Gordian Knot

[Thanatos]

How do you approach incredibly daunting tasks and ideas? Are you prone to cutting through the rope and getting to the answer? Or would you rather ponder the endless ways that you could possibly solve the riddle?
Would you rather conquer the problem with your sword and might, or meditate on it until you wither next to the yolks knot?

I've been thinking about Alexander's conquest of Asia(minor) recently and would like to know your thoughts?

EDIT: Here is the story of the Gordian Knot for those not familiar.

 

[MyDoorsAreOpen]

Great thread, Thanatos. I've meditated on the story of the Gordian Knot a number of times, and am glad to see I'm not the only one.

I find something incredibly refreshing about going into a situation where disputants are endlessly locking horns as they sweat small details, and just disrespecting all the subtle layers of complexity by cutting through with a simple and inelegant solution. Unfortunately, opportunities for being a real-life Leroy Jenkins are few and far between, but they bring home an important point: just because an issue in our world is relevant and divisive, doesn't mean a detailed analysis or a complicated way of modeling it are helpful for solving it. In other words, if your goal in thinking about a problem is to find a practical solution, beware overthinking it, because you may miss the simple and obvious solution right in front of you. As anyone in either IT or medicine (among other fields) knows, when someone presents a problem to you, rule out the simple problems with simple fixes first, if you want to use your resources efficiently. There's no point taking off the case to a computer tower if the reason it won't turn on is that it isn't plugged in. There's no point performing CPR on a comatose ER patient, if a drop of blood from his finger indicates that an ampule of dextrose would perk him right up.

Problems that are thought or talked about simply as thought experiments, for the purpose of imparting to the thinkers / debaters a realization about the human condition, are another story. This is typical of all the "hard questions" of philosophy -- it would appear that a lot of these issues never get settled once and for all, no matter how fine-toothed a comb is used to go over them, or how long they're debated, with each side becoming ever more nuanced and voluminous in their case for why their viewpoint might very well be right. Eventually you have to just stop and take a stand, and then get back to more practical and mundane matters. And this is the lesson imparted, I feel, by debating the hard philosophical questions: in the end, it's entirely up to you to decide what answers to life you find convincing, and no one can do that for you. And in some cases, when approaching some tough questions about life, you just might find a quick and dirty tentative solution (and subsequently leaving the debate alone, or "cutting" out of it, if you will ) serves you just fine.

 

[Foreigner]

Most of the complex ideas that people tend to discuss seem to come from "why" which really has no concrete answer, other than to bemuse us for a while with some mental masturbation. Most of the time I am content with the how, and in the absence of how, I don't think about it all that much. If the problem is mundane and part of daily life, I look for the most practical and expedient solution.

I approach problems with the smallest amount of energy possible. First I assess if the problem is even real or just in my head. If I can adapt to the problem or flow into its nature, I prefer to do that than tackle it head on. If it's a daunting material problem, then I look for support because distributing energy is better than taking it all on. If it involves direct confrontation then I do it tactfully because aggression is stressful and is the highest waste of energy.

The only reason why anyone cared about the Gordian Knot in the story was because of all the superstition and power affiliations related it. Not to mention ego games. The practical reality is that it was just an ox cart tied to a pole, not harming anyone. In other words, who cares? A problem is only a problem when you label it as such. Perspective is everything. Sometimes if I'm really worried about something that I think is a problem, I can meditate and still the mind, only to later realize that nothing is wrong.

Not that I'm such a "together" person all the time. Sometimes problems come that I just can't deal with and cause meltdowns. But c'est la vie. Many of life's problems require creative, out-of-the-box thinking and you can't just cut through them and say tada.

 

[Thanatos]

Well not much has come I this thread do I'm going to go ahead and give it a bump, and rephrase the initial question to be a little more open ended.

How do you attack life and all it's challenges? Do you follow a path of fierce determination, regardless of what negative or unknown consequences may be in store for you? Or will you simply muse on lifes trials-regardless of their significance?

This is, in my opinion, one of the most fundamental ways to explore our self-philosophies and innate nature. So where do YOU fall on the spectrum?

 

[herbavore]

I think what is interesting to me in this question is that I have two very distinct views of my approach to life's challenges--one view is constructed in the eternal present as I am living it, where my perception of myself is as an observer and a person that is somewhat passive, taking the paths of least resistance and one who rarely forms an opinion in black and what but sees everything in infinite shades of gray. But with the retrospection of age, looking back over the biggest challenges of my life I can see that I was often quite determined to get to work, to buckle down and create change when it was needed. Bringing these two lenses into focus together it feels very much like how I create art--lots of spacing out and daydreaming, a total lack of attachment--almost a floating state--and then the moment that suddenly presents itself as a place to begin and the diligence and focus that then follows.

 

[Shrooms00087]

Look for ways to endlessly solve the riddle. Which I feel this is cheating because it would include all those answers.