The question of whether of not you agree with Emerson's idea of the "Over-soul," as expressed in the essay of the same name, is a subjective question that needs to be answered by the student. The student should carefully read the essay and then, perhaps, look at some of the critical literature around the essay, as it is rather dense and tends towards abstraction.

It would also help to look at the intellectual and historical context of Emerson, who was part of the New England Renaissance and associated with the transcendental movement, which also included his friend Henry David Thoreau and Margaret Fuller, who published The Dial. Emerson went to divinity school and worked at a church, but eventually broke with orthodox religion to develop his own ideas.

One of Emerson's most central contributions is the idea of the Over-soul, which is a complex idea that even he seems to have had some trouble describing. At one point, he says as much: he admits that language cannot fully describe it, which is usually the case for anything transcendent. It is something that is god-like, but not God. The Over-soul seems to have more in common with the Platonic ideas of a first mover or a higher order of things. To be part of it or to believe in it is to believe that man is connected and unified by something greater than themselves, something that imparts wisdom, intellect, and even genius to them.

Whether it can solve contemporary problems is highly subjective. Clearly it would require a majority of people to believe in it; people need to be able to work together in a common belief for it be successful as an idea.