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Problems

What is the most important problem you need to solve and how do you know?

A problem is the gap between where you are and where you want to be. The size of the gap is the size of the opportunity. But most effort gets wasted on symptoms pretending to be causes, urgent things that don't matter, and problems framed by others for their benefit.

The Inner Loop​

Problems don't exist in isolation. They sit inside a cycle that converts friction into progress:

QUESTION → PROBLEM → DECISION → ACTION → FEEDBACK
    ↑                                        |
    └────────────────────────────────────────┘
StepWhat HappensWhere It Lives
QuestionCuriosity finds frictionAn insightful question is timeless and priceless
ProblemFriction gets named and measuredA problem well-stated is half solved
DecisionOptions weighed, commitment madeProcess over outcomes
ActionSmallest move that tests the thesisProtocols encode what works
FeedbackOutcomes compared to expectationsPerformance closes the loop

The quality of the question determines which problems you see. The clarity of the problem statement determines whether it gets solved. The discipline of the decision determines whether the solution compounds.

Dig Deeper​

The Metacrisis​

Technology that empowers can also destroy. We shape our tools, then our tools shape us. Five forces converging:

ForceWhat's BreakingDomain
Tech riskAI, biotech, cyber weapons getting cheaper and more powerfulAI
ExtractionCapital extracts instead of funding productionFinancialization
Coordination failureEveryone optimising locally, losing globallyGovernance
Broken incentivesPublish or perish, ship or die, engage or starveScience, Business
Platform failureSystems that extract attention rather than support flourishingSociety

Systems Failure​

Dreams pull engineering along. Engineering pushes expansion of dreams. When they decouple, systems break.

ImbalanceWhat HappensExample
Too much dreamCan't execute, endless promisesWeb3 vaporware, never ships
Too much engineeringEfficient at wrong thingsOptimising extraction, not value
No anchorDrifting, no shared purposeInstitutions losing legitimacy

Coordination requires agreement on facts. When facts become contested, coordination becomes impossible. Truth is the meta-layer — when it fails, everything built on it fails.

Context​