There’s comfort and satisfaction in feeling certain about something. Generally, we don’t like uncertainties. Knowing an answer, knowing what to do and how to do it, allows us to orient ourselves to our world and feel good about ourselves.
As Augustine said, we know certain basic, simple answers, such as that we exist, that we are capable of knowing, and we love that we know these answers. (Confessions) Even philosophers, who are steeped in wonder and questions, enjoy having answers.
We all try to make things simpler because simple answers are comforting. The problem is that simple answers are rare, if they exist at all. How many questions have simple “yes” or “no” answers? How many problems we face have a simple solution?
Simplification: From Dogma to Mansplaining
Knowing how much people crave simple answers, people and institutions have been eager to supply such answers. It’s a win-win transaction: it spares the recipients from the effort of thinking for themselves, and it gives the suppliers more power and control.
The concept of dogma goes back to the ancient Greeks, though they probably didn’t invent the practice of supplying the masses with definite authoritative tenets. To be dogmatic is in essence to state: “here is the simple answer, and we will not discuss it further.” The soft power of supplying simple answers, and enforcing them dogmatically, combined with the hard power of physical force enables rulers and institutions to maintain power.
Not just institutions but also individuals use the soft power of simple answers to manipulate and control other people. For example, bros who pretend they know the answer. They aren’t open to nuances and complexities, much less discussion of them — they know the simple answer, don’t question them. Mansplaining is an avoidance.
Complexities
It is tempting to try to simplify a problem that is, in truth, irreducibly complex. Reality is complex, and nothing is more complex than human societies. What answers are actually simple? Few, if any. What advantages are there to believe there are simple answers? Beyond emotional satisfaction, few, if any.
Nevertheless, the marketplace of ideas is full of simple answers, with very few people open to the complexities of reality. Politicians, scientists, and philosophers are willing to give us simplicities — their avoidances of complexities available for purchase so you too can avoid complexities. People aren’t stupid, they’re lazy thinkers. Simple answers cater to laziness.
If there are any simple answers, here’s one. To accept simple answers is to avoid real answers; it’s to avoid doing the real work to engage with realities complexities. The marketplace of ideas is full of simple answers. To walk past those glittering displays of simple answers and instead think for yourself is the path to wisdom.