A Difference Engine

Some problems feel so big it's hard to figure out the right way to approach them. These problems have a way of making us feel small and ineffectual in their midst. This is an exercise in making these big problems feel less intimidating using a little surrealism and absurdism.

Step 1:

Go to a newspaper or news website of your choice—it can be local, national, international, or galactic.

Step 2:

Find an issue or problem on the front page that you wish to address. It could be something huge like systemic racism, or something small like a missing cat or breakaway European soccer Super League.

Step 3:

Draw a machine, however simple or complex, that fixes the issue.

To be clear, we're not saying that problems like police brutality or climate change are literally solvable with a machine—that would be ridiculous. But taking a surreal or absurd approach to solving a problem can free up our minds in creative ways, or, at the very least, make the problem feel a little less daunting.