The other thing I thought, after having posted, was that saying 'here's a complex social problem, it's too hard, let's simplify it!' is sort of like saying, 'here's a calculus problem, it's too hard, how 'bout we make these curves into straight line segments so it's easier!' It's not just that one person's 'socially easy' is another's 'socially hard' (although it's also true), it's also that it just doesn't work. Some things are complicated because they're complicated, not because they're unnecessarily overcomplicated. You can't find the area under a curve by making it the area of a polygon, and you can't make people (sexually, socially, economically, politically) simpler by saying 'gee, it'd be nice if people were easier to get.'
(Caveat: am not a math major, haven't even looked at calculus since high school, I'm probably totally mangling the metaphor, but I think it's probably close enough that I'm going to let it stand.)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2009-06-03 08:15 pm (UTC)The other thing I thought, after having posted, was that saying 'here's a complex social problem, it's too hard, let's simplify it!' is sort of like saying, 'here's a calculus problem, it's too hard, how 'bout we make these curves into straight line segments so it's easier!' It's not just that one person's 'socially easy' is another's 'socially hard' (although it's also true), it's also that it just doesn't work. Some things are complicated because they're complicated, not because they're unnecessarily overcomplicated. You can't find the area under a curve by making it the area of a polygon, and you can't make people (sexually, socially, economically, politically) simpler by saying 'gee, it'd be nice if people were easier to get.'
(Caveat: am not a math major, haven't even looked at calculus since high school, I'm probably totally mangling the metaphor, but I think it's probably close enough that I'm going to let it stand.)