There are no problems : we are just dealing with the problems created by our solutions for the non-existent problems!
- Madhukar Dama
- 3 hours ago
- 6 min read
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INTRODUCTION: A WORLD BUILT ON MIRAGES
There are no real problems anymore.
Only the long, loud echo of solutions applied to illusions.
Humanity didn’t descend into madness.
It engineered its madness — one brilliant solution at a time.
This article explores every major dimension of human existence — where man created false problems, solved them with fanfare, and now suffers the consequences of the fix.
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1. CHILDHOOD — SOLVING THE “UNDISCIPLINED CHILD”
The child was wild, curious, noisy, playful.
We saw that as disorder.
So we gave:
Rules
Timetables
Classrooms
Report cards
Time-outs
Behavior charts
Now the child is anxious, robotic, and numb — but obedient.
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2. EDUCATION — SOLVING THE “IGNORANT MIND”
Curiosity was enough.
But we feared the chaos of questions.
So we gave:
Syllabi
Exams
Degrees
Coaching
Rankings
Now people know everything — except how to live.
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3. PARENTING — SOLVING THE “IMPERFECT CHILD”
Children came with quirks.
Parents were told to optimize them.
So we gave:
Parenting apps
Performance metrics
Extracurricular overdose
Behavior modification techniques
Now childhood is a performance, not an experience.
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4. GENDER — SOLVING “DIFFERENCE” AS A PROBLEM
Masculine and feminine were never enemies.
But we turned difference into hierarchy.
Then tried to fix the hierarchy with sameness.
Now everyone’s confused, fighting labels, identity, and biology itself.
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5. LOVE — SOLVING THE “IRRATIONAL HEART”
Love was once a mystery. A surrender.
Then we tried to make it logical.
So came:
Dating apps
Relationship contracts
Compatibility metrics
Love languages
Couples therapy
Now love is just a checklist with terms & conditions.
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6. MARRIAGE — SOLVING “LONELINESS”
Loneliness was sacred once.
It led to art, reflection, poetry.
We solved it with forced companionship.
Then created alimony, family courts, therapy bills.
Now no one is alone — yet no one feels seen.
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7. WORK — SOLVING THE “IDLE MAN”
Rest was natural.
But we called it laziness.
So we gave:
Jobs
Promotions
KPIs
Productivity hacks
Passion traps
Now humans are always busy, rarely fulfilled.
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8. SUCCESS — SOLVING “FEELING ORDINARY”
Being ordinary was never the problem.
It was the norm.
But we made it shameful.
So we sold:
Motivational seminars
Billionaire worship
Hustle culture
"10x" books
Now burnout is celebrated, rest is guilt, and self-worth is a LinkedIn update.
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9. BODY — SOLVING THE “UGLY HUMAN”
The body changed. It aged. It sagged.
But we said it was flawed.
So we created:
Diet culture
Gym cults
Botox
Plastic surgery
Filters
Now no one looks like anyone anymore — even themselves.
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10. HEALTH — SOLVING THE “UNSTABLE IMMUNITY”
The body knew pain. It used it wisely.
We muted it.
We injected it.
We nuked it.
Now we have managed symptoms… and unmanaged lives.
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11. FOOD — SOLVING “MONOTONY”
Simple food kept us alive.
Then came boredom.
So we gave:
100 cuisines
2000 snacks
5000 preservatives
Calorie obsession
Processed everything
Now food is pleasure and poison, often in the same bite.
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12. CLOTHING — SOLVING “NAKEDNESS”
Clothes were meant to cover.
Then they became status.
Now they're:
Expression
Competition
Distraction
Debt
We wear 50 layers of identity and still feel exposed.
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13. RELIGION — SOLVING “SPIRITUAL DOUBT”
Spiritual seeking was personal.
We industrialized it:
Holy wars
Conversion quotas
Mega-temples
Paid blessings
Now the divine is a brand, and god is outsourced.
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14. SPIRITUALITY — SOLVING “EMPTINESS”
Instead of feeling emptiness,
We tried to fix it.
With:
Crystals
Chakras
Reiki
Astral travel
Insta gurus
Now even the soul has an algorithm.
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15. ENTERTAINMENT — SOLVING “BOREDOM”
Boredom once led to creativity.
Now it leads to scrolling.
Endless content.
Endless noise.
Endless escape.
But we still say, "There’s nothing to watch."
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16. TRAVEL — SOLVING “RESTLESSNESS”
Travel was a pilgrimage.
Now it’s a checklist.
Instagram location tags.
Exotic food for content.
We leave home to escape ourselves.
And return more lost.
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17. CITY LIFE — SOLVING “ISOLATION”
We built cities for community.
Now people live door-to-door for years and die unknown.
Apartments stack like graves.
Parties feel lonely.
The solution became the problem’s echo.
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18. TECHNOLOGY — SOLVING “SLOWNESS”
Patience was a virtue.
We killed it.
