Or: "Who, what, when, where?" -> "Why?"

In "What's hard about this? What can I do about that?", I talk about how, when you're facing a difficult situation, it's often useful to list exactly what's difficult about it. And then, systematically brainstorm ideas for dealing with those difficult things.

Then, the problem becomes easy.

But, there is a secret subskill necessary for this to work. The first few people I pitched "What's hard about this and what can I do about that?" to happened to already have the subskill, so I didn't notice for awhile.

The subskill is "being a useful kind of 'concrete.'"

Often, people who are ostensibly problem-solving, will say things that are either vague, or concrete but in a way that doesn't help. (This doesn't just apply to "why is this hard?", it's more general).

Here's some examples of vague things:

"I need to eat better."
"I'm stuck on this math problem."
"I'm not someone who really has ideas."
"This task fell through the cracks."

Here are some examples of somewhat-concrete-but-not-that-helpful things you might say, about each of those, if you were trying to ask "what's hard about that?"

"I love sugar too much."
[...]

---

Outline:

(00:09) Or: Who, what, when, where? - Why?

(04:02) Noticing the empty space

(05:57) Problem solutions also need a Who/What/Where/When, and maybe also How?

---

First published:
November 4th, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/aHinbhZBA3q3rDTeR/being-usefully-concrete

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

“Being ‘Usefully Concrete’” by Raemon

LessWrong (30+ Karma)