7th meeting: Working towards a statement

Till now, our meetings consisted mostly out of mapping all the different aspects that were related to the concepts of Solution, as well as the main theme surrounding the semester assignment: the concept of 'Key'. This first stage has proved quite fruitful as we have several fields which were quite related, and interested us as well. Furthermore, the first stage of our research resulted in two most interesting field trips to research some of the aspects of the concepts.

As the middle of november draws near, we are more and more working towards a statement. a statement which will be the main 'message' that we will have to translate in our final project.  Where the first stage of our project revolved mostly around 'broadening our horizon' we are now expected to take one field which we deem to be an interested field for a statement. Furthermore,  this field should prove to be useful for making a 'compelling' statement. A statement which will engage our future public and challenges them to think about the matter. This transition defines the first change in the way we will have to work. For us this was begging the question: "How do you make a statement which is compelling, interesting and clear at the same time? Should the statement be true? Or should it be creative or new?

Luckily, some of our questions were answered by attending the first 'semester project meeting'. In this meeting all the groups were invited to present their findings till now. Furthermore, it was meant as a collaborative effort were the presenters could use the opportunity to ask the other groups for suggestions or remarks. Also, with most of the coaches present, most of the unclearity surrounding the project vanished.

So what did we learn from the meeting? Maarten remarked one of the most important pitfalls. This pitfall is that most groups tend to go very broad and define a statement based on all the interesting fields or topics that they had found. Second, a statement doesn't need to be true. Even more, the group does not have to support the statement even. What is important is that the statement should stir something. After the meeting we had our second meeting with our coach. This meeting proved to be even more enlightening as Peter provides us with some guidelines for coming up with a statement.

The most important guideline: "Do some small observations for each of the fields you found, and try to relate this observation to the other fields"

At our 7th meeting we tried this method for some of the fields we had found and came up with some first observations. Some of the most interesting observations for now were:

• As the environment plays a huge role on our thought processes, coming up with a solution is sometimes not even in our hands. Our visit of the LEF future century was the main inspiration for this observation. As the facilitators at the LEF future center were the one guiding the participants towards a solution, the solution was actually because of the facilitators and not of the participants.
• A solution lies somewhere between  'lack of control' and 'having control'. Problem solving can be seen as taking control of a situation. However, we are mostly guided by our intuitions and biases. Almost always,  a proper solution is between taking certain methods to try to control a problem and base your solution on intuition or previous experiences.
• This next observation is related to the previous one: Sometimes the less you know, the better. Research has found that experts are better of having less information or data than a lot, since in these cases intuition provides a higher chance of making an accurate decision.
• Solutions of the past are somethings actually what causes problems in the now. So are solutions we provide now for the better in the long term? For example, in the past the decision for the combustion engine, was a proper solution for a problem. It allowed people to cross distance in a cheap and efficiënt matter. Since we now are challenged by climate change, the combustion engine has become a problem in itself.
• What makes a chemical solution a solution, is that the two substances are there in a certain amount which causes them to 'balance out' so to speak. So can we understand a solution as stability?
• Inpsired by the evolution theory, you could understand a solution not as something fitting or perfect but as something optimal. In evolution the state of things are an optimal state of being, not necessarily the ideal or perfect state.  

The next step will be to take one of the observation and devise a statement out of it.