Now we tap, swipe, rage, scroll.
Our fingers are fast.
Our minds are fractured.
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19. SOCIAL MEDIA — SOLVING “INVISIBILITY”
You weren’t meant to be seen by 5000 people.
Now you're visible to all — and known by none.
We solved loneliness by broadcasting emptiness.
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20. POLITICS — SOLVING “DISORDER”
Tribes argued. Villages debated. That was natural.
We gave:
Parties
Elections
Ideologies
Puppets
Now every solution is a new polarization.
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21. ECONOMY — SOLVING “SCARCITY”
We feared not having enough.
So we printed more.
We sold more.
We wasted more.
Now we have abundance.
But still feel poor.
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22. ENVIRONMENT — SOLVING “SURVIVAL”
Nature provided.
We engineered.
Then we fixed the damage we caused
with carbon credits and guilt-driven greenwashing.
We solved the earth by severing from it.
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23. AGING — SOLVING “MORTALITY”
Aging was wisdom.
We called it decay.
Then sold youth in bottles, surgeries, and hormone pills.
Now we grow old pretending we never did.
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24. DEATH — SOLVING “THE FINALITY”
Death was once accepted.
Now we hide it behind ICU curtains.
We delay it at all costs.
We fear it because we never lived.
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FINAL SECTION: THE LAST SOLUTION
The biggest problem we invented?
Being human.
And we’re solving it —
Piece by piece, part by part, until there’s nothing human left.
The solution has become the plague.
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Solutions for Things That Never Hurt Us
they sold us
air in cans
water in bottles
light in bulbs
and sleep in pills.
but we were never sick.
we just forgot
how to rest.
they said
your armpits stink.
your skin is wrong.
your house smells too much like life.
your child is too wild.
your food is too plain.
your love is too slow.
your body is too honest.
so we
perfumed our pain,
lotioned our loneliness,
cooked lies in microwaves,
and locked instinct in lockers.
now we chase
“gut health” in supplements
that cost the whole month’s salary.
we buy “calm” on streaming apps
with eyes burning blue
in the middle of the night.
they whispered,
“natural is dirty,
old is shameful,
lazy is evil,
silence is suspicious.”
so we ran,
breathed plastic,
ate sugar labeled as “organic,”
paid money to sweat in air-conditioned gyms,
and booked jungle resorts
to sit on wooden chairs
built by the same men
whose forests we demolished.
we feared pain
so we invited numbness.
we feared failure
so we married meaninglessness.
a boy once scraped his knee,
they rushed with antiseptics.
a girl once cried alone,
they sent her to therapy
before she even knew
what grief meant.
a man wanted to rest,
they called him depressed.
a woman wanted to stay home,
they called her regressive.
we fix what isn’t broken
and break what keeps us human.
they told us,
“you must always be happy.”
so we lost sadness —
and with it,
we lost soul.
they said,
“you must always be young.”
so we feared the mirror
and worshipped surgery.
they said,
“you must always be more.”
so we forgot how to be.
we replaced mothers with machines.
fathers with finance.
elders with algorithms.
wisdom with Wi-Fi.
food with formulas.
touch with touchscreen.
and still
we’re tired.
and still
we’re hungry.
and still
we’re lonely.
and still
we ache.
not because something is wrong.
but because
we’ve been solving
problems
that never
existed.
a child climbs a tree —
we say, “be careful.”
he falls, he cries —
we say, “don’t cry.”
he asks questions —
we say, “don’t talk back.”
he draws too much —
we say, “focus on math.”
he eats with fingers —
we say, “use a fork.”
he sleeps when tired —
we say, “not nap time yet.”
and thus
we raise machines
not humans.
they gave us
emotional intelligence
because we lost emotional presence.
they gave us mindfulness
because we forgot how to be alive.
they gave us coaching
because no one listens anymore.
they gave us parenting books
because we forgot how to love.
they gave us eco-friendly diapers
because they took away cloth and time.
they gave us protein powders
because they killed the soil.
they gave us eye creams
because they fed us screens.
it’s not that the world is broken.
it’s not.
it’s that
we’re fixing what was never broken
with tools that always break.
and the worst thing?
we say, “I’m fine.”
we say, “it’s just life.”
we say, “everyone’s doing it.”
as if
truth was a trend.
as if
sanity needed consensus.
as if
we were born to comply.
but nature watches.
she waits.
she never invented a single solution
because she never invented a single problem.
the river flows
without therapy.
the seed grows
without motivation.
the child laughs
without curriculum.
the bird sings
without applause.
me?
I stopped fixing.
I stopped chasing.
I stopped downloading.
I stopped dressing for Instagram.
I eat when I’m hungry.
I cry when I’m tired.
I talk to trees.
I bathe in silence.
they call me a dropout.
they call me backward.
they call me strange.
but I
no longer deal
with the solutions
for problems
that never
hurt me.
– Bukowski’s ghost, barefoot in Bengaluru