I do mean random. The only way I’ve come up with that reliably can identify a problem would be to pick a random household item, then think of what problem it is supposed to solve therefore identifying a problem, but that doesn’t work for unsolved problems....
I think you have to start by imaging better possible states of the world, and then see if anyone has thought of a practical way to get from the current state to the better possible state; if not it’s an unsolved problem.
In household terms, start by imagining the household in a “random” better state (cleaner, more efficient, more interesting, more comfortable, etc.) and once you have a clear idea of something better, search for ways to achieve the better state. In concrete terms, always having clean dishes and delicious prepared food would be much better than dirty dishes and no food. Dishwashers help with the former, but are manual and annoying. Microwaves and frozen food help with the latter, but I like fresh food. Paying a cook is expensive. Learning to cook and then cooking costs time. What is cheap, practical, and yields good results? Unsolved problem, unless you want to eat Soylent.
You could pick words from the dictionary at random until they either describe a problem or are nonsensical—if nonsense, try again. Warning: may take a few million tries to work.
Arbitrary, as in ones you pick yourself? Well, pick a problem, then Google it.
Do you mean random?
I do mean random. The only way I’ve come up with that reliably can identify a problem would be to pick a random household item, then think of what problem it is supposed to solve therefore identifying a problem, but that doesn’t work for unsolved problems....
I think you have to start by imaging better possible states of the world, and then see if anyone has thought of a practical way to get from the current state to the better possible state; if not it’s an unsolved problem.
In household terms, start by imagining the household in a “random” better state (cleaner, more efficient, more interesting, more comfortable, etc.) and once you have a clear idea of something better, search for ways to achieve the better state. In concrete terms, always having clean dishes and delicious prepared food would be much better than dirty dishes and no food. Dishwashers help with the former, but are manual and annoying. Microwaves and frozen food help with the latter, but I like fresh food. Paying a cook is expensive. Learning to cook and then cooking costs time. What is cheap, practical, and yields good results? Unsolved problem, unless you want to eat Soylent.
Skilled slaves? Perhaps ‘ethical’ should be added to your list of constraints. :)
(cheap, practical, and yields good results) = (skilled slaves) ??
We must live in radically different environments X-D
You could pick words from the dictionary at random until they either describe a problem or are nonsensical—if nonsense, try again. Warning: may take a few million tries to work.