Methodology for Problem Solving 解决问题的方法

The ability to solve problems is the most important skill in life. The welfare of every person’s life (over several generations) depends entirely on it. There are problems everywhere in life, big and small. When faced with problems that cannot be solved, it brings about worry and suffering. Similarly, when faced with problems that others cannot solve but you can, it sets you apart. When no one else can solve a problem but you can, you can be counted as a hero – and this is not an exaggeration, as all historical heroes, fundamentally, are skilled at solving problems.
解决问题的能力是生活中最重要的技能。每个人的生活（几代人）的福利完全取决于它。生活中到处都有问题，有大有小。当面对无法解决的问题时，它会带来担忧和痛苦。同样，当面对别人无法解决但你可以解决的问题时，它会让你与众不同。当别人不能解决问题，但你可以，你可以算作英雄——这并不夸张，因为所有的历史英雄，从根本上说，都擅长解决问题。

(I) Some problems can never be solved
（一）有些问题永远无法解决
There is an important concept called “Persistent Problems” which refers to problems that persist, reoccur, and seem impossible to solve. This is a concept that scholars have frequently debated over in the past few decades without forming a unified opinion that has led to a dedicated page on Wikipedia. However, scholars have reached a consensus on which issues constitute “persistent problems”, such as poverty, inequality, disease, death, war, crime, and so on – these are problems that society, all of society, has struggled to completely resolve over the long term. Every field has its own specific “persistent problems”. For example, in the field of education, there is a fraction of educators who are never up to par, embodying the characteristic of a persistent problem. While the problem’s existence is recognized by everyone, no one seems to be able to come up with an effective solution. Similarly, in a stock incentive system, achieving absolute fairness is impossible, as seniority comes before ability, which sometimes appears highly unreasonable – yet remains an issue that has proved unsolvable by anyone. Moreover, the birth of each new generation is a form of “barbarians” invading “civilization” – as Thomas Sowell puts it. He then goes on to state that “we must use good education to eliminate the potential evil influences (referring to malicious thinking) before these ‘barbarians’ gain momentum”. As it is, the decline of one generation requires several to bear the consequences – a problem that keeps resurfacing, enduring, and has proven insurmountable by anyone, despite the continuous struggle of humanity…
有一个重要的概念叫做“持续性问题”，它指的是持续存在、反复发生且似乎无法解决的问题。在过去的几十年里，学者们经常争论这个概念，但没有形成统一的意见，导致维基百科上有一个专门的页面。然而，学者们已经就哪些问题构成“持续性问题”达成了共识，例如贫困、不平等、疾病、死亡、战争、犯罪等等——这些都是社会、整个社会长期难以完全解决的问题。每个领域都有自己特定的“持续性问题”。例如，在教育领域，有一小部分教育工作者从未达到标准，体现了持续存在问题的特征。虽然每个人都认识到这个问题的存在，但似乎没有人能够提出有效的解决方案。同样，在股票激励制度中，实现绝对公平是不可能的，因为资历先于能力，这有时看起来非常不合理——但事实证明，这是一个任何人都无法解决的问题。此外，正如托马斯·索维尔（Thomas Sowell）所说，每一代人的诞生都是“野蛮人”入侵“文明”的一种形式。他接着说，“我们必须利用良好的教育来消除潜在的邪恶影响（指恶意思想），然后才能让这些’野蛮人’获得动力”。事实上，一代人的衰落需要几个人承担后果——尽管人类不断挣扎，但这个问题不断浮出水面、经久不衰，并被证明是任何人都无法克服的……

Facing “persistent problems”, the correct and simple methodology is:
面对“持续存在的问题”，正确而简单的方法是：
For problems that cannot be solved, it’s best to not attempt to solve them (temporarily).
对于无法解决的问题，最好不要尝试（暂时）解决它们。
This doesn’t mean giving up entirely or not caring at all. It is similar to how humanity established a legal system in the pursuit of civilization, and continuously improved it for generations… However, eventually, the legal system also had its drawbacks and triggered a series of more difficult persistent problems. Therefore, a more accurate statement would be:
这并不意味着完全放弃或根本不在乎。这类似于人类在追求文明的过程中建立法律制度，并世世代代不断完善……然而，最终，法律制度也有其弊端，并引发了一系列更棘手的持续性问题。因此，更准确的陈述是：
When facing “persistent problems”, do your best.
当面对“持续性问题”时，尽力而为。

As some problems are persistent, they are hard to solve and can only be gradually improved, and this takes a very long time, often not achievable in just one generation… The vast majority of people can only contribute bit by bit – of course, this tiny contribution is indeed very valuable, so doing your best really is good enough.
由于有些问题持续存在，很难解决，只能逐步改进，这需要很长的时间，往往在一代人之间无法实现……绝大多数人只能一点一点地贡献——当然，这小小的贡献确实很有价值，所以尽力而为真的足够了。

(II) Some problems do not need to be solved
（二）有些问题不需要解决
Some problems may seem important, but are not actually as crucial (though not unimportant) – spending time trying to solve them is actually a waste and inefficient.
有些问题可能看起来很重要，但实际上并不那么重要（尽管并非不重要）——花时间试图解决它们实际上是一种浪费和低效。