Can We Ever Really Resolve a Problem?
By Abraham David Nissan
In the pursuit of knowledge, one of the most compelling questions we must ask is:
Can we ever truly resolve a problem?
This inquiry touches the very heart of science, philosophy, and the human condition.
While it may seem that resolution implies an end—a final answer—the reality is far more nuanced.
In practical terms, we often resolve problems effectively. Engineers build bridges, doctors cure diseases, and mathematicians solve equations. These resolutions are valuable and necessary. They serve human needs and drive society forward. However, such solutions are always embedded in a context—technological, ethical, or conceptual—that may shift over time. Thus, what is solved today may be reopened tomorrow under new light.
Theoretical resolutions, too, offer coherence. Newton’s laws were “resolved” until Einstein reframed gravity itself. And philosophical resolutions offer existential comfort, helping us live with the unknown. But none of these are truly permanent. Every resolution births new questions. The human genome map revealed more mysteries than it answered. Every layer of truth contains another underneath.
Therefore, resolution is not termination. It is transformation.
In the spiral of evolving knowledge, resolution marks a comma—not a period.
It allows us to pause, act, and apply—but always with the humility to revisit, revise, and ascend.
We do not solve problems to close them; we solve to evolve them.
That is the rhythm of science. That is the pulse of life.