reductionists
Break-it-down thinkers
Reductionists believe complex phenomena can be explained by breaking them down into simpler, more fundamental parts.
In science, a reductionist might argue that biology reduces to chemistry, which reduces to physics.
The term often carries a dismissive edge—calling someone a reductionist suggests they oversimplify: The reductionists miss what makes consciousness interesting.
All is matter
- materialismPrioritizing goods over spirit
- mechanismMeans by which something operates
- determinismDoctrine of causal necessity
- atomismDiscrete particles compose everything
monism · naturalism · empiricism · positivism · scientism · essentialism · nominalism · causality
Aesthetic of reduction
- essentialismDoctrine of fixed natures
- spartanRigorously simple, unadorned
- austereSeverely simple and unadorned
- streamlinedMade smooth and efficient
understated · restraint · economy · distillation · purity · bare-bones · stripped-down · unadorned
Stripping complexity unfairly
- dismissivenessAttitude of casual disregard
- shortsightednessInability to see distance
- myopiaBlurry distance vision
- one-sidednessImbalanced viewpoint or treatment
superficiality · neglect · disregard · underestimation · devaluation · cherry-picking · inadequacy · oversight
Excessive frugality with resources
- simplificationMaking something less complex
- analysisMethodical study of parts
- decompositionBreakdown into simpler parts
- elementalismMagic over primal forces
bottom-up · systematization · abstraction · modeling · isolation · dissection · formalization · quantification
physicalism
All is matter
- materialismPrioritizing goods over spirit
- mechanismMeans by which something operates
- determinismDoctrine of causal necessity
atomism · monism · naturalism · empiricism · positivism · scientism · essentialism · nominalism · causality · ontology
minimalism
Aesthetic of reduction
- essentialismDoctrine of fixed natures
- spartanRigorously simple, unadorned
- austereSeverely simple and unadorned
streamlined · understated · restraint · economy · distillation · purity · bare-bones · stripped-down · unadorned · clean
oversimplification
Stripping complexity unfairly
- dismissivenessAttitude of casual disregard
- shortsightednessInability to see distance
- myopiaBlurry distance vision
one-sidedness · superficiality · neglect · disregard · underestimation · devaluation · cherry-picking · inadequacy · oversight · dogmatism
parsimony
Excessive frugality with resources
- simplificationMaking something less complex
- analysisMethodical study of parts
- decompositionBreakdown into simpler parts
elementalism · bottom-up · systematization · abstraction · modeling · isolation · dissection · formalization · quantification · operationalization
- Epistemologistsempiricists, rationalists, positivists, constructivists, instrumentalists
- mind theoriesmaterialists, dualists, functionalists, illusionists