Examine the existing product or process your solution is designed to replace, or study another proposed solution competitive with yours.

C H A P T E R

Refine Your Solution to the Problem

This chapter takes a closer look at the application of critical thinking

to solving problems. (Issues are treated in Chapter 12.) In this chapter

you will learn how to work out the details of your solution, how to

find imperfections and complications, and how to improve the solu-

tion so that it can withstand other people’s criticism.

How might the human voice be carried over distances beyond the normalrange of hearing? That was the problem facing Alexander Graham Bell. The solution, as we all know, was the telephone. But how did Bell actually invent it? Most of us probably have the vague notion that once he got his creative idea, he merely retired to his workshop, built a model of the machine, sold it, and became rich and famous. In fact, it wasn’t that simple. Although Bell was an expert in sound, he knew virtually nothing about electricity. Before he was able to make his idea a reality, he had to learn all about electricity and then put his knowledge to work and solve the technical problems.

The refinement of solutions to problems does not always demand learning an entirely new field, but it is seldom the easy matter many people assume. As Eliot Hutchinson explains:

There is nothing trifling, incidental or dilettantish about this business of [refining solutions]. It is work, days and nights of it, months and years of it, the perspiration that is nine-tenths genius. And it tires, discour- ages, exhausts . . . . The history both of art and of science is largely the history of man’s personal endurance, his acceptance of labor as the price of success. To be sure, some men dash off a brilliant piece of work, spread themselves for a time. But 90 percent of reputable authors, no matter how sure their technique, and well-nigh all reputable scientists

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revamp their work until what was given in insight is so overlaid with sec- ondary material that it is hardly to be recognized. Elaboration is for the mature only; it is for the rigorous, the exacting, the profound.1

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THREE STEPS IN REFINING Because refinement can spell the difference between success and failure, you should approach it very seriously. Yet there is no reason to be frightened by the task. It usually requires no special gift or talent. Rather, it is achievable by anyone who is willing to work hard and patiently. Three steps are involved: working out the details of the solution, finding imperfections and complications, and making improvements.

Step 1: Working Out the Details The first step means determining exactly how your solution will be applied. It’s easy to overlook this step or to ignore its significance. After all, most of the things we use every day and take for granted—the concepts, the processes and systems, the products and services—appear to us in refined form. We seldom have occasion even to imagine how they appeared in rough form or to appreciate the difficult challenges their refinement posed for their creators.

Consider the ballpoint pen. It was first conceived of in the United States in 1888 by John Loud. He even obtained a patent for his idea of using a rotating ball to deliver the ink to the paper. Yet he never was able to refine the pen enough to make it write cleanly. In 1919, Laszlo Biro of Hungary reinvented this pen, but he was unable to complete his design and market his idea until 1943—and even then the ink came out in splotches. Finally, Franz Seech of Austria worked out the basic difficulties in 1949 (the key to his pen’s performance was fast-drying ink) and marketed his pen successfully. Thus, 61 years elapsed from conception to refinement.2

When William Addis, a prisoner in a British jail, got the idea for the first toothbrush in 1870, he faced a number of challenges to his ingenuity. (In case you didn’t know, before 1870 people cleaned their teeth by rubbing them with a rag.) What would be the right size for the invention? What shape would be best? What should it be made of? What kind of bristles would work best? How should they be held together? What could be used to contain the bristles? Addis saved a bone from his supper; bored tiny holes in it; obtained some bristles from his prison guard; cut, tied, and glued them together; and inserted them into the bone. When he was released from prison, he marketed his invention and became a business success.3

The refinement of the typewriter posed even greater challenges. How to place the keys, how to arrange the keyboard, how to make the keys strike, how to hold the paper, how to make the carriage move so that the keys wouldn’t strike the same place over and over, how to move from line to line without turning the

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carriage by hand, how to ink the keys—these were just some of the details that had to be worked out. In light of such numerous and complex problems, it is per- haps not surprising that before Christopher Sholes and Samuel Soulé completed their first working model in 1867, 51 other inventors had tried and failed.4

We could cite many other examples of the refinement difficulties facing the originators of most new ideas. The point is that even the most creative idea does not become useful until the details of its application are worked out. The following approach will help you work out the details of your solutions more effectively:

If your solution involves doing something (as, for example, in a new process), answer these questions.

