Harlan Cleveland Quote

“For the problem of decision-making in our complicated world is not how to get the problem simple enough so that we can all understand it; the problem is how to get our thinking about the problem as complex as humanly possible--and thus approach (we can never match) the complexity of the real world around us.”


Ratings and Comments


Mike, Norwalk

Not shooting the messenger here, nothing is that complicated.

Anonymous, Reston, VA, US

Some things are too complex to completely understand, but much is not, and we should not strive to make our thinking about those things more complex than it needs to be!

J Carlton, Calgary

I don't buy into this at all. The problem is more along the lines that things have falsely and wrongly been made more convoluted than is necessary so that people DON'T understand... That way the government can say "Go back to sleep America, everything is fine".

RBESRQ
  • Reply
RBESRQ    2/8/11

It's a tongue in cheek... It's exactly what we do...

E Archer, NYC

When men wish to deceive or make themselves sound important and intelligent, they speak in very complex jargon. I am not sure what Cleveland is trying to say here, but it sounds like he is trying to get away with something. ;-)

Wayne, Naples

So this is why very few people really think.

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