It’s not that simple – a Monocle article by Steve Bloomfield

In this web 2.0 age of mass simplification, this excellent article in Monocle #49 reminds us that there is far more grey than black and white to the world. A great quick read…

“In the age of the soundbite, the person with the pithy 10-word answer is the person who wins the argument. Like so many things that are true, this argument was best expressed by a fictional character, in this case, the liberal fantasy president in television’s The West Wing, Jed Bartlet. Speaking in a presidential debate against a George W Bush clone, Bartlet responds to a snappy 10-word answer by eloquently revealing the emptiness of a slogan. “There aren’t very many unnuanced moments in leading a country that’s way too big for 10 words,” he finishes, to adoring cheers. And nor are there many unnuanced moments for the rest of us, either. In our work life and home life things are complicated; everything is made up of shades of grey.

The urge to make things simple is understandable. It’s also stupid. Simplification makes us dumber. News debates are reduced to X versus Y, red corner versus blue corner. CNN gets two opposing views, challenges neither, then says “let’s leave it there”. Making things simple – dumbing down, if you like – is not just making us stupid, it is downright dangerous. From the war in Iraq to the global financial crisis, the humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur to the debate on climate change, the urge to simplify has led to disaster. Perversely, this is a remarkably simple argument. Complex problems require complex solutions. Simple problems require simple solutions. If we make the complex simple we end up with the wrong solutions. This isn’t about over-complicating arguments. Nor is it about using long words when plain English will do just fine. Nor is this an argument about how clever (or otherwise) we are. Life is complicated. Let’s not pretend it’s easy.”

(Source: monocle.com)