This week I have really been able to truly understand the real meaning of wicked problems and sustainability and the many effects that each of them have on our society and environment. Coming into this class, I really wasn’t very sure on what sustainability or even a wicked problem was. But now I know that both of them are very critical to our lives today. And how complex a wicked problem actually is; you can’t just go out and find a quick solution like any other problem we face today, and as we face these wicked problems, we have to understand that there might not be a solution at all. It is very hard to pinpoint the exact problem that is causing it, and once you solve one part of the problem, another one shows up. Like we see in the 11th hour, the population is growing so fast that food is being demanded faster than we can produce it, so we have to genetically modify our food, causing the nutrients to be stripped aways so we aren’t getting the nutrients we need to be healthy and survive. And when you are facing a wicked problem, all effects are irreversible; and all wicked problems are URGENT! I think that natives of Easter Island definitely figured this out for us.
As I read the book about Easter Island I realized how dangerous these problems can actually be. The people of Easter Island were so caught up in being the most advanced in the society that they competed in everything, especially building these statues that they used to show respect and worship to their religions. But by doing this, they caused war, deforestation, and because of the lack of animals and farming land, they even cause cannibalism.
In the 11th hour we see the same aspects in the world today as we read in the passage about Easter Island. In today’s society we face climate change, deforestation, fossil fuel use, pollution, and maltreatment of the ocean and so many other wicked problems that we face today. I think that if we can put aside our differences and work together, we can potentially deal with and possibly even resolve some of the major issues that we face. We need to reduce the use of fossil fuels, manage how we use our water, be mindful of the resources we use and how they we effect the environment after we are done with them, and just focus of the quality of life, instead of worrying about money and power. Today we live in a very advanced society, but so did the people of Easter Island for their time period, and if they can’t escape the effects of a wicked problem, neither can we. But if we be more mindful about how we treat our planet, we could make this world a better place.