A Wicked Problem

You probably don't hear much about climate change as a wicked problem, because that has all sorts of implications for what it would take to successfully tackle solve climate change. But climate change has been referred to as "the ultimate wicked problem," and we should pay attention to the implications.

What Albert Einstein is saying in this quote is that understanding the problem is key to actually coming up with solutions that might work. We don't tend to listen to that advice when it comes to climate change.

A key question when it comes to climate change is the size of the necessary solution. Are we talking about renewable energy promotion or changing everything about how society works. Naomi Klein's quote suggests the latter.

Climate change is widely characterized as a "wicked problem." And as John Brockman notes, solving wicked problems calls for a different tool set.