wicked problem
n.— «Some observers have taken a page from urban planning theory to describe Iraq as a “wicked problem”—a term coined to describe complex and divisive issues, such as building a new highway through a city or finding a location for a large homeless shelter.» —“Tom Ricks’s Inbox” by Tom Rick Washington Post Sept. 2, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
When a teenager went a week without talking as part of a school project, he noticed a surprising side effect: Instead of rehearsing a response to what other people were saying to him, he was focused on listening — and feeling smarter as a result...
Responding to our discussion about thin places, those spots where the boundary between this world and other realities seems narrow or permeable, a listener in Kirkland, Washington, sent us some eloquent thoughts about her own experiences of that...