>They form a mental model of how to do something, look for something that fits into that model, and then are happy. If they guess the wrong model, though, then they are stuck forever.

>Most people will do this for anything but computers, though, which is weird. If their favorite road to the CHEZBURGER store is closed, they will find another road. But if it happens online... panic, frozen.

I think you overestimate people's ability to find different models for things in their life. Their ingrained model just happens to have a fall-back plan, but outside of that most people simple aren't problem solvers. But I agree that it's particularly bad when dealing with anything electronic.

One thing that I have to keep telling myself is that most of my world, the stuff I do, the people I interact with regularly, etc., is a world composed almost entirely of people, tools, philosophy and mechanisms steeped in the mystique of "problem solving". Whenever I get out of that world, I'm usually mystified at how generally people run into very simple real life problems they can't seem to surmount.

The second is that half the human population gets by with an IQ under 100. (I also use this to motivate myself).

> Skilled computer users, on the other hand, don't let a failing model bother them. They just try something else.

I like this analogy, problem solving then seems to be the ability to quickly craft and test mental models against a situation till one of them provides a good enough estimate to describe with the situation. This is actually a powerful way of thinking about problem solving. Once you think of building models, a whole host of new cognitive tools become available.

Anecdote: I worked with a guy with a background in business, educated at absolutely the top schools, MBA, the works. He spent his formative working years selling a shrink-wrapped product that had no support tail whatsoever. There was no execution part of a client engagement outside of ensuring proper delivery of the product. Later he found himself in a different company, with me as a sales engineer, selling a very high touch product - every sale had to have a support tail (it seems onerous, but is a great opportunity to build a strong relationship with the customer).Yet he kept acting like he was still selling the previous kind of product.

After a couple years of this, and seeing lots of missed opportunity because he simply didn't get the "client relationship building and execution" part of the business (so getting follow on sales, or expanding business with a previous client was very challenging) I finally lamented to our mutual boss...he, an engineer by training, but since then with decades of experience in highly successful businesses, told me, "you simply can't project your problem solving mindset onto him. You see the client engagement issue as a problem to be solved, and it agitates you like a nervous tick that has to be scratched. I've worked with many many people like this, business trained types, and problem solving doesn't run in their blood, they think of the world in terms of how to extract money from it."

I responded, "but I'm interested in making money as well".

He responded, correctly, "wrong, you are interested in solving the problem of making money, money is a secondary motivation."