The Simplification Trap
Why Most People Struggle To Get The Results They Need In Their Lives
The Simplification Trap
Why Most People Struggle To Get The Results They Need In Their Lives
Written by a human, for humans, always.
The world is complex.
There is so much that exists in the world...
That happens in the world...
Constantly occurring all around us without us ever knowing.
At the same time...
We have this inherent desire to understand things better.
To learn and to grow.
So...
How do we do that?
The traditional method of accomplishing this...
Is to simplify things.
You take what is complex and difficult to understand...
And you reduce it in such a way to create a bridge to understanding.
This method...
Can work.
We see it work all the time in schools where we teach children things like basic letters, words, and math...
Which then, with a simplified understanding, allows us to expand...
Into literature, philosophy, physics, psychophysiology, and more.
With some understanding, it can create a step toward further understanding.
You teach a simplified version...
Then you can begin to see how a more complex version works.
However...
What I often see with people...
Is the Simplification Trap.
See...
There is another word for simplification...
A caricature.
Just like you see with artists who draw quick sketches of individuals...
Highlighting specific features and exaggerating those features.
Usually these caricatures are goofy and unrealistic, especially compared to the vastly more complex person who is doing an equally goofy and abnormal pose for the caricature portrait.
So often in the world...
When we simplify things...
People understand the simplified caricature...
But then falsely believe that they fully understand what the caricature represents.
It is like seeing a caricature of a former president and saying that you met them...
Or understanding that two plus two is four, so you should be able to do astrophysics now.
It is simply...
False.
But it is a trap that so many people fall into.
They see a post about something on social media...
Claiming that they fully understand the truth from that.
They read an article, book...
And believe themselves capable of writing masterfully on the same subject.
They take a course or get a degree...
And think they are an expert on the subject.
In all of these examples and more...
All these individuals have done is taken a caricature of something and believe that they have fully understood that thing.
They are wrong.
But the question that we should be asking...
Is why this happens so frequently?
The trap itself...
Lies in the process of simplification.
The whole idea of simplification...
Is designed to frame something in such a way as to understand it more easily.
It is designed to be understood.
But when we understand something...
We think we fully understand it...
And we do...
To the extent of what was explained.
But...
We fail to account for everything that had to be left out and discarded for the sake of simplification...
And that is where true understanding lies.
Not in knowing the basics...
But in being able to accurately apply the basics in scenarios that no one has utilized them before...
Further...
It is about understanding where the basics do not apply and discovering what else is necessary, which cannot be taught in a simplified format.
You find understanding not in what can be understood simply...
But in being able to piece together what physically cannot be simplified.
This is the real challenge...
We seek a simplified way of understanding something...
But the deepest levels of understanding cannot physically be simplified.
A caricature cannot express how many strands of hair someone has on their body...
Or why that hair is beneficial...
Or what choices were made that led the individual to wear the clothes that are now being satirized.
This is also why so many people fail to get the results they need in their lives.
They genuinely believe that the caricatures will provide what they need...
And they do understand the caricatures perfectly...
But they are missing the important and necessary factors that no caricature can provide.
I have seen this happen in every single industry imaginable.
The harsh but necessary truth that you need to understand...
Is that what you think you understand...
Likely is overly simplified...
And in believing that you actually understand that thing...
You have fallen into the Simplification Trap.
The simplified version is designed to help you get “an” understanding...
But it is not really understanding.
If it is a good caricature...
It might be a good step toward understanding...
Although some caricatures are designed purposefully in such a way as to take away from true understanding...
But you cannot rely on the caricature to justify true understanding or knowledge.
The vast majority of people...
Have only taken a single step in the understanding they believe they have achieved...
While there is an entire staircase before them that they are oblivious to.
They have taken a step and believed they have climbed a mountain...
While others who understand better look upon them so far below...
Appearing like ants.
The biggest problem, though...
Is that if you have fallen into the Simplification Trap...
And you do not have anyone around you who knows better...
You will discover that you become stuck or limited in what is possible.
You cannot do algebra until you understand how to multiply and divide.
You cannot do physics until you understand how algebra applies to the world around you.
You cannot do astrophysics until you understand not only the physics around you, but the physics beyond what you may ever see or experience.
If all you know how to accomplish is to add and subtract...
You will never really be able to justify calling yourself an astrophysicist.
Yet...
I see people try to do some version of this.
I also see people try to “get the jist’ of things and try to do things on their own...
To sidestep getting understanding from other individuals who have taken years of their lives to gain a better understanding...
And they have failed to accomplish what they hoped...
Not because what they understood was wrong...
But because all they understood was a caricature.
There is a point where if you truly want to get results in your life...
Either you need to go beyond the simplifications to understand what cannot be simplified...
You need to find someone who already has that understanding and will work with you...
Or both.
However...
If you stay in the Simplification Trap...
You will never be able to attain the results you hoped for...
Because you do not truly understand what you’re doing.
If you want the results you desire in life...
You simply cannot rely on caricatures for the rest of your life.
To Your Sageship,
Cody
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