“No one thing is the cause.” Tolstoy, War and Peace
We live in a tumultuous world. Inflation is out of control, the war in Ukraine, worldwide political unrest, severe famine, extreme climate, and Kroger’s is out of my favorite sausage. Serious, complicated problems. And each problem affects the others.
There are no simple answers to these complicated problems because they are multifactorial. When seeking solutions, our tendency is to take a mental shortcut and look for one cause. But there is no single cause.
We have the same tendency when analyzing successes. It’s convenient and seemingly efficient to identify one reason why the United States is a strong country, or why Djokovic won the 2022 Wimbledon tennis tournament, but there are multiple reasons for these successes. There is no single cause.
Resist the temptation to over simplify. Take the time to identify the multiple factors something has happened.
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- Approach everything in life as multifactorial; everything is complicated and interconnected.
- Most issues are progressing; factors are constantly changing.
- Don’t be too confident or smug about your conclusions. At best you’re probably not seeing the entire story; at worst, you’re wrong.
- Don’t discount other people’s thoughts and explanations. They too, have trouble seeing all the pieces, but they may see a piece that you don’t.
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Life is complicated; if we want to see it clearly, we need to embrace its complexity.
Travel with Friends Information Meeting on Zoom
Join me for a Zoom meeting on Thursday, March 19 from 7:00-8:00pm to visit about the upcoming TWF trip to Iberia in August. If you want to join this Zoom meeting, email me at djmcminn@msn.com and I’ll send you a link. You can download Zoom for free. You can also participate via a conference call using your mobile phone.
We’ll discuss the itinerary, accommodations, and ports of call. The Q&A will answer all your questions.
Click below for a brochure about the trip.
Iberian-Peninsula-2026-Final Brochure
If you have any questions, email me at djmcminn@msn.com or call me at 214.783.4414
Good thought provoking article Don. Unfortunately, there are those who want to find the source of all our problems and that is when extreme political parties arise. In the UK, immigration is often cited as the cause of all our ills.
However, our National Health Service would be on its knees without overseas medical staff and our care homes would be desperately understaffed.
Sadly, the days of the principled politician seem to have passed away. Most will hang on to power by their fingertips. I suspect that a lack of belief that we will all have to give account for our actions to God, one day, might also be at the heart of the problem.
Thanks, Angela, for sharing your thoughts. They are always insightful. I, too, have lost confidence in politicians. It seems they are all self-serving and will vacillate in their convictions to garner votes. Thanks for reading my posts. Don
Like always—insights to problems — always many different pieces to a puzzle. That thought about another’s person’s perspective of seeing a piece of a puzzle or problem, they can see it, but we don’t! Just like scripture – someone can see a different meaning perhaps as they’ve been down a similar road one has this “hill” to climb.
Thanks Don!
Thank you, Gail, for adding to the conversation. Take care, Don.