Problem: something to “solve”
Predicament: situation with no “solve” and you have to find a way to deal with.
what do you think?
For a short answer, I would say definitely a Problem that we need to solve. Of course, by solve I mean stop it, dismantle it, and make sure it never exists again. ;D
The latter definition you gave, Predicament, seems more along the lines of escaping civ, but not doing anything to halt its destruction of the earth. I personally do not agree with that, because I think it avoids taking action, which I think amounts to letting the world burn. It also does nothing to ensure that our children have a future, as well as all life on earth - which civ seems well on its way to destroying.
I think technology(of the civilized kind)has it’s place in the bigger scheme of things, perhaps as a means of spreding life and diversity throughout the universe, but first we need to get rid of the demons of greed which rules todays version of civ. And yes, todays civ needs rapid dismanteling in the name of all life.
Well a predicament does not mean we have no choice in how to deal with this thing. It just lacks a clear “solve” result.
its a bit difficult to explain.
But maybe like this :
A problem once solved means we can just solve that problem with that solution whenever it arises.
A predicament cannot be succesfully “solved”. Its more like a grey area where we will just have to find a way that allows us to best deal with this thing. That could be doing nothing…to try anything for damage control.