• How exactly is it to be done, step-by-step? • By whom is it to be done? • When is it to be done? (According to what timetable?) • Where is it to be done? • Who will finance it? • What tools or materials, if any, are to be used? • From what source will they be obtained? • How and by whom will they be transported? • Where will they be stored? • What special conditions, if any, will be required for the solution to be

carried out?

If your solution involves making something (as in a new product), answer these questions.

• How will it work? Explain thoroughly. • What will it look like? Be specific as to size, shape, color, texture, and any

other relevant descriptive details. • What material will it be made of? • What will the product cost to make? • Who will pay for it? • How exactly will it be used? • Who will use it? When? Where? • How will it be packaged? • How will it be delivered? • How will it be stored?

Step 2: Finding Imperfections and Complications After you have worked out the details of your solution, your next step is to exam- ine those details for imperfections. Remember that despite the normal tendency to regard your solution as perfect and to view this step as unnecessary, it is almost certain that your solution, like any other, contains at least minor flaws. Remember, too, that your success in persuading others of your solution’s value will depend in no small part on your willingness to improve your idea in any way you can.

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Until you are experienced in examining solutions critically, the biggest diffi- culty you are likely to encounter is knowing what kinds of imperfections and complications to look for and how to go about looking for them. The following four approaches will prove helpful both in overcoming that initial difficulty and in ensuring that your analysis will be comprehensive.

1. Check for common kinds of imperfections. The following areas are the ones in which imperfections most commonly occur. (Not every one, of course, will apply to every type of solution.) Although the list is not exhaustive, and therefore you should not limit yourself to it, it is an excellent starting point for examining most solutions.

• Clarity: Is the solution difficult to understand? • Safety: Does the solution create any danger for those who use it or those

for whom it is used? • Convenience: Is the solution awkward to use or implement? • Efficiency: Does using the solution involve significant delays? • Economy: Is the solution too costly to build or implement? • Simplicity: Is the solution unnecessarily complex in design or format? • Comfort: Is the solution uncomfortable to use? • Durability: Is the solution likely to break or malfunction? • Beauty: Will most people find the solution ugly or unappealing? • Compatibility: Does the solution clash with any other product or process

it should harmonize with?

2. Compare the solution with competing ones. Examine the existing product or process your solution is designed to replace, or study another proposed solution competitive with yours. Determine how the existing product, process, or competing solution is superior to yours. (Although your solution should be superior in most major respects, it may be inferior in one or two minor respects. Any such area should be considered an imperfection.)

3. Consider what changes your solution will cause. Ask yourself what will occur if your solution is implemented. Don’t overlook even minor changes. Decide which of them, if any, will cause complications.

4. Consider the effects your solution will have on people. Look among the physical, moral, emotional, intellectual, and financial areas of life to see how any would be affected. Be sure to consider even the remote effects that might occur on any person or group. Most of the changes you list will undoubtedly be beneficial. But those that are in any way undesirable will often signal imperfections or complications in your solution.

Step 3: Making Improvements The third and final step in refining your solution is to make improvements that will eliminate imperfections. Here, classified according to the types of solutions

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they are usually associated with, are the kinds of improvements you will find applicable in most situations.

For a new or revised concept:

• Change the terminology—make it simpler, easier to remember, more eye- catching.

• Change the way it is explained—use different illustrations, analogies, and so on.

• Change the application—use it in other situations or in different ways.

For a new or revised process, system, or service:

• Change the way it is done, the step-by-step approach. • Change who does it. • Change the place where it is done. • Change the tools or materials used. • Change the source from which the tools or materials are obtained. • Change the place the tools or materials will be stored. • Change the conditions required.

