simplism
Crude reductive analysis
Simplism is the tendency to oversimplify complex issues, reducing them to misleadingly basic terms.
The word carries criticism—it suggests someone is ignoring nuance or important distinctions: His explanation was pure simplism, ignoring decades of research.
Unlike simplicity, which can be a virtue, simplism implies intellectual laziness or deliberate distortion.
Explaining wholes through parts
- generalizationDeriving principles from examples
- stereotypeFixed oversimplified notion
- caricatureExaggerated comic depiction
- superficialityAbsence of meaningful depth
trivialization · black-and-white · binary · dichotomy · platitude · cliché · broad-brush · one-size-fits-all
Explaining wholes through parts
- monismSingle-substance metaphysics
- atomismDiscrete particles compose everything
- mechanismMeans by which something operates
- determinismDoctrine of causal necessity
materialism · positivism · essentialism · parsimony · axiom · abstraction · distillation
Twisting from original state
- misrepresentationFalse or misleading statement
- cherry-pickingChoosing only supporting examples
- either-orPresenting two alternatives
- bandwagonSurging popular cause
Ease of being deceived
- credulityUncritical acceptance of claims
- unsophisticationLack of worldly experience
- innocenceFreedom from wrongdoing
- ingenuousnessInnocent frankness, without cunning
artlessness · guilelessness · unworldliness · inexperience · greenness · wide-eyed · trusting · uncritical
reductionism
Explaining wholes through parts
- generalizationDeriving principles from examples
- stereotypeFixed oversimplified notion
- caricatureExaggerated comic depiction
superficiality · trivialization · black-and-white · binary · dichotomy · platitude · cliché · broad-brush · one-size-fits-all · cookie-cutter
reductionism
Explaining wholes through parts
- monismSingle-substance metaphysics
- atomismDiscrete particles compose everything
- mechanismMeans by which something operates
determinism · materialism · positivism · essentialism · parsimony · axiom · abstraction · distillation
distortion
Twisting from original state
- misrepresentationFalse or misleading statement
- cherry-pickingChoosing only supporting examples
- either-orPresenting two alternatives
gullibility
Ease of being deceived
- credulityUncritical acceptance of claims
- unsophisticationLack of worldly experience
- innocenceFreedom from wrongdoing
ingenuousness · artlessness · guilelessness · unworldliness · inexperience · greenness · wide-eyed · trusting · uncritical · unquestioning
simplismsophistication
Cultured elegance and complexity
depth · thoroughness · meticulousness · rigor · profundity
simplismnuance
Slight shade of difference
complexity · systems thinking · subtlety · multifacetedness · differentiation
- elegant simplicityTasteful lack of clutter
- Simplified ChineseReduced-stroke logographic script
- rustic simplicityUnrefined country charm
- simplified vocabularyEasier word choices
- rural simplicityUnpretentious country living
- simplified charactersReduced-stroke Chinese script
simplicity, simplify, simplified, simplistic, simplification, simplifies, simplifying, oversimplify, oversimplified