Repository of problems worth solving
World Solve is a public institutional repository for identifying real unresolved problems across science, society, health, governance, economics, and local systems. Each entry is intended to be citable, inspectable, and actionable.
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4194Total
4194Open
0Solved
9Humans
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
As AI systems increasingly influence what billions of people see, believe, and decide, someone is effectively choosing the values baked into those systems. There's no agreed process for who that someone should be, or how they should be held accountable.
society-governance
global-unspecified
decide
values
haven
settled
system
hold
systems
someone
increasingly
technology-computing
philosophy-ethics
whether
mathematics-logic
resolved
economics-resources
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Justice systems around the world vary wildly in how harshly they punish the same crimes, reflecting different beliefs about what punishment is actually for. Whether punishment should aim to rehabilitate, deter, or simply punish remains unresolved.
society-governance
global-unspecified
punishment
justice
don
agree
versus
revenge
punish
systems
around
world
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
determine
haven
mathematics-logic
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Different cultures, religions, and individuals define meaning and purpose in very different ways, with no way to prove one view more correct than another. This makes questions about how to live well deeply personal rather than settled.
philosophy-ethics
global-unspecified
haven
found
universal
answer
meaningful
life
requires
different
cultures
religions
whether
resolved
determine
know
don
way
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Some countries and individuals consume vastly more resources than others, and there's no broadly accepted definition of what a fair share would even look like. This makes global cooperation on resource use difficult to justify to everyone involved.
economics-resources
global-unspecified
fair
resources
haven
found
shared
standard
counts
distribution
some
philosophy-ethics
whether
resolved
determine
mathematics-logic
way
have
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Colonization, slavery, and resource extraction left lasting harm in many parts of the world, and debates over reparations or restitution remain unresolved almost everywhere they're raised. There's no broadly accepted framework for addressing this.
philosophy-ethics
global-unspecified
haven
settled
obligations
wealthy
nations
owe
those
harmed
historical
actions
whether
resolved
determine
know
mathematics-logic
possible
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
As AI systems become more capable, questions about whether they deserve any form of moral consideration are becoming less theoretical. Society has no shared answer for where, if anywhere, that line should be drawn.
philosophy-ethics
global-unspecified
any
don
agree
rights
intelligent
system
have
systems
become
capable
whether
resolved
know
haven
determine
mathematics-logic
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
As more countries and private companies plan to mine the Moon and asteroids, there's still no clear, agreed system for who owns what. Without this, space could repeat the same resource conflicts we've had on Earth.
science-space
global-unspecified
space
don
have
working
model
governing
outer
its
resources
countries
whether
philosophy-ethics
determine
resolved
agreed
way
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
AI can now produce convincing text, images, and video in seconds, and detection tools are struggling to keep up. Without a reliable way to tell real from fake, public trust in what we see online keeps eroding.
society-governance
global-unspecified
online
real
haven
solved
verify
content
not
ai-generated
scale
now
whether
philosophy-ethics
way
resolved
prevent
technology-computing
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Dark matter and dark energy make up roughly ninety five percent of the universe, yet we've never directly detected either. Everything we can see and touch is a small fraction of what's really out there.
science-space
global-unspecified
universe
energy
don
know
mass
actually
dark
matter
make
roughly
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
determine
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Gravity describes the large scale universe well, and quantum mechanics describes the tiny scale well, but the two don't fit together mathematically. A unified theory would finally explain what happens inside black holes and at the birth of the universe.
mathematics-logic
global-unspecified
don
theory
gravity
quantum
mechanics
have
working
unifies
describes
scale
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
determine
know
agreed