are directly self-generated. Having failed to encounter a suitable word for these I have named them anobis.
An example of an anobis that we became aware of, identified, and have mostly solved is the invention and use of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). These were invented in the 1930s and manufactured and promoted by Du Pont, mainly for gases that were used in refrigeration. It was discovered that their use was depleting the ozone layer and a paper on this process was published in the journal Nature in 1974. Ozone protects the lower earth´s atmosphere from some levels of radiation. Finally a global ban on the manufacture and use of CFCs was agreed at the Montreal Protocol in 1988. We expect that ozone levels will return to previous levels in the 2060s.
Naturally we would try and solve any problem that engulfed humans, whether it were an anobis or its opposite. However the fact that we created the CFC anobis means that it the solution was more likely to be relatively simple, and it was. We simply stopped manufacturing and using CFCs.
Abalia
Had the cause of the problem been the opposite of an anobis – in other words caused externally and not by humans, the probability that we would find a solution would have been less. This type of problem I call an abalia.
Imagine, for example a meteor the size of Iceland heading directly to Earth. We would be doomed to our fate. I would think that only ways we could mitigate this would be to store plenty of food (and perhaps weapons and ammunition) and find shelter far enough away from the coastline to avoid a tsunami. I am sure that NASA have studied this and have a more scientific form of mitigating solution, but until we can survive years in spacecraft or blow up such a threat from afar, we all would be governed by fate.
This highlights how vulnerable we really are, despite technology. That is unless you believe we, or a select few of us, are special and chosen and as a result, are destined to survive.
It seems to me that it is useful to separate these two distinct types of problems in our minds, anobis and abalia, because that may alter the way we envisage finding a solution. I have added definitions of them in a separate article.
There may be anobis that we make little effort to solve because we think a solution is impossible. However the fact that it is an anobis most likely means that the solution lies with us. It may require a simple practical solution like the CFC one described above.
Of course the solution may be harder or a bit more complicated. It may require a change in belief or the introduction of a new law or tax which changes our attitudes or behaviour. Anything we do may take years to take effect. It may need countries or disparate groups to work together and agree on and help implement a solution. It may not be easy, but is more likely to be within the realm of possibility.
Having examined the problematic word problem, and conjured up two words to distinguish two very distinct categories of problems, I can continue with our review of the greatest problems we face today.