I want problems, not solutions!

This post is published externally at https://medium.com/@MrJamesFisher/i-want-problems-not-solutions-284b8d5b651 .

We live in a world obsessed with solutions. Every article or paper claims to be a solution to something. We award merit to an idea to the extent that it solves a problem. Sometimes we even call something a ‘solution’ without ever stating what the problem is that it is a solution to. Even in an intensely entrepreneurial space like Hacker News, where the phrase ‘pain point’ is common, almost every post is a proposed solution. We tell people they are creating ‘solutions in search of problems,’ but how are they to know what the problems are? Where are they listed?

What can computers do? What are the limits of mathematics? And just how busy can a busy beaver be? This year, I’m writing Busy Beavers, a unique interactive book on computability theory. You and I will take a practical and modern approach to answering these questions — or at least learning why some questions are unanswerable!

It’s only $19, and you can get 50% off if you find the discount code ... Not quite. Hackers use the console!

After months of secret toil, I and Andrew Carr released Everyday Data Science, a unique interactive online course! You’ll make the perfect glass of lemonade using Thompson sampling. You’ll lose weight with differential equations. And you might just qualify for the Olympics with a bit of statistics!

It’s $29, but you can get 50% off if you find the discount code ... Not quite. Hackers use the console!

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