For a new or modified product:

• Change its size, shape, color, texture, and so on. • Change its composition (the material it is made of). • Change the way it is used. • Change who will use it or when or where it will be used. • Change the way it is packaged or delivered. • Change the way it is stored.

Whenever you address an imperfection and are trying to think of ways to improve your solution, be sure to consider using the approaches for producing ideas explained in Chapter 9. Specifically, you should consider forcing uncom- mon responses, using free association and analogy, looking for unusual combina- tions, and visualizing the possibilities. Each imperfection and complication is, after all, a miniproblem in itself and will therefore respond to the creative process much as the larger problem did.

Most important, be sure not to settle for the first improvement that occurs to you. Instead, extend your effort to produce ideas, and withhold judgment of any one idea until you have produced a generous number of possibilities.

Occasionally, you will encounter an imperfection that requires you to return to the second stage of the creative process and investigate the matter more deeply—much as Alexander Graham Bell did when he took time out to master the principles of electricity. In extreme cases, you may even find that your solution is too badly flawed to be workable. At such times, you will feel as if all your efforts were wasted. But they will not really have been wasted. To find out what does not work is an important step toward determining what does.

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TWO SAMPLE PROBLEMS The First Problem Now let’s apply this approach to some cases and note how it works. The first case concerns Rocco, the manager of the movie theater. His problem was dis- cussed in Application 7.4: “In recent years, a number of competitors have cut into his business, and cable television and video rental stores have reduced the number of moviegoers still further. Rocco desperately needs to get more people to patronize his theater, particularly since he has begun to hear the owners talk of closing it and dismissing him if box office receipts don’t improve.”

Let’s say that after considering several expressions of this problem, you decide that the best is “how to attract moviegoers away from other theaters to Rocco’s, and how to attract people who ordinarily don’t go to movie theaters.” Let’s say, further, that after investigating the problem and producing a number of possible solutions, you decide that three ideas, in combination, are the best solu- tion: to present interesting displays, to provide live entertainment, and to offer discounts to groups. Here is how you would refine this solution. (Only a few ideas are provided for each point. You would, of course, consider many more in your analysis.)

Step 1: Working Out the Details To present interesting displays:

• What displays? Arts and crafts, for example. • Which artists and craftspeople? There would be no restrictions. • How would Rocco find people to display their work? He could check with

area arts-and-crafts councils. • Where would the displays be set up? In the lobby. • What supplies would be needed and how would they be provided?

Tables, chairs, and display shelves. Each displayer would provide his or her own.

To provide entertainment:

• What entertainment? Amateur or professional musicians, performing individually or in small groups.

• How would Rocco find them? He could advertise on posters in the lobby or check with area high school music teachers or the local musicians’ union.

• How would he pay them? He could let them pass the hat for donations from theater patrons or let them put up a sign listing their phone number, so they could get jobs by word of mouth among theater patrons.

To offer discounts to groups:

• Which groups? Senior citizens’ organizations, employees of particular busi- nesses in the area, members of a union (any union).

• How would he let people know of this discount? He could highlight the fact in his usual newspaper advertisements.

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Steps 2 and 3: Finding and Overcoming Imperfections and Complications To present interesting displays in the lobby:

• Complication: Such displays might block the flow of traffic in and out of the theater and thus create problems of inconvenience and possibly violate the safety code.

• Improvement: Limit the number of displays, and put them in an out-of-the- way corner. Change them each week.

To provide entertainment:

• Complication: The musicians’ union might object to members working for no pay.

• Improvement: Limit the entertainment to young amateurs (high school stu- dents, for example).

• Complication: Amateurs might not want to hire out for other jobs, so advertising their skills might not be an incentive.

• Improvement: Pay them in free admissions, one week free for every night of playing.

To offer discounts to groups:

• Imperfection: Senior citizens might not want to attend at night because they fear street crime.

• Improvement: Offer them discounts for matinees.

The Second Problem We first encountered the second problem in Application 9.6. It was phrased this way: “Going to the hospital for the first time can be a frightening experience, particularly for small children. Think of as many ways as you can to make the children’s ward of a hospital a nonthreatening, cheery place.”

Let’s say your best solution to this problem was a combination of these ideas: to have the hospital staff dress in colorful outfits, to have children’s music play- ing, and to decorate the lounge appealingly. Here is how you would refine this solution. (As in the previous case, only a few ideas are provided for each point. You would consider many more in your analysis.)

Step 1: Working Out the Details To have the staff dress in colorful outfits:

• What would the colors be? Would the uniforms have a design on them? They’d be pastel colors and have pictures of animals, clowns, and nursery rhyme characters.

• Who would wear them? Doctors, nurses, aides, secretaries—anyone who worked on the children’s ward.

• What kinds of outfits would they be? Lab coats for the doctors, smocks or aprons for the secretaries, nurses, and aides.

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To have children’s music playing:

• What kind of music? Nursery songs, songs from children’s movies, and so on.

• Where would the music be playing? Throughout the children’s ward—in rooms, halls, and the lounge.

To decorate the lounge appealingly:

• What decorating ideas would you use? Special furniture and wallpaper. • What furniture specifically, and what would be special about it? Child-size

heavy plastic furniture—chairs, bookcases, a table for games, perhaps a small seesaw. Each piece would be in a bright color and shaped like an ani- mal. For example, a chair could be shaped like a kangaroo, with the seat where the pouch would be.

• What pattern would you have for the wallpaper? Scenes from Mother Goose.

Steps 2 and 3: Finding and Overcoming Imperfections and Complications To have colorful outfits:

• Complication: Doctors would be unlikely to want to dress in, say, a Pluto coat—people on other wards might think them strange when they made their hospital rounds. Nurses and others would undoubtedly object to such an unprofessional outfit, too, even though they’d undoubtedly be sympa- thetic to the idea of making the ward cheery.

• Improvement: Let the children have colorful gowns and even colorful sheets instead.

To have children’s music playing:

• Imperfection: Children’s music at the nurses’ station might upset the work being done there. And it would also be inappropriate in some rooms—for example, the rooms with very ill children or those who have just returned from surgery.

• Improvement: Have the music piped into the rooms of those who want it. Also, have it playing quietly in the lounge.

To decorate the lounge appealingly:

• Complication: The cost of such extensive redecorating and refurnishing might be prohibitive.

• Improvement: Appeal to a local service organization (Lions, Kiwanis, or Rotary, for example) to donate funds.

All the improvements presented overcome the imperfections and complica- tions they address without creating new difficulties. Naturally, not all the improvements you think of will do this. Many will create greater imperfections and complications than the ones they correct. For this reason, you should exer- cise care in working out your improvements.

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WARM-UP EXERCISES

11.1 The chain letter is usually associated with dishonesty, superstition, and even illegality. (The mailing of money is illegal in many places.) But it could be used constructively and beneficially. Think of as many such ways as you can to use the chain letter, modifying it in whatever ways you wish.

11.2 Suppose that you are looking at a star—say, Sirius—on a dark night. Astronomers tell us that light waves started to travel from Sirius many years ago. After all that time, they reach Earth, strike your reti- nas, and cause you to say you are seeing Sirius. But the star that existed at the time the rays began their journey may no longer exist. To say that you see what may no longer exist is absurd. Therefore, whatever you see, it is not Sirius.5 Is this reasoning sound? Explain your thinking thoroughly.

11.3 Oscar and Felix are having a discussion.

OSCAR: I’ll prove to you there’s no such thing as a pile of sand. FELIX: That’s ridiculous. You can’t do it.

OSCAR: Oh, yeah? Listen carefully. A single grain of sand is not a pile, right?

FELIX: Right. So what? OSCAR: If we add another grain of sand, that’s still not a pile,

right?

FELIX: OK, OK. Get on with it. OSCAR: If we add another grain, and another, up to 10 million and

beyond, we’d never reach a point where no pile of sand is converted to a pile of sand. So there’s no such thing as a pile of sand.

What should Felix say next to prove Oscar wrong?

APPLICATIONS

11.1 Many experts claim that children from one-parent homes have more problems (including health problems) than children from two-parent homes.6 Yet one-parent families have increased dramatically over the last few decades. Identify and solve this problem; then refine your best solution as explained in the chapter.

11.2 College athletes are supposed to be amateurs. That is, they are not allowed to receive money for performing their sport. The National

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Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) publishes a manual govern- ing the way colleges recruit athletes, the academic requirements ath- letes must meet to remain eligible for play, and the limitations on financial and other assistance they may receive. But college athletics is big business; national rankings bring lucrative television payments to colleges and help finance costly educational programs, so colleges are tempted to ignore the NCAA rules. Some time ago, Notre Dame’s basketball coach publicly stated that at least seven colleges, and probably more, paid their star basketball players $10,000 a year under the table.7 Identify and solve this problem; then refine your best solution as explained in the chapter.

11.3 You are the parent of two children, an 8-year-old daughter and a 6- year-old son. They love to watch television, but you believe that most programs either are a waste of time or promote harmful attitudes and values. Identify and solve this problem; then refine your best solution as explained in the chapter.

11.4 The Federal Communications Act of 1927 established in law that the airways belong to the public. Radio and television station licenses are supposedly granted only if the station’s programming practices serve the public interest. Yet the practice of interrupting programs every 10 minutes with commercials that all too often assault the senses and insult the minds of viewers is, in the judg- ment of most people, decidedly not a service to the public. Identify and solve this problem; then refine your best solution as explained in the chapter.

11.5 Professor Danielle Murphy teaches literature at a small liberal arts college. She begins every term hoping to do little lecturing and to devote the larger part of each class period to class discussion. Yet she is invariably disappointed with the students’ response. No matter what the assigned work of literature, only one or two students will volunteer their comments, and discussion quickly fizzles out. The rest of the class sit and stare at their desks or cast nervous glances at the clock. Identify and solve Professor Murphy’s problem; then refine your best solution as explained in the chapter.

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ISSUE FOR EXTENDED ANALYSIS Following is a more comprehensive thinking challenge than the others in the chapter. Analyze and respond to it, following the instructions for extended analy- sis at the end of Chapter 1. Also, review “The Basis of Moral Judgment” and “Dealing with Dilemmas” in Chapter 2.

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Issue for Extended Analysis 207

THE ISSUE: GAY MARRIAGE

In the Western world, marriage has traditionally been defined as a formal, legal bond between a man and a woman entered into primarily for the purpose of begetting and raising children. Over time, as society became less agrarian, chil- dren became less of an asset; in addition, birth control has made having children a matter of choice. As a result, many people regard the main purpose of marriage as mutual love. At the same time, the American Psychiatric Association has changed its definition of homosexuality from a “deviant” emotional “disorder” to an acceptable alternative lifestyle. Accordingly, many in the gay community believe the law should allow them to formalize their love in marriage.

THE ESSAYS

Legalize Gay Marriage By Andrew Rossowsky

For centuries in America, the law forbade interracial marriage. Such a union was considered unnatural and against divine law. Eventually, that law was recognized to be discrimina- tory and today interracial marriage is common. Closely paralleling this his- toric issue is the issue of gay marriage; the only difference is that the discrim- ination against gay couples has yet to be removed from the law.

Some people oppose gay marriage because the Bible views homosexuality unfavorably. But the Old Testament also set dietary regulations that are no longer followed. Similarly, the New Testament encouraged second-class citizenship for women, and that view is now rejected, as is the biblical toler- ance of slavery.

In any case, for Christians, the deciding factor has always been the teachings of Jesus, and it is notewor- thy that Jesus never spoke against gay marriage.

Happily, a number of religious leaders—including Episcopalians, Jews, Methodists, Presbyterians, Unitarians,

Keep Marriage Heterosexual By Victor Ortiz

Gay marriage supporters argue that only through marriage can they achieve the same civil rights enjoyed by heterosexual couples. That is sim- ply not true. Legal and financial pro- cedures already exist to cover health care, taxation, and inheritance rights.

Gay marriage supporters often compare the prohibition of gay mar- riage with the prohibition of interracial marriage, but there is no comparison. Whereas opposition to interracial mar- riage was rooted in bigotry, opposition to gay marriage is found in the laws of nature—a man and a woman of differ- ent races can produce children; two men or two women cannot.

The argument that the govern- ment has no right to restrict who can and cannot marry is also mistaken. The government prohibits marriages between first cousins, between an adult and a child, between people already married to others (bigamy), and among three or more people (polygamy).

Many feel the most impressive argument for gay marriage is that it

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and Baptists—now support gay mar- riage. Various organizations do, as well, including People for the American Way, the National Organization for Women, the American Psychological Association, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). James Esseks, a spokesman for the ACLU, put the case for gay marriage succinctly: “Same- sex couples who commit to each other and build a life together shouldn’t be treated as legal strangers.”

Gay marriage would not force churches to perform marriage services in violation of their doctrines; it would merely grant gay unions civil recognition and guarantee to gay cou- ples the same civil rights enjoyed by married couples, notably those con- cerning the adoption and custody of children, health care decisions, med- ical benefits, and inheritance. In a word, the case for gay marriage cen- ters on the ideal of FAIRNESS.

will permit gays to adopt children. In fact, that argument is the weakest of all. In adoption, the needs of the child should be paramount. And adoption by gay couples is not in the best inter- ests of any child.

Dr. Timothy J. Dailey of the Family Research Council cites evi- dence that “children raised in tradi- tional families by a mother and father are happier, healthier, and more suc- cessful than children raised in non- traditional environments.” Moreover, gay households are less likely to pro- vide a wholesome environment because such households have more violence, more substance abuse, more promis- cuity, more mental health problems, a greater danger of incest, a higher rate of suicide, and less stability than het- erosexual households.

For all these reasons, marriage should remain an exclusive heterosex- ual legal institution.

CLASS DISCUSSION

KATHLEEN: I’m sure there is research that challenges Dailey’s findings, yet Ortiz never mentions it.

BARBARA: I took the time to read Dailey’s article, and it analyzes opposing research. Dailey demonstrates that studies pur- porting to show that same-sex partners parent as well as traditional partners suffer from fatal flaws, including “inadequate sample size, lack of random sampling, lack of anonymity of research participants, and self-presentation bias.”

KATHLEEN: Fairness demands that all people be treated equally under the law. Forbidding gay marriage is a moral outrage.

BARBARA: If the laws were to allow gay marriage, they would logi- cally have to allow bigamy and polygamy. And that would have disastrous effects on society.

KATHLEEN: I have no problem with allowing bigamy and polygamy. It is people who marry each other; the state merely wit- nesses the contract and therefore should have no say in it.

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Issue for Extended Analysis 209

By the way, fundamentalist Christians are not only mis- taken in their crusade against gay marriage; they are also at odds with Jesus, who never condemned it.

BARBARA: The fact that Jesus didn’t condemn gay marriage proves nothing. Gay marriage was not an issue or even a work- ing concept in his time. He didn’t speak of insider trading or copyright infringement either, and for the same reason.

KATHLEEN: If you won’t accept gay marriage out of fairness, you should at least do so because it would provide a way for thousands of children to be adopted into good, loving families. After all, gender doesn’t make a family—love does. And same-sex couples are as capable of providing love as heterosexual couples are.

BARBARA: Gay adoption is a separate issue that doesn’t depend on the acceptance of gay marriage. But since you raise that issue, let me explain why I’m against it. First, men and women bring very different, equally important attributes to child-rearing, so a child needs a father and a mother. Also, as Dailey has documented, homosexual unions have more numerous and more serious problems than hetero- sexual unions. To put it simply, gay adoption would cre- ate more problems than it would solve.

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