![]() ![]() It might seem paradoxical to step away from a problem, but it is often this very distance that can help us gain a different perspective or insight for when we return. Do not spin your wheels and persist merely for the sake of stubbornly persisting. Get some healthy distance from the problem. Here are some practical life rafts that can help save us: Though the duration of the abyss varies, it is not so much a matter of if we will be plunged into such a scenario, but when and for how long. ![]() Not only do we feel stuck on the problem we are trying to solve, but it also feels as if we are rapidly descending into a kind of inescapable hell. The Problem-Solving Abyss is a space of backwards, minimal, or no progress towards a given goal. “And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” ~Friedrich Nietzsche It is my hope that by attempting to articulate it here, it will be of some use to others who may encounter something similar 1. In a word, it is a metaphysical and existential encounter with two entities: the Problem-Solving Abyss and the Shadow of Self-Doubt. The above imagery, though admittedly enigmatic, is the best way I can portray something I often experience as a software developer (and more generally as a human being). You oscillate between nausea and despair, hoping for a way out, hoping for clarity to the confusion. Time seems to be still here, though you feel as if you are moving both fast and slow. Everything around you is dark except for the rays of light which beam from the opening. Yet in the next moment, a large gust of wind captivates your attention causing you to lose focus. Carefully, you tread along the edge of the abyss, observing what lies within while being careful not to fall. ![]() They seem to embody the problems of human existence. ![]() Flashes of reality-almost like scenes from a movie-are fluttering in and around it. Except this time, where the building once stood, there is now an abyss shrouded by fog. The next day you walk the same route at sunset. As the sun sets, and the day turns into night, the shadow grows larger and larger until it disappears, seemingly into the clouds. For a moment, you meet eyes with it and realize this figure is your shadow. It almost engulfs the whole building that is next to you. You look to your left and see a large, dark, representation of yourself which mirrors your every movement. ![]()
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