Summary

Most people used established methods in their problem-solving. There are different views about how and why this came about. The cavemen had to rely on learned knowledge which told them which berries were poison and which were not. Another view is that the urgency of a matter causes focus on a narrow aspect of the problem. Some huge societal problems like drugs and crime are addressed by treating the symptoms rather than trying to find root causes. But it’s not an easy proposition. When people are starving the tendency is to send food not to delve into the why the people are starving. Fixing poverty is more difficult than airlifting food.

Crime in the U.S. peaked in the 1980s. By the 1990s, there was a noticeable decline. Research shows that tighter...