The Silver Bullet Society

We are residents in a silver bullet society.  We believe just about any problem has a simple pinpointed, highly targeted, definitely focused solution.   The problem complexity is irrelevant.  The overarching simplicity of the solution neutralizes complexity, creating a silver bullet solutions environment. 

This is not to say the proposed solution is cheap or even simple, but it is single-minded and simple to comprehend.  It is easy to sell.  It is believable to the uninitiated, to the gullible, to the willing expert, and to the inexperienced.  It is simplistic and makes promises of a total resolution of the problem.   It comes to, “To solve problem X, just do Y.”

The silver bullet paradigm compels believers to accept simplistic, often expensive, solutions.  It resolves problems, not by study and consensus, but rather by fiat, by denying alternatives, by denying study, and by rejecting alternative views.   Such solutions often address a symptom of the problem, and this in turn sustains the real problem to persist all too often creating a set of new problems.

The silver bullet solution is most often a one-size-fits-all resolution to the problem.   Remembering the simplicity rule, its tenets are contained in less than one page of talking points. Even the so-called experts or proponents cling to this page, often understanding at the depth of the single page.  

Examples.  This is a short list, mostly topics in today’s news.

Health Care- the ACA.  It was proposed as one stop health care system for all.  Nice idea.  However, the implementation was so flawed that a myriad of problems have resulted.   Knowing possible serious issues, the program designers had a single strategy:  Get the public hooked on the benefits.  This will sustain the effort. 

Education.  Education is rife with silver bullets.  We see  the CCC, Common Core Curriculum, as an attempt to address the shortfalls of American public education reduced to a simple solution:  Change the curriculum, and the USA will again be competitive internationally.   In other programs, the call is to reduce the class size.  This will change education, improving it beyond measure.  Finally, we see the attack on high stakes testing, as if simply eliminating or altering it to allow a multi-tiered student evaluation.   We would be remiss not to mention the "flipped classroom? wherein students view videos before the class so the teacher can use class time more productively.  (Hot in 2013-14.  Predict.  Fading out before 2016.)  The wonder is that if any of these could resolve the problems of public education, they would be well understood long before now.

Climate change.  I realize this is an emotional topic.  What concerns me is that political types have taken ownership of this problem, promoting complex climate change models they do not understand.  Such models are validated by predicting the past and then extrapolating to the future.  All too many reject the objections of serious scientists simply asking for further study, and reject opening the analysis to the general scientific community.   It is a fact, they claim, and by merely reducing carbon emissions, we can solve the problem. 

ADHD- Attention Deficit and Hyper activity Disorder.  Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a problem of not being able to focus, being overactive, not being able control behavior, or a combination of these.  This condition has been diagnosed for up to 1/6 of all children, mostly boys.  The solution is a regimen of drugs, most prominently Ritalin.  It doesn’t cure anything, only managing the symptom.  But that is the desired goal – to do something simple.

The Free market.  The economic problems of ours and many countries are in evidence.  Some promote, “Let the free market system work its way, and the problems of economic prosperity will be solved.”  Simple this sounds, but is it correct?