Cure is (Sometimes) Better than Prevention
"Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution." - Clay Shirky That sounds cynical. It also sounds true. But ever wondered why things are that way? It’s not only because of the preserve-the-problem-and-keep-making-money mindset at work. Things are a lot more complicated than that. Take the example where a company can eliminate the problem instead of just fixing things when they go wrong. If each and every company goes with this approach (eradicate the problem) then, it will make money only until the problem is eradicated. But what does the company do after the problem is eradicated? They’ll have to find another problem to solve. Will they succeed at finding that next solution? Not necessarily. If they don’t, the company would close down (remember, the older problem they fixed is now eradicated). And then their employees will be without jobs. Which do you prefer? Problem eliminated, but unemployment added? Or jobs retained and cure available, but...