All problems, from wars to software bugs, are caused by a combination of the following:
- lack of communication
- lack of courage
- lack of imagination
- lack of time.
It’s arguable that the first three are products of the last.
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Liz Keogh, lunivore 
Don’t you think that’s just a teeny-weeny bit simplistic?
Only superficially. Working out which of the four are the most immediate causes and which of the missing pieces can be remedied – that’s not simple.
Perhaps add to that the lack of humility? (Oh and argh! Another account just to post a comment…)
All problems, from wars to software bugs??? I can name many wars that were caused by none of the above. How about only making comments about what you know or else doing your research in the future.
Greed or the desire for power?
Why are they greedy? Why do they desire power?
I don’t know – but I don’t imagine it’s a lack of courage, imagination, communication or time. In fact I think some people who’r after power have far too much imagination and courage for their own good!
To the contrary, I can easily see someone lusting after power due to a lack of imagination and/or courage.
Um, anonymous comments are enabled on my blog.
True, but it still loses info about who posted it and where they’re from.
Heh. Thank you for being someone who cares about that. I get a lot of anonymous comments (I suppose I invite them) from people who are quite happy to criticise without any kind of discussion, and don’t want to post their own views.
It’s good to read other people’s stuff too. Hope the latest post I’ve written helps with the humility thing; sorry about that. I’m currently working on a post about why TWers come across as arrogant, when really, we don’t have huge great egos that need boosting, and we’re all in search of a better way than our own.
Should be interesting…
Please, name a couple. I love to be proved wrong, and a little research will always help my authorial aspirations.
Power-lust covered in latest blog. It’s a control thing, which at the end of the day is all about lack of courage and imagination – being afraid of uncertainty in the future.
Poor little megalomaniacs… gotta feel sorry for them.
I think you’re MASSIVELY oversimplifying things. Do you really think that Stalin would not have taken over the USSR and gone on to murder over 20 million people (not counting the soldiers killed in WWII) if he had been given some counselling about his uncertain future?
I’ve listed problems, not solutions. There are usually a number of causes for any war, but those causes can be reduced in turn. Lack of imagination stops people from putting themselves in the shoes of other cultures. Lack of communication keeps people biased or bigoted. Lack of courage makes people worry about their future; and because they know that everyone else is worrying about their future too, there’s a continual battle to be the one who’s going to control it.
I know both and very well and made some assumptions about the kind of power-lust they meant, based on the books and comics which I know we all read. World problems are based on more than mere power-lust (but I still maintain that the multiple causes can also be reduced).
All I’ve done is found one way of reducing a problem; I’ve listed why I’ve done it that way in the latest blog post. I’m sure there are other ways. This is the one that helps me focus best. I don’t stand much chance of effecting world peace with it, but I might be able to inspire some people to write good stories and software, which just about covers the scope of my ambitions.
The most important cause: lack of resources.
Your list is a typical one for someone who makes a good salary and lives in a western culture. If you were a peasant in a village in the middle of no where in a third world culture, you wouldn’t say that your problems were caused by lack of communication, courage, imagination, or time. Most of your problems would be caused by lack of resources.
If someone locks you in your basement, or locks you in jail, all your communication and courage and imagination and time will mean nothing.
If you read history you’ll find that most wars have actually been fought over resources.
If humans evolved on a planet that was metal poor we’d be living in the stone age permanently (unless aliens came to save us!). All the imagination communication courage and time wouldn’t change the fact that we lacked materials to better ourselves.
Your list is, however, very useful if you prefix it with “Assuming you’re reasonably affluent in a stable society, then…”.