The term wicked problems was coined by Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber, two scientists who worked at the University of California in 1973.
A wicked problem has 5 properties:
- There is a lot of disagreement about (solutions, approach, actions)
- There are many interrelationships
- There are many political and economic restrictions
- Is unique
- Cannot be solved by trail and error, a good solution must be found in one go because of impact
Wicked problems are social problems and cannot be solved by scientists because of the specific properties.
The opposite of a wicked problem is an Easy problem.
Easy problems are scientific problems. Take, for example, solving a math problem, or a physicist or biologist analyzing the structure of an unknown composition, or take a chess player who wants to checkmate someone in 5 chess.
The problem is definable, separable, structured and problems can be found, the mission is clear.
I was not aware of this when I wrote my book on the cause of degenerative diseases, and I can now substantiate why scientists will never find the solution for Alzheimers, ALS, etc.
It is a WICKED problem (my strength is in my intellectual ability and making connections) and not an EASY problem. Or as I thought of it myself: It is a circular problem and not a linear problem and therefore cannot be solved by linear thinking people.
Want to know more about wicked problems? Search and you will find.
P.S.
A.I. is an easy solution, Quantum is wicked!