American society often likes one solution to solve an important problem. How many times do we hear that a particular political candidate or a specific product or a change to the educational system could change society for the better?

Two recent examples of this approach have popped up:

1. Is social media use among young adults the reason for all sorts of social ills? If we could curb or regulate this use – or perhaps even allow no use – then all sorts of outcomes would improve.
2. Why are so many baseball pitchers suffering major injuries? If we could find the single cause, more talented pitchers could continue to practice their craft.

Our world is complex. In many situations, multiple factors contribute to issues and multiple solutions could help address the issues. Studying the problem could reveal that some factors matter more than others or discussions about remediation could show that some solutions are easier to pursue or enact. Successfully intervening in the issue may help the situation – and not eliminate the issue entirely.

Actors in these two fields will continue to debate cause(s) and solution(s). There is much riding on these discussions and resulting actions.