Simplistic Mindset

You might be thinking that this blog post would criticize individuals who display a simplistic mindset, but it’s actually quite the opposite.

I’ve always been fond of generalizing things, I take pride in my ability to condense a whole paragraph into a simple sentence that exhibits the same effect of the paragraph. The thing that really bothers me are those who over complicate things or basically anything at all. Which brings me to my main point, I truly believe that being simplistic is beneficial in most situations.

Complexity:

Before I explain why being simplicity is the way to go, let me address the other side of the spectrum, those who enjoy being complex or detailed. Like the above photo states, complexity and simplicity are both qualities that are “true”. In terms of complexity, there are times where it is necessary to be intricate and specific over things, perhaps even more than times of simplicity. Heck, even our education system is uptight about students having exact and precise work. I suppose it’s a good trait or ability to have, it can clear up confusions or demonstrate a high level of intelligence over a certain subject. The thing is, I believe that it’s much more efficient to learn how to be complex rather than being an outright complicated person. What I mean is that by having the ability to decipher complicated language, you’ll be able to understand it in a more general way. Now since you can understand complicated language, doesn’t mean that you should utilize it when speaking or writing to others. Haven’t you ever watched those shows/movies where someone explains something to their friend and the friend says something along the lines of, “Explain in words I can understand.” I’ve experienced this kind of situation when an older friend of mine literally began talking about rocket science with me.

Balderdash:

Today I had the pleasure of playing Balderdash, a game where you and your friends guess the definition of a word and you each choose a fake definition that sounds the most legitimate to you. Normally, words that are quite outlandish appear in the game i.e., words that people wouldn’t know. If you did know the definition of the word, you get a point for being a nerd. (For a more in depth description of the game redirect yourself here) Anyways, I thought this was a perfect way to prove my main point’s correctness. I played with a rather large amount of friends so we decided to split into groups of 4-5 to play. I remember my group constantly putting out definitions that run out too long. Of course, I didn’t have much say in this but I know I would’ve kept it simple. The problem with putting out these lengthy definitions is that nobody thought they were legitimate. It just sounded like a lot of fluff put together to make a huge ball of nothing. (Quite ironic since I’m writing a somewhat lengthy blog post) My team didn’t score a single point, because, in my opinion, all of our definitions were too complicated.

In my eyes, everything in this world is complicated, but since simplicity exists, everything complicated can be generalized. Having a simplistic mindset is favorable, because you’re able to condense material in a way you and others can understand. I can recall the times I’ve read words in a textbook and did not understand a single word the author was trying to say. If I was fortunate enough, I would have a teacher that actually managed to generalize what the textbook was trying to say in terms my classmates and I would understand. However, those type of teachers don’t come around often as most teachers just teach off the textbook. If I was just going to learn off my textbook, why are you here wasting our time by lecturing the same thing? Continuing on with this topic of school, I’ve also encountered countless instances where I received point deductions from my instructor on the smallest mistakes I made. The thing that ticks me off the most about this is that he/she knows that I know the overall concept of the lesson, but still marks me off. I can understand how Pi is approximately 3.14, but do I really have to know the 50 numbers after it?

Simplicity vs. Complexity:

If Simplicity and Complexity were real people, Simplicity would be my friend mainly because he/she’s simple. Having a perplexing friend would only trouble me. I like to compare this with some claims girls have made saying that they would rather become more associated with guys rather than girls. It’s most likely due to the fact that they think girls are too confusing and never say what’s on their mind. Boyfriends always suffer from this problem. This vine humorously demonstrates that. (Warning: Explicit Language)

If Simplicity and Complexity would ever get in a fight with each other, again I would root for Simplicity. Most notably since Simplicity would fight in a correct simple posture, while Complexity on the other hand would be showing off too much. I’m sure you can associate this mindset as something only a simpleton would advocate, but would you rather navigate through the complicated depths of the Labyrinth maze or simply fly off with wings? The choice is yours.