There are some problems that are so complicated and so systemic that they feel impossible to solve. These wicked problems are pervasive across every level of the human experience. The great irony lies in the fact that there are logical solutions and motivated people who dream of solving these problems.
I find myself at the intersection of humanism, naturalism, existentialism, and absurdism. The wicked problems are laid before us; anthropogenic forces are impacting environment and climate, society is incentivizing consistency over conservation, and the cognitive dissonance of ecological destruction and comfort has manifested. The specific case study is inconsequential, as there are innumerable examples of these problems.
The effects of changing ecological norms are disproportionately studied in humans over wildlife, flora, and fungi that lack the ability to seek the shelters we build for ourselves. While considering the health of the public that is at risk of hazard or disruption, attention must also be given to nature. The environment, wildlife, and humans are all interconnected, and as average climate conditions shift over time, new zoonotic disease pathways inevitably manifest.
Policy can be a tool of compassion. With proper funding mechanisms, research, and evaluation, policy can benefit the masses. Bias reduces reliability and erodes trust from the public, which can only be dealt with by listening to different opinions from varying perspectives. The best leaders must be conduits for their peers and mentees as to manifest a powerful organizational unit. Without trust, the team suffers, and a biased leader cannot truly lead; they can only oversee. Policy must be crafted to be resilient, compassionate, thorough, and from diverse voices to get to the heart of an issue. The political determinants of health are simple: our efforts to impact public health through any level of the social-ecological model below policy will always be hampered.
The Johari Window is a psychological framework for understanding intra/interpersonal uncertainty. There are four panes to peer through: your public self, your private self, the part of you that others see, and the part of yourself that no one knows and must be explored. Similarly, the Rumsfeld Matrix has four categories for risk management: known knowns, known unknowns, unknown knowns, and unknown unknowns. I advise those seeking a path to look through the panes of exploration, and to seek the unknown in yourself, others, and the world around you. Stay curious, and if you feel that something isn't being fixed in the world despite keeping you up at night, that means you're the one who is supposed to fix it.