Created: 20-01-2023 Last updated: 28/12/2023 # Most organisations can be framed as either problem solvers or opportunity creators I believe we see a lot more of the former today. e.g., a growing trend of startups tackling existential risks from AI or climate change or energy. The threats get more media attention (and the resulting doomerist views affect funding bodies' project portfolio so even research is going down that path). An artifact of this is an abundance of proposals that are "solutions looking for problems" (e.g., AI to tackle mis/disinformation and deepfakes; space solar power to tackle energy needs/climate change). I am not saying these are invalid solutions; but that there might be a repurposing of work instead of engineering relevant solutions. My feeling is that there are far fewer opportunity creator type organisations/ideas- even then ones that are, pivot to being problem solvers. You can see this in SpaceX- its Mars vision was initially sold as an opportunity to make humanity interplanetary but it is more common now to have its purpose framed in the context of an existential threat to Earth. Similarly, a 100-person habitat can be framed as an opportunity to manufacture in zero-g (z-blan[, growing a human heart](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46944972)); what other experiments unearth new discoveries is unpredictable but definitely more astronaut scientists would accelerate that. With a mix of space tourists, we are probably talking about a more commercially viable space operation. However, the space hab can also be classified as a problem solver: the [overcrowding of Low Earth Orbit by satellite swarms adversely affects ground-based astronomy](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jan/06/picture-imperfect-light-pollution-from-satellites-is-becoming-an-existential-threat-to-astronomy). Launching more standalone space telescopes might not be financially reasonable for space agencies but attaching one to a commercial space station.. who knows? This is something the Chinese space agency has planned. But I do have a personal preference for the opportunity creator framing as it is more optimistic in tone. If I may make a suggestion to funders, it would be to balance (and perhaps even have some bias) towards blue-skies engineers/inventors/scientists because we could all do with a few more optimists across all fields. #riskywork # Feedback - Ben directed me to [his note](https://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/The_problem_framework_runs_up_against_examples_of_important_products_and_technologies_that_don’t_solve_an_obvious_problem) and said "I don't think the solution is to argue directly against it. We need to offer better alternatives"