February 20, 2018
Simple Answers to Complex Problems: Mediocrity 101
Seeking simple answers to complex problems is to an extent part of human nature. Since the dawn of time, humans have had the need to find explanations to the grand mysteries surrounding them. And so thunder was the work of Zeus. Earthquakes occurred because titans were wrestling. As for seeing the moon mysteriously disappearing every now and then, that was a result of a hungry dragon. Right? Right?
Part of the issue of seeking simple answers to complex questions is related to human nature; particularly our relationship to time.
[Reflection] endows man with that thoughtfulness which so completely distinguishes his consciousness from that of the animal, and through which his whole behaviour on earth turns out so differently from that of his irrational brothers. He far surpasses them in power and in suffering. They live in the present alone; he lives at the same time in the future and the past. They satisfy the need of the moment; he provides by the most ingenious preparations for his future, nay, even for times that he cannot live to see. They are given up entirely to the impression of the moment, to the effect of the motive of perception; he is determined by abstract concepts independent of the present moment.
(Schopenhauer, Arthur. The World as Will and Representation. 1 st ed. 1958. Translated by E.F.J. Payne. New York: Dover, 1969. p 36)
But what does that mean, especially for our topic, that is the tendency to seek simple answers to complex problems?
The Torment of not Knowing
As Schopenhauer’s brilliant quotation above indicates, humans have the gift/curse of being temporal beings. That is, they have a concept of past and future. They remember past traumas and suffering (in a way much more complex than that of animals). They also, more crucially, anticipate their future and particularly their inevitable demise.
This creates a pressing need to discover explanation as well as meaning. In other words, humans need to know how something happens as well as why it happens. Not knowing either of them becomes a torment. The linkage breaks – and the problems begin – at the passage between explanation and meaning; between the how and the why.
Seeking Simple Answers to Complex Problems Is a Coping Mechanism
Modern human life is much more complex than that of our stone-age ancestors. They had to worry about food, shelter, diseases. The average person today is bombarded day and night by input of all sorts – from the Internet and the TV to newspapers and street advertisements. “Earthquake in Alaska. Is California next?” “Is this food responsible for bowel cancer?” “Terrorism. Has our world become a more dangerous place?”
By the way, in case you’re wondering, every time “news” headlines end with a question mark, you can safely ignore them. It means the “journalist” who put it together couldn’t bear to put their name there without the question mark.
But back to our topic: seeking simple answers to complex problems. When modern humans are faced with this cataclysm of information, they can do little in terms of weighing its validity. Especially in the era of Internet and lightning-fast information, every idiot with a cell phone can tweet a photo and scribble a description. People, in their fear not to be left without knowing, embrace every bit of even remotely sense-making information, including fake news. And there lies the danger I mentioned earlier: the passage from how to why.
Full Circle: From “Answers” to Mediocrity
Why are jobs lost? Well, it’s much simpler to blame immigrants, rather than talk about the real issues: corporate greed, “free” market capitalism, representative (not) democracy (not), globalization, technological advances, and a dozen other interconnected spheres of discourse the average Joe understands little about – because his education was predicated on SAT scores, not critical thinking.
Blaming Antonio from south of the border is simpler, easier, and – crucially – requires no personal input; no responsibility except perhaps joining a far-right group in chanting hateful slogans or self-congratulating one’s self on an online forum. At the same time, it’s the starting point for mediocrity which, sadly, only perpetuates the cycle. The more an idiot someone is (in terms of selfishness and lack of being a citizen), the more willing they are to accept simple answers to complex problems.
One Comment
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A more disturbing case lately is the involuntarily celibate – incels – who fail to understand that their very entitlement and lack of respect is why they don’t have female companionship. We’re watching what The Handmaid’s Tale is doing with this – even beyond what the book did.
Yes, it is hard to understand and choose and sometimes lose potential mates of either gender, but thinking you somehow deserve one without any work is a disaster. And a great loss.