Sometimes we tend to underestimate problems

During my 10 years of academia, I've learned a very important thing it's called "do not underestimate a problem". Many projects start with the promise of transformative shifts but most time it's a gamble because they are some problems that are just hard to solve. These days whenever I see a problem, I ask myself, why has someone else not solved this problem? If I cannot clearly answer that question, then I know that I should not tackle the problem. The last thing I want to do is promise a solution to a problem I have no idea how to solve. Sometimes we do find "low hanging fruits which are great" but overall, there are many hard problems out there and life never ceases to find opportunities to teach us humility. So, please do not underestimate life and its problems, always ask why don't we have a solution, and always remember that people will ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS doubt your solution because they will always believe that they know better than you and hence provide a better solution than you. So I know my limits and I only try to tackle little problems with easy to find solutions, the big problems just take too much time and resources and these days we are not so patient, that's why the government and industry funds more engineering (or implementation project) versus scientific (or theory-based) endeavors. That's why billions are spent on designing smartphones than in looking for solutions to cancer, world hunger, or clean water. Ok, I've blogged enough, time to read, then code.