I'm trying to understand how $3$-SAT problems are assigned complexity to try and get a better understanding of the P vs NP problem.
Would a polynomial-time solution to an increasing number of clauses but constant number of distinct literals resolve P vs NP?
Or, would an algorithm have to work in polynomial time in both the number of distinct literals and the number of clauses?
It seems like a 2-dimensional problem and I'm not sure in which 'direction' the P vs NP problem lies.