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"It's complicated" For some reason, I'm very comforted when other people reach that conclusion about big questions. I think it's because I was much more certa
by rauljara 14y ago
"It's complicated"
For some reason, I'm very comforted when other people reach that conclusion about big questions. I think it's because I was much more certain about what was right when I was younger. The more I learn, the more I'm able to definitively say ideas I used to hold are wrong (or incomplete), but I've got nothing to replace them with. What's wrong has become clearer, but what's right has become foggier, nebulous, a many headed beast with a whole bunch of curves and caveats.
My increasing lack of certainty is more than a little unsettling sometimes. I think it's reassuring to hear that other people are going through it as well.
- ChrisLTD 14y agoI agree, but coming to the conclusion that you don't have all the answers shouldn't mean inaction. Inhumane treatment of animals, brutal working conditions, and environmental damage are moral problems we should be addressing as a species.
- rauljara 14y agoAgree completely.
- tomjen3 14y agoTo me it seems a coup out. This may be due to my age, but I have very little respect for wishywashy feel-good conclusions (it is complicated? Great then I don't have to do anything about it, or accept that it is the way things are). And I am not saying you should feel bad about the world either. Just that it is complicated is not an acceptable answer.
- rauljara 14y agoI know different people can take away different feelings, but for me, it's complicated is the opposite of a cop-out. It means you have to keep on working at it. In my experience, the people who believe they have answers to everything are generally the ones who are taking feel-good shortcuts.
- kjhughes 14y agoI think "it's complicated" merely acknowledges the absence of a simple solution. Solutions are better, but there can be value in observation. We wouldn't want everyone who observes a problem to keep quiet prior to knowing the solution; someone better suited to solve the problem may benefit from the formulation.
- johnchristopher 14y agoI feel the same as parent. I am often in the weird position where I say "I don't know enough" or "I understand some of it but I might miss the whole picture because it's a complex or complicated subject" and others are like "yes, it's complicated but I think that X is right" and I can tell they haven't really understand how complicated things really are. Sometimes I refrain myself from speaking when I know enough of a subject to say that I don't know enough about it to have a relevant opinion so that people don't get the wrong idea (which would be "he doesn't know anything about it").