Story Review Frederick Pohl in THE Problem PIT

SHORT SCIENCE FICTION STORY REVIEW – FREDERICK POHL – IN THE PROBLEM PIT 1973 Mercury Press In a not too distant future sciences like physics and chemistry seem to have collapsed and the social sciences of sociology and psychology are predominant.  A China style cultural revolution has taken place in the states and ordinary people are encouraged & even conscripted to think big ideas and solve major problems. The Problem Pit is a think tank centre in Puerto Rico, in the ruins of an old radio telescope, built over a vast underground cave system.  A group of volunteers and conscripts are drawn together there to pool their mental resources and offer suggestions & solutions on a variety of issues, including finding new ways to warn people about the dangers of unprotected sex. The centre is for most a utopian rest centre, where the attendees are free to roam, swim, eat and chat at will, though with sessions taking place in its central inner problem pit room. The one thing they are not supposed to do is leave, though no guards or locked doors prevent them from going. There is just the warning that the route out through the cave system could get them lost in there forever. As the close knit group bond, and develop relationships, suggestions of solutions to the external issues blind them to problems forming in their own group. A girl there is jealous when the man she fancies takes up with another member of the team, and sets off to take her chances with the caves.  The team’s own monitor, Tina, also begins to get too personally attached to one of her subjects, feeling guilty about spying on them and sending her secret reports to unseen researchers beyond the pit.  The science fiction elements are actually little more than background in a clever social observation narrative, told in short bursts from the points of view of various characters. The external issues they try to resolve seem increasingly less important compared to their own needs. This is a story about the need to look in at the self, forgetting outer space and situations in the World until we sort our own situations out and find love within ourselves.  The real problems and their solutions lie within, and not without. A great story that can only disappoint anyone hoping for the spectacle and fantasy offered in much of science fiction.

Arthur Chappell.