Don’t complicate me

Does it sometimes seem like professors are going out of their way to confuse their students, rather than enlighten them? Have you sat, dumb-founded, while an instructor found a new way to “complicate” an economic model, a Dickens novel or a philosophical concept by introducing seemingly off-topic and unrelated material? \nWell, it turns out students aren’t the only ones having trouble cutting through the obscurity of their professors’ lectures. Russell Jacoby, a UCLA history professor has written an indictment against such unwarranted complication by academics, which has stirred up controversy in academic circles. Although he may go a little far in connecting academic fuzziness with the uptick in plagiarism and academic dishonesty, Jacoby still points out a clear trend in academia towards an ever-increasing complexity.\nThe IDS Editorial Board certainly understands the world is a complicated place, and oversimplification leads to dangerous extremes. Heck, without making minor quibbles with existing arguments, we would probably be out of jobs. Still, the whole academic parlor game of introducing more complications into systems of understanding has turned academics into a pit of trivial confusion rather than providing any sort of enlightenment.\nOn the opposite side of oversimplification is the ill of over-complication, where we gum up the works with irrelevant theories and crackerjack corollaries to create another unnecessary snag. We understand that professors need to come up with new ideas to advance both their careers and the pursuit of knowledge and understanding. \nStill, if all we do is point out that “it depends on circumstances,” doesn’t that absolve us of any need to pursue understanding at all? Why don’t we just throw up our hands in helplessness and slink back into the cave? But at some point, the breakdown of everything into a response of “it’s complicated” becomes a trivial activity, less concerned with making sense than with making non-sense.\nWe’re not endorsing a return to rote memorization of what’s “right” and “wrong,” but if all our problems just become endlessly knotted together, it doesn’t do students or professors any good. Our commitment as students and teachers should be the unraveling of our most complex problems rather than merely tying ever more complicated knots. \nSometimes, after all, it’s not complicated. A light is on or off, two plus two is four, and so forth. When we see “It’s Complicated” on someone’s relationship status on Facebook, we’re inclined to say, “No, it’s probably not.” Even in that Avril Lavigne song, things aren’t that complicated: A guy wears different clothes around different people. Is that so crazy? We have enough problems as it is; we don’t want any more complications than necessary.\nAnd that’s the whole point. Complication is fine. Our bodies are complex systems, along with the rest of our world and the ways in which we perceive it. Yet, when we add complications where none exist, we belittle and cover up the actual complexities that face us. Instead of simply pointing out complications, maybe we should try unpacking and solving some of them.