What are Wild and Tameable Problems?
“The big decisions we face in life, the wild problems—whether to marry, who to marry, whether to have children, what career path to follow, how much time to devote to friends and family, how to resolve daily ethical dilemmas—these big decisions can’t be made with data, or science, or the usual rational approaches.
- Russ Roberts
Tameable Problems
First, let’s talk about simple and easy tameable problems. Tameable problems have clear solutions. You can think based on your situation, analyze your situation, and make a decision that best suits you.
Examples:
- Math problems—2+2 = 4
- Tying your shoelaces
- Splitting a pizza evenly
Wild Problems
But what about the problems you can’t solve with logic alone? The ones that keep you up at night? And why are they called wild problems? Well, they are problems you often have to face in life that never really have one right answer—they have multiple. You can’t say, “this is the right decision,” because there isn’t a right answer in this situation. There are only multiple options for you to choose from.
Examples:
- Should I get married?
- What career should I choose?
- Should I risk it or play it safe?
The best way to explain anything is with an example, so here’s one. Imagine you’re standing on the edge of a dense forest. There’s a path before you, and in front of it, you see light. So you take it. You go through it, and soon, you’re no longer in the dense forest. Days go by. Now, you encounter another dense forest. But this time, there are multiple paths, and on neither side do you see any light coming through.
The first forest is a perfect example of a tameable problem. There’s one answer, and every single time you encounter that problem, you can memorize it, and it will be the same every time. You can also think of it as a formula—it’s always the same.
But the second forest is a wild problem. There are many paths for you to choose from. None of them are right or wrong, and you can’t see which path will lead to success. They are all just different answers to the problem you’re facing at the moment. Now, if for any reason you are stuck in one of these situations, what should you do?
How Do We Handle Wild Problems?
Now to the main thing—how do we handle the wild problems that we have in life? We shouldn’t focus too much on the problem itself or the path we are taking to solve it, because generally, it isn’t that important. What is important, though, is that we don’t have regrets later on after the decision has been made.
So rather than focusing only on the logical part of it, you can focus on the emotional part as well. For example, you love playing the guitar. You have the option to be a janitor for a salary of 20,000 rupees per month, or you can be a guitarist for the same salary. Look at the emotional connection—you like the guitar more. So you should go for that rather than the janitor job. That generally applies to all wild problems. If you can’t decide between the paths, look at the emotional side.
So the next time you have a problem, sit and think: Is this a tameable problem, or is this a wild problem? What path should I take? Which path is more emotionally connected to me?
Thanks to Russ Roberts for creating this amazing topic. It was only because of him that I was able to write this today. Anyway, thanks for reading my blog—see you next time!
