I agree, this kind of "it's all so simple" approach is often less helpful than folks think it is. I always try to explain it thusly: Recursion makes big, compl

I agree, this kind of "it's all so simple" approach is often less helpful than folks think it is. I always try to explain it thusly: Recursion makes big, complicated problems easier to solve. But it's a bit like using a cannon to swat a fly if you have no big, complicated problems to wrestle. Explanations like this do not deny the complexity present in the scene, but reframe it so that were using a technique to tackle said complexity.