ResQgeek

I believe in complexity.

So many people are out there trying to sell simple answers.  They offer quick fixes to life’s problems, shortcuts to happiness.  Even our leaders promise that they can fix the world with just a few simple policies.  Listening to all of these voices, you might think that the world is black-and-white, and that for every problem there is a single correct solution.

But life isn’t simple.  It isn’t black-and-white.  Life is shaded in a vast range of greys.  Life is complex, difficult, messy.  The world’s problems are joined together, connected in a vast tangled web, so that attempts to address one impact many others, often in negative ways.  Any solutions that have a hope of working need to address a range of issues all at the same time.  And these answers are almost certainly going to be found in the vast grey areas in between the easy, black-and-white answers.

I don’t trust people who promise easy fixes.  Either they are lying, or they aren’t thinking hard enough about the problems they are trying to solve.  I don’t believe they have the answers we need.  I trust those who take the time to listen to every side of a debate and try to understand the merits of every position.  They are the ones who are most likely to see the possibilities hidden in the grey.

But until we acknowledge the incredible complexity of life, we have little hope of making any lasting changes.