The little prince never let go of a question once he had asked it.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Most people love to solve mysteries. Take the jigsaw puzzle, for example. You already know there's a solution. It has been solved by the guy that made it. But yet, you plunge in and solve it for yourself to prove you, too, can do it. Most puzzles have a picture on the front of the box to give some idea of the solution. If you're hardcore, you hide the box to dive into known – unknown waters. How would it make you feel if out of nowhere comes a Sheldon and he says, "You know that problem has already been solved, right?" "Then why are you wasting your time?" In the case of Seldon, he's not saying this out of meanness; he means it. "The problem was solved; you should find a better use of your time."
As a hobby, I do Family Genealogy. It's about solving problems that already have a solution, just not always known. However, unlike the jigsaw puzzle, you don't have all the pieces in one box, or ever, and you don't have a picture on the box to follow. There are known conventions, tools, and books filled with ways to solve these lost family mysteries. I recently solved a family secret. It took long hours, many weekends, and lots of computer time. I was able to confirm that my theory was correct. How did I do this? I had to call a person I never met and tell him he had a sister he never met. Yep, all the implications are there. The only possibility was that Dad had a girlfriend before his Mom, and they had a baby girl together. I had to become the Sheldon and get to the point. The puzzle is solved, right?
I look at the current state of America in total amazement. What would Sheldon say? You see, that's the point, I don't know. I don't mean the actor played by Sheldon, but Sheldon himself. He's not left, right, or even center; he is just honest. Can anyone be sincere without offending someone today? This puzzle can be solved; however, no one wants to solve it. It is far better to call names and point fingers than to say, "What will it take to come together?" We could start the process if we stopped and collected all the pieces and put them in one box. Most people are more interested in protecting their political views than in healing America. We have all the known conventions, tools, and books filled with ways to solve these Wicked Problems. We don't want to. However, both sides are putting up their puzzle picture with multiple pieces missing to support their version of the picture.
We love to solve mysteries, so why can't we stop and solve this one? The only logical answer is, "Maybe we don't want to." As for me, I think I’ll reread The Little Prince